You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Am I the only one who finds their website infuriating?
The site itself isn’t particularly intuitive but the bike builder is a total nightmare to use. I’m just window shopping at the moment with a plan to buy something on C2W but have (again) been turned away from a Bird due to their bike builder.
As I’ve said, it’s not easily intuitive generally but I find it a real pain to navigate through the builder.
Why are you showing me items not in stock and worse, putting them as the standard option?
Why let me move on from an item when I haven’t noticed there’s an additional configuration require (e.g. colour)?
Why put me through the pain of all of that and then not let me complete the build and get a price as there are no stems or rotor offerings to select from?
This isn’t a one off incident, a Saturday system issue, it’s how I experience using the site time and again. It amazes me they manage to sell anything from that site.
Rant over … I’m off to browse bikes with more usable websites.
Yeah I was debating getting one then got bored part way through configuring a bike and went elsewhere
Combining live stock control and custom bike build picking is non-trivial. I’m talking about both the systems required and the human involvement. The latter has been made more involved since supply chains went crazy during and after the height of the Covid pandemic.
Combining live stock control and custom bike build picking is non-trivial.
Not really. I don’t imagine that Bird are dealing with levels of order volumes that makes it complex. If they are then investing in a decent Order Management System would make sense.
However, it’s much more fundamental than that. For example, try to order an Aether 9c frame.
https://www.bird.bike/product-category/aether-9c-frameset/
I too find it hard to navigate. I want to see a price before I start getting into options. Surely there is a base price.
For example, try to order an Aether 9c frame.
I think this is a (if not already) soon to be discontinued model, which may explain the lack of options in stock. It's no longer featured on the home page, certainly.
I'll agree with you. However as a Bird owner I will say that the bikes are excellent and the customer service is second to none.
They’re very helpful if you email them! But I agree about the website being challenging - and also know what a nightmare it must be to administer nowadays.
Had a quick look at the website and it is a bit crap.
Pretty certain it was better a few years back when I brought one.
It's no longer featured on the home page, certainly.
The link I provided was straight off the home page.
what a nightmare it must be to administer nowadays.
Why?
Limited stock range with presumably low sales volumes doesn’t sound like an overly challenging e-commerce model to me. Sure, it’s probably a PITA if interest in the venture has waned but I do see why it should be harder than it’s ever been.
It would strike me that it would be easier just to offer standard build options with bespoke customisation, as the likes of Cotic, Sonder, Deviate, etc do.
Maybe Bird thought having full build options would be a differentiator but obviously that comes at a cost.
As a starter though, remove the SKUs that you know are out of stock and don’t intend to replenish!
It's not a perfect website but it gives an almost unmatched level of customisation and is better than a lot of bigger brands websites imo. The number of times I go on a website and it feels more like a glossy brochure than a web shop and finding a list of models to purchase is nigh on impossible.
Yeah PITA but lucky for me they had a superb off-the-peg Aether 9 bargain a couple of years back that allowed me to short cut the process. Ace bike!! Not sure I’ve ever successfully clicked through a custom option…
So I have a Bird Zero 29 and love it. Bought it as a frame only discounted last year.
But I would agree, the website offers almost too much customisation. It would be better to have basic pre-configured bikes that you can tweak. Having said that it is better on a computer than a phone and it does allow you to configure pretty much everything.
Also a Bird owner, but yeah, their website has always been really frustrating to use.
Just went for a look and you're right, it's terrible! Got as far as choosing a frame but when my first four fork choices were out of stock I gave up. Why offer options that are out of stock?
Why offer options that are out of stock?
Because you might want to wait for your dream bike and so want to see what they can offer even if not today? Although making it clear currently out of stock without clicking in would be better (although made more complicated with potentially several variants of the same fork).
so want to see what they can offer even if not today?
But you can’t do anything with your configuration if an item is out of stock, you don’t even get a price so it becomes a pointless option. If it allowed some kind of “Save and let’s talk” option then there’d be value.
Although making it clear currently out of stock without clicking in would be better
This
Why not just list your preferred build, email them and ask ‘how much and when could it be ready for’?
Why offer options that are out of stock?
Because you might want to wait for your dream bike and so want to see what they can offer even if not today? Although making it clear currently out of stock without clicking in would be better (although made more complicated with potentially several variants of the same fork).
I'd probably just move on to something else tbh, Bird look good but have plenty of competition. I don't think my dream build would be a Bird tbh.
Current stock should be the first thing you see when it comes to components.
Why not just list your preferred build, email them and ask ‘how much and when could it be ready for’?
The point is that at the moment, I'm just window shopping. The website doesn't provide me an indication of price of any bike as it needs to be configured and after a torture of trying to work through the configurator ... I still can't get a price. I don't have a baseline to cost against to know if it's worth digging any deeper into them as an option.
Based on that experience, I've no interest in pursuing a Bird bike further as they don't seem interested in me as a potential customer.
I did think similar when playing about with it in the past, thought it was curious that it had won an award from STW (IIRC?).
Was OK when buying a frame and some bits, and the responsive and helpful customer service more than made up for the clunky web experience.
I expect they don't feel they have the budget for a lot of web dev work at the mo, even if it might pay dividends in the future.
I remember it, from a while back, being quite a good experience. I went to Bird, tried some different sizes in the carpark, took one out for the day, came back and chatted to Dan and worked out a spec . Ordered it that evening, no issues.
If you have tech/website issues and are after a base price, give them a call and chat it through. I wouldn't dismiss a bike because of a website when a chat and a demo will give you all the info you need
I've always had a great experience with Bird. If I've been looking at speccing a bike and bits are out of stock, I've been quite happy to call and chat or drop them an email and get the details.
I don't tend to randomly browse and spec though, so I've been quite happy with the online experience - most times it has been fantastic as I can spec everything and get a price. The couple of times I've not been able to do that, I've contacted Bird and got the answer very quickly...but I've only done that with the intention of placing an order.
I don't tend to just browse sites and randomly build bikes to get a price so the site experience is clearly different to me, but I find it works very well.