Kris ‘Kirby’ Bedsaul; “Are your customers getting what they paid for?”

In this guest feature we hear from Kris ‘Kirby’ Bedsaul, General Manager for Chris King Precision Components, exploring the corrosive effect of price point engineering hidden by big budget marketing. Over to you Kris….

Thanks Simon, I’m going to start by saying that we hear a lot of chatter from editors, dealers, and consumers about why products cost as much as they do in the bike industry. I think it’s a good question, and I’m happy to explain how we think about pricing at Chris King Precision Components. As a starting point, we feel, at CKPC, a responsibility to our riders to make sure they are getting what they pay for.

There’s a mindset with most companies of maximizing margins and profits, and so just making something “good enough.” That usually means products get priced at some market value, right? That’s what the value of something is, whatever the market is willing to pay, not what the product costs to make, or the work that actually goes into it?

At CKPC, what a rider pays for is not just the market value of something “good enough.” They’re paying for high level engineering, superior material selection, and a commitment to design-for-manufacturing, which creates the best, longest lasting products. If you’re going to offer a lifetime warranty, you can either, make and sell overpriced products that give you the margin to replace, not repair, when the consumer calls with a failure (which by the way is not being a responsible manufacturer), or….you can actually make high quality products that are designed, engineered, and manufactured in a way that is sustainable, products that will last and can be repaired if necessary instead of just replaced.

That’s the CKPC way.

We don’t price based on the market. We price our products based on what they actually cost to make, and we don’t believe in “good enough.” We believe in making the best products we can from day one.

The photo which heads up this article is a great example. For the last 27 years we have used splines, not threads, on our Driven Ring & hubshell, which are critical parts interfaces for our RingDrive™ engagement system. Why splines? They are more expensive to manufacture. We could use a lesser design that would help bump up our margins through manufacturing, but we don’t because “good enough” is not in our DNA. We make products to last a lifetime, and when you understand the commitment we make to all of our products, you’ll probably think we don’t charge enough, but our riders know what works and what lasts, and that commitment and the trust that comes with it is what our business is based on.

Just one small example of what we do here. Enjoy your ride.