14 responses so far ↓

• 1 Moe // Feb 19, 2008 at 5:15 pm

  More like a Trek Lame…. I think they totally missed their target with the pricing of that bike. The bike was designed for non-cyclists or for someone who hadn’t ridden in years, do you think non-cyclists will shell out $500 bucks for a bike? They would rather spend $65 bucks at a Wally World for a Bike-like-object.

• 2 Russ Roca // Feb 19, 2008 at 6:01 pm

  I really liked the Lime in theory…a bike for everyone… but I thought the auto-shifting really killed it and it’s too damn cutesy for a serious commuter….

  If someone is going to go for cutesy there are far cutsier crusiers out there for less…

  If someone is going to go for practical, there are far more practical bikes for less…

  It didn’t really fit a pre-existing niche. Someone that is willing to spend that much for a bike, probably has a good idea about bikes and the auto-shift would be a turn-off.

  Someone that doesn’t know anything about bikes probably wouldn’t spend that much for any bike.

  So I suppose their target market would be the mysterious class of people who know nothing about bikes but have lots of disposable income and are willing to spend it on bikes….the sort of Sasquatch or Easter Bunny of bike shoppers.

  In comparison, looking at Swobo offerings, they’re not too flashy, the price is reasonable and someone that knows something about bikes will understand their value and utility.

  Similarly, the soon to be released Civia line, though priced on the high-end of commuter bikes will attract people that know something about bikes (someone who knows what a Rohloff hub is and why they’re so killer!) and are willing to spend the dough.

  I do have to say that I liked the spirit of the marketing behind Lime…very “lifestyle” and definitely the direction bike marketing should go, but the product and the price point just won’t work with the current cultural perception of bikes…

• 3 Quinn // Feb 20, 2008 at 9:58 am

  I have never seen an auto shifting bike sell, my LBS has a Raleigh that been sitting on the floor for like 8 months.

  I also think its the answer to a question that was never asked. If a person is too lazy to shift, they are to lazy to pedal, also that Raleigh is crazy heavy.

• 4 Jim // Feb 20, 2008 at 12:52 pm

  I spoke with my local dealership about the Lime, he ordered one and had to mark it down to cost to get rid of it. He thought the marketing was cool and the bike was nice but it was aimed at people who would consider 1/2 of the retail price expensive for a bike. I remember the pre release marketing and I thought it was neat until the price was announced, my first thought was “who is going to pay that much for that?”
  I think Trek missed the boat on this one.

• 5 Pete van Nuys // Feb 24, 2008 at 11:34 am

  I’m a newbie to this site, but have commuted on and off for decades. I’ve also worked in the bicycle industry and have some quirky insights into why it does the things it does– like the Lime.

  The American bike biz is circling the drain. Company management has worshiped at the temple of lycra for so long they’ve alienated the majority of American consumers. Bike shops are notoriously elitist, even the best ones who try not to be. Once you so totally segregate the market it’s virtually impossible to reintegrate it.

  The commuting segment, as served by this site, is also exclusive. Can’t help it– you’re on the cutting edge. Most of the rider pix I see here, and I certainly haven’t seen them all, are of people who’ve used their own creativity to make solutions for themselves. That demonstrates a level of commitment far beyond the curve of mainstream America.

  Lime is an attempt by the biggest bike co, totally enamored by Lance just a couple years ago, to connect with a market outside their usual demoographic. It’s not aimed at the folks already on this site, nor people who normally walk into a specialty bicycle store (as they like to refer to their dealers).

  Limes are getting dusty on bike shop floors all over the country. Why?

  Because Trek– and all American bicycle brands– and their dealers have worked together to beat all the value out of their product. They have listened to comments like those on this site, that $500 is too much for a quality bike that shifts automatically.

  Dealers are a lazy lot– they’re in retail but they hate to sell. So instead of defending the value in their product they usually just whine about price resistance to their suppliers.

  The product managers at those companies lie awake nights trying to figure out how to sell this year’s model, next year, for less money. Contrast that with automotive marketers who lie awake nights figuring out how they can sell this year’s model next year for more.

  Guess who has more money to promote their products (despite losing record profits….). In fact, the bicycle industry on all levels, has convinced itself that it has zero money for advertising. Outside a few niched enthusiast mags it spends virtually zip on marketing. A feeble page in Men’s Health or Women’s Fitness, maybe a cross promotion with a non-endemic brand, but basically zip. There has been no general advertising by a bike brand on TV since Kaptain Kangaroo.

  America’s not just a consumer economy, we’re a consumer culture. If we don’t advertise and actively sell a product, it looses appeal and value. Sad, but true. Folks on this site see beyond the BS– at least when it comes to transportation. But most Americans don’t.

  Americans will spend $500 for a golf club consisting of 5 parts cemented together, but not for a well engineered imaginative bicycle assembled from over 2,000 pieces– a product which can deliver more health, economic, social, and environmental benefits than all the golf clubs ever made.

  So the dealers, basically, gave up on Lime before giving it a chance. They took one look at the price, said “we can’t really be expected to sell that,” and stuck ‘em on the floor. After they sit for a year or so, they’ll blow ‘em out for cost. Which will, of course, reinforce Americans’ opinion of bicycles:
  They’re cheap.
  Must not be worth anything.
  Can’t really be taken seriously.
  Just toys.
  So I can behave like a child in traffic, ’cause everyone can see that I’m just bein’ goofy by even ridin’ this thing.

  And eventually that attitude comes back to bite all of us on the butt. Especially at 7:AM on my daily commute.

  Yours, too.

• 6 Ghost Rider // Feb 24, 2008 at 2:28 pm

  Pete — VERY interesting insights! Thanks for that…

  There is a lot more local bike shops could do to promote bicycling as transportation rather than merely an expensive plaything. Some get it, most just do not. Lycra is king and racers are sexy, and sex sells, I guess.

  I’ve often wondered why we don’t see TV commercials in the U.S. for bicycles. This definitely explains why!

• 7 RL Policar // Feb 25, 2008 at 11:11 am

  Hi Pete,

  Thanks for that great insight. You know what, you’re right as far as the advertising goes in the bike business. But I’m starting to see more and more companies tapping into the Internet world as a means of advertising. Just check out our sponsors, they told us that they wanted more Internet media, and rightly so it makes sense since more Americans are on the Internet while at work, home or at Starbucks.

  Internet marketing makes it easier to get people to look at a product by simply clicking on a banner, article or text ad on a site like ours.

  I’ve also noticed that dealers don’t like to spend money on advertising their shops either. I know of one particular chain of shops in So Cal that have since let go of their Marketing person, stopped advertising in the local magazines, has scaled down their presence in the field such as races, events and currently only has 1 sponsored rider…which by the way is an employee. But then again that could just be the current economy.

  Though it wasn’t a bicycle, the Trikke was a major hit when they did the infomercials a few years back….heck we even had one…Pete also sent me an email about the LandRider and how they sold so many of those bikes when they ran those infomercials.

  Perhaps some bike companies are missing the boat by not advertising on mainstream media…

• 8 Holly // Mar 23, 2008 at 12:49 pm

  I guess I’m one of those Easter bunnies of bike shoppers. I don’t really have a lot of cash to spend on a bike, but I’ve always heard how expensive the true enthusiast bikes are. I saw an article in Business Week about the Trek Lime and the relative price looked good and thought this might be the bike for me, a non-commuting, but want to ride and exercise gal. Sad admission: I don’t know how to use bike gears. So what does a beginner get that will last a while?

• 9 Moe // Mar 23, 2008 at 6:45 pm

  If you want a bike for pure exercise or to just cruise, you can’t go wrong with a single speed cruiser bike from Nirve or Manhattan. These bikes are from good quality manufacturers and the will not break apart in 3 months like cheap cruisers.

• 10 Catherine // Apr 26, 2008 at 1:59 pm

  I’m also one of the Easter bunnies of bike shoppers. I haven’t been on a bicycle since I was 13 (22 years ago), and I never was able to figure out the purpose of the gears on my 10-speed (my old neighborhood was completely flat), so when I asked my boss, a bicycle racer and enthusiast, a few months ago what a good purchase for me would be, he suggested the Lime.

  I went to the Lime website, became infatuated, and found a local dealer. It wasn’t a great experience. Most of the people who work in the shop are serious bikers — I expected that. But there’s a note behind the cashier stand that says that employees there are expected to share their love of and enthusiasm for biking with the customers, and what I got instead was a lot of condescension and and a tiny bit of reluctant assistance.

  Luckily, the person who was available to help me is a new employee at the store, so I guess he hasn’t gotten time to get jaded and irritated by the customer base, yet. The store had a couple of last year’s Lime Lite models, and he let me test ride one. It was GLORIOUS.

  My start was a little wobbly, but I went around the parking lot three times, laughing the whole time. It felt exactly like it did when I was 10, riding to my best friend’s house, or the playground, or to get some new-fangled frozen yogurt. I made them special order this year’s model in green (why get a Lime if you’re just going to get it in black?) with a basket AND a bell. The other bike shop employees weren’t able to hide their disdain.

  I think there are a lot of people like me out there: interested in getting back on the bike with some disposable income. I’m REALLY happy with my purchase, but I could have been a lot happier if the people at the bike shop had been a little happier to see me. I’ll go back for my first tuneup, which is free, but I’m going to try some different stores in town to see if they’re a little happier to see a bike newbie. From what I read here, it seems like that’s going to be hard to find.

• 11 Jamie // Jul 13, 2008 at 6:04 am

  “…the mysterious class of people who know nothing about bikes but have lots of disposable income…”

  Well, since fewer than one quarter of Americans ride bikes on a regular basis, I’d have to wager that this “mysterious class of people” is quite large.

  As a non-cyclist who recently bought a Lime to ride to and from work on occasion, I’ve had mixed thoughts on it. I’m a big fan of coaster brakes, and that’s why I got the Lime: multiple gears without handbrakes. But the shifting happens at inopportune times — downshifting when going down a hill, for instance, because you’ve stopped pedaling, while waiting FAR too long to downshift going up a hill while you’re dying — and I’ve also found the seat relatively uncomfortable.

  Would I recommend the Lime to someone to ride around town? Yes. Was it a good going for a ten-mile commute, even on an occasional basis? No, probably not.

• 12 Greg // Jul 17, 2008 at 9:49 pm

  I’ve been reading the comments for 2 bikes on this web site, the Lime and the Day 6. My sister , a young 71, wants a Lime because she does not get the concept of shifting a bike. My daughter wants a Lime because at 26, her tiny hands can not grip the hand brakes nor have the strength to squeeze hard enough to stop the bike. So in both cases the Lime coaster would work for them. All the reviews I have read about the Lime are more positive than negative. The price is rather steep for a three speed bike but all in all for the pleasure and exercise we can all use I guess it’s worth it. On the other bike, the Day 6, most of the dealers I contacted either do not carry them any longer due to poor sales or they could get one if I want one, although I did find a dealer that had one old model single speed that I took a short spin on, it was great. There are 2 frame sizes, 3 different seat configurations and a 21 speed and 7 speed. How is a person suppose to decide which is the right one when they’re not in stock? This is another example of what was mentioned before about advertising. Never heard of a Day 6 or the Lime. My sister introduced me to the Lime, I think she heard of it because she stopped in a Trek store near her house and the Day 6, I stumbled upon searching the web for prices on the Lime, I wanted to buy the Lime for my sisters birthday, which took me to “comfort bikes” which I found an article on the Day 6 that peaked my interest. The only time you see an ad for a bicycle is when one of the “big box” stores have them on sale. In my search for information on bikes, I did not know there was so many different brands, if it wasn’t for the internet I would never have known I have all these options. Unfortunately going to a bike store is like going to a car lot with 1000 sports cars and only one sedan in stock for the average “Joe”. There are a lot of us average “Joe’s” out here.

• 13 Susan // Aug 3, 2008 at 9:39 am

  I went to a bike store yesterday specifically to see the Lime. I was kind of hoping for last year’s model or a mark-down as that price is a bit steep for me. I haven’t ridden in years and my old trek 12 speed is a pain for me to figure the gears. The people in the shop were less than helpful and answered my questions so fast with so much bike jardon that I was turned off and left. I’ll save my pennies and give it a try since I’ve only heard complaints about the cost, not the riding experience. It’s nice to read comments from other non-serious bikers who understand. I might check out those cruisers mentioned on this site as well.

• 14 Molly // Aug 12, 2008 at 7:37 pm

  I have a Trek Lime. My experience at my local bike shop is what sold me on the Lime. I had not been on a bike since I was a kid and the whole shifting thing was a little unnerving to me. I have really enjoyed my bike.
  The only downside is that I have enjoyed it so much that I want to take up cycling more as a form of exercise instead of just leisurely riding. So after a season of riding, I am looking to sell and upgrade to a road bike.
  I went to a different bike store and they were also very complimentary about the Trek Lime even though they did not sell them. They informed me that they have had several customers in my situation. They feel like the Trek Lime creates an enjoyable ride which ultimately leaves riders wanting and ready for more.
  I think this is a great starter bike.

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