Decathlon Sports Ireland

rolling boh

Did not go up today to see but was wondering are the cycling clothes good quality saw some of the prices and they seem quite low not a pro by any means but would like to know if shorts etc are good for long spins . thanks

magicbastarder

i have some btwin tops and a pair of leggings. they're fine, have not worn the leggings on long spins though so can't confirm long term comfort.
to be fair, i bought them slightly too small so would have generally avoided them for anything but commuting anyway.

Weepsie

Their 700 range is excellent. That's their top end stuff. I've some winter gear. Their 500, is decent but not as good.

saccades

Top end stuff is excellent value for money, the lower ranges are ok (as in I'd rather spend the extra 20-30 to get to the top end).

Tony04

Any of there product range from 500 and up is really good value for money stuff.
Though if your looking to get good value clothing, to be honest you can get equal quality for maybe 5 -10 quid more from galibier.cc online, irish company, couldn't reccomend them enough.

iwillhtfu

Tony04 wrote: »

Though if your looking to get good value clothing, to be honest you can get equal quality for maybe 5 -10 quid more from galibier.cc online, irish company, couldn't reccomend them enough.

Pay in sterling if you do as their conversion rate is at least €5 on jerseys and bibs which adds up if you're getting a few items.

Harrybelafonte

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Pay in sterling if you do as their conversion rate is at least €5 on jerseys and bibs which adds up if you're getting a few items.

Agree, as they're a UK-located company, not ROI, so Sterling works out better.

siochain

Any in the new store yet? Do the have much stock of bikes ?

magicbastarder

yes, a decent number of bikes in stock. i suspect the local bike shops were blessed that decathlon opened near the probable end of what is the bike gold rush.

rolling boh

Would hope people still support their local shops as well nothing against decathlon it's great to have options but one off shops are important I think so I hope they stay around plus you will know the people working in them so you should get good advice that's my experience anyway .

lennymc

given that Decathlon have a shop in Dublin, and employee (i would imagine) quite a lot of people, is buying from them not supporting local shops? \they are supplying jobs and benefits to the local economy after all.

I have btwin stuff, and it is good, long roubaix tights, short bibs, i think the 500 range.

rolling boh

Fair enough about them having a shop and giving jobs to people I suppose I meant that i hope the existing shops are not hit to badly and stay around same as other types of retail not just bike shops it's great to have a place like Decathlon to give a choice to people .

magicbastarder

as mentioned, was up there yesterday and overheard some conversations between staff and customers; as you might expect, the shop staff are generally young, and hired because they're young and probably cheap, not necessarily for their knowledge.
to be fair, it was the first day they were open, and i did twice hear a response, to customer questions, along the lines of 'i'm afraid i don't know that, but can get a staff member who does know the answer to assist', so i didn't hear any actual evidence of a staff member bull****ting an answer.

re buying from local shops, where the profits the shop earns goes, and where the tax is paid, is a massive factor for me in determining whether the shop is 'local'.

KevRossi

Large discount shops like Decathlon, or the big Hypermarkets statistically shut down 7 jobs for every 5 they create. So there will be a net job loss, as well as less taxes going into the Irish economy and less money circulating in the country.

It will especially hit bike shops, probably a couple of Sports Direct and the likes. Some smaller high street sports shops (not many left) will be hit as well and will shut down bit by bit over the next few years.

cletus

KevRossi wrote: »

Large discount shops like Decathlon, or the big Hypermarkets statistically shut down 7 jobs for every 5 they create. So there will be a net job loss, as well as less taxes going into the Irish economy and less money circulating in the country.

It will especially hit bike shops, probably a couple of Sports Direct and the likes. Some smaller high street sports shops (not many left) will be hit as well and will shut down bit by bit over the next few years.

Whatever about the rest of your post, Sports Direct hardly fall into the category of local bike/sports shops.

Mike Ashely has made his fortune buying out reputable but failing brands, then flogging the shït out of their name

lennymc

rolling boh wrote: »

Fair enough about them having a shop and giving jobs to people I suppose I meant that i hope the existing shops are not hit to badly and stay around same as other types of retail not just bike shops it's great to have a place like Decathlon to give a choice to people .

wasnt having a go - just IMHO they employ people, they pay irish taxes, they are much more local than the likes of a wiggle or crc.

Im sure there will be enough room for traditional lbs & decathlon given the popularity of cylcling!

lennymc

KevRossi wrote: »

Large discount shops like Decathlon, or the big Hypermarkets statistically shut down 7 jobs for every 5 they create.

source? (genuinely interested)

Tony04

Cant see it really hitting local bike shops apart from clothing sales.

Only really halfords I'd say will be hit.

Bike shops already compete with online and halfords etc.

I think it will hit stores like elverys, sports direct etc.

Although it wont hit stores like lifestyle unless decathlon starts sponsoring football players etc.

Anyway you cant beat your lbs for fixing your bike.

magicbastarder

Tony04 wrote: »

Cant see it really hitting local bike shops apart from clothing sales.

Only really halfords I'd say will be hit.

Bike shops already compete with online and halfords etc.

yep, i reckon halfords will have to worry but do benefit in the sense that they've a wider range of outlets than a single store.
i can't complain too much since i've bought a few things in decathlon over the years (usually while abroad); one of the things decathlon can afford to do is carry a range of stock that many smaller bike shops don't have the room/stock turnover to have on hand. e.g. they've pretty much all the sorts of tyres in stock (bar high end) you could possibly look for.

decathlon is bringing online prices to bricks'n'mortar stores - i think my LBS charges a fiver for an inner tube and they're €2.90 i think in decathlon.
but where LBSes will have to worry is that people might still be happy to drive for half an hour or an hour to get to decathlon to save a fiver on a tyre.

magicbastarder

lennymc wrote: »

they employ people, they pay irish taxes

in 2018, they paid €800k corporation tax on a turnover of €1.1bn.

However, pre-tax profits at the business in 2018 were comparatively low at €6.45m due to the company’s cost of sales of €1.08bn.

The company recorded a post-tax profit of €5.64m in 2018 after paying corporation tax of €802,609.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/french-sports-retailer-decathlon-sees-irish-sales-top-1bn-987886.html

if we take the above at face value, that there's no accountancy magic going on, their profit margin is about 0.6% which would explain why their prices are so low - they're making less than a cent on each euro, and at the volume they're selling, that means they're stretching prices to the wire.

Harrybelafonte

magicbastarder wrote: »

in 2018, they paid €800k corporation tax on a turnover of €1.1bn.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/french-sports-retailer-decathlon-sees-irish-sales-top-1bn-987886.html

if we take the above at face value, that there's no accountancy magic going on, their profit margin is about 0.6% which would explain why their prices are so low - they're making less than a cent on each euro, and at the volume they're selling, that means they're stretching prices to the wire.

Having spent quite awhile working for one of the best known LBS in the country, I can tell you now that this little LBS vs evil corporation is a ****ing myth. LBS are equally adept at fudging accounts and screwing staff. They don’t all do it, but let’s not oversimplify the matter to push one point of contention.

Weepsie

lennymc wrote: »

source? (genuinely interested)

https://doi.org/10.1080/17538963.2015.1002175

One study into it. It cited another's that shows retail employment goes up, but wholesale employment goes down after an initial boost

Tony04

magicbastarder wrote: »

decathlon is bringing online prices to bricks'n'mortar stores - i think my LBS charges a fiver for an inner tube and they're €2.90 i think in decathlon.
but where LBSes will have to worry is that people might still be happy to drive for half an hour or an hour to get to decathlon to save a fiver on a tyre.

Not really sure if people would do that, if you want good cheap tyres for the best price order online from Germany.
The only thing I see myself, impulse purchases aside, really getting from decathlon is clothing. Local bike shops sell a fair amount of clothing because people can try it and dont like buying it online, but with decathlon I'd imagine this would stop.
The other thing I reckon you'll see is carrera losing their monopoly on young lads floating around the place.
Every lbs I've went to seems to have a great skill at persuading you to buy highly marked up replacement parts, the greatest being cassette and chains, literally every person I see bringing their bike in for a service is told to replace theirs.
As for high end bikes decathlon have struggled to break into that market hence the van rysel rebrand but theres better options online I.e radon, canyon, rose and vitus

magicbastarder

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Having spent quite awhile working for one of the best known LBS in the country, I can tell you now that this little LBS vs evil corporation is a ****ing myth.

as i said, i was taking their accounts at face value, no assumptions made.

magicbastarder

Tony04 wrote: »

Not really sure if people would do that, if you want good cheap tyres for the best price order online from Germany.

a lot of non-enthusiast cyclists wouldn't do that; my father didn't, he went to his LBS. you're not necessarily going to rush to order something online unless it's something you're happy you're ordering the right version of. for my father the easiest option was to cycle to the shop, point at the tyres and say 'sell me two more of those please'.

decathlon kinda sits between online and LBS - prices and range of the former, accessibility and reassurance of the latter.

Tony04

magicbastarder wrote: »

a lot of non-enthusiast cyclists wouldn't do that; my father didn't, he went to his LBS. you're not necessarily going to rush to order something online unless it's something you're happy you're ordering the right version of. for my father the easiest option was to cycle to the shop, point at the tyres and say 'sell me two more of those please'.

decathlon kinda sits between online and LBS - prices and range of the former, accessibility and reassurance of the latter.

Yeh true. Personally I'd see myself buying alot more non cycling related stuff as a non-enthusiast to whatever sport than cycling stuff. Although the sooner bike shops stop ridiculously overcharging on stuff the better.

triggermortis

I always liked Decathlon when I was working abroad, it was good to browse other things that you didn’t know you needed...
It’s now just another option here. You can browse and try stuff and compare prices but I’d say I might be buying more none-cycling gear from the new Dublin shop

onlineweb

Planning to head up today to check it out.

jamesbondings

onlineweb wrote: »

Planning to head up today to check it out.

Let us know what the queues are like, don't fancy queuing with only a few bits to get!

Macy0161

I think there's these type of posts on all "outdoor" sports forums. Reality is they've been online to Ireland for a few years now!

In a cycling context, I would agree more likely halfords to be hit, and probably the aldi and lidl specials less attractive. When in France, I actually thought it was the bikes that were best vfm - lower end that many lbs's don't carry. Perfect for the occasional user imo, compared to the equivalent halfords offering. I was a bit "meh" about the vfm of the cycling clothes - it was more casual/ fitness clothes that I ended up buying (and lots of the great towels!), and camping equipment.

I will carry on supporting my lbs if/ when I'm back in the office (assuming they've survived that far), with servicing, tubes, a few bits and pieces. Actually, a lot of the parts/ servicing is me having a go myself, and then bringing them in for a check/ fix. I can't say I've ever brought cycling clothes in a store, and have never done the try in store buy on-line to them either out of respect.

JMcL

I've bought a lot of gear from Decathlon over the years as we're in France regularly. Off the top of my head, cycling gear would probably make up around 15% of what I've bought. It's more generally stuff like fleeces, rain jackets, shoes etc(for walking). Since the kids have come along, there's been a fair amount of kitting them out as well. I'd agree a lot of the cycling clothes aren't super value, I tend to keep an eye on the "Fin de serie"/end of line racks where you can get some cracking bargains, for example winter bibs coming into the springtime, if it doesn't bother you putting them away for the summer.

Weepsie wrote: »

Their 700 range is excellent. That's their top end stuff. I've some winter gear. Their 500, is decent but not as good.

Confusingly the "700", which used to be "7", has now become "900" (bit of Spinal Tap going on?) It's good quality. They're also pushing "Van Rysel" as a performance oriented clothing line (not just the bikes) over the past year or so.