posted by Karl Hamilton on august 25, 1997 at 10:20:00:
in reply to: Merlin vs. Seven - Strategy for Keeping Merlin Customers posted by Cryoman on august 24, 1997 at 20:41:17:
Greetings,
I don't know much about Merlin's corporate structure, but I can say I always found it humorous how smug and self-assured their marketing approach has always been towards Litespeed.
Their "sacred cows" had always consisted of:
1. Well, what can you expect, you're getting a Merlin?
2. Litespeed uses inferior "sports grade titanium"
3. Doing anything other than what we do with titanium makes it weak, less reliable, etc. This refers to Litespeed's heavy use of cold working, ovalizing, tapering, butting, and use of 6al/4v titanium.
4. We build bikes in a family atmosphere.
Well Merlin, Vandermark and his 6 compatriots have formed "Seven"; so now does that mean Merlin's vaunted greatness is about to go to pot?
As a proud Litespeed owner (Vortex, Ultimate, Ocoee, Classic), I do admit bias. Hey, we are all biased toward the products we own. However, here are some facts:
1. Litespeed quality is as good as Merlins in terms of reliability, frame alignment (snicker), etc.
2. The Lynskey family (owners of Litespeed) are involved and proud of their product. I know. I visited them.
3. When you build bikes for Eddy Merckx and others, you must be pretty good. As you know, Eddy is a bit anal about quality and fit.
4. Litespeed is much bigger (not big in the whole scheme of things) than Merlin, so I believe my LIFETIME WARRANTY might actually last my life in case something did go wrong.
5. Litespeed's marketing has always focused on the product. Their response if/when you called them regarding Merlin's attacks on Litespeed quality was to say "well, Merlin's at it again because they do it differently than we do." That is a class answer to me.
I' m not looking to create a ruckus or to get flamed, but I hope that Merlin learns from these tough times post-Vandermark. I love ti bikes (Merlin included), but hope they lower their prices to at least those of Litespeeds and come out with some affordable FULL 3al/2.5v bikes for those not wanting to go broke or own a G4 tubed bike. This would allow more cyclists to enjoy the MERLIN EXPERIENCE.
In business school we were taught,
"the danger of falling in love with the products you make is that no one will be able to afford the price you put on them."
Good Riding,
Karl