Zelvy ceases trading due to supplier issues

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
Zelvy has just announced (via a normally moribund Instagram page) that they have pulled up stumps.

Given the brand's history on here, there are no doubt some reading this that will be celebrating or muttering 'good riddance'. FWIW my experience with their products has been very good, as has a mate's (disclaimer: he did ultimately crack one of his rims, but it was deemed repairable). However I've seen the issues others have had on here (mainly Zaf before he went full 8chan) and the company's response, and... yeah. Not ideal.

But rather than encouraging another shitfight - what's your view of the bike and components industry?* How dangerous do you think the current supply issues are for the industry's wellbeing? Zelvy weren't the first to wave the white flag as a result, and they certainly won't be the last. From what I've heard, some of the upcoming shortages are going to make what we're experiencing now feel like being inconvenienced by a delayed Uber...

*or just rage vomit and throw things, either or
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
The Covid vortex will suck up all the stragglers that have been left behind, another bike shop closed here for the same reason, I think it's just the economic times to be honest, and you're probably going to see more. I think Mr Zelvey was dreaming that he could ever compete with Chinese products in Australia.
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Surely shortages across all industries will create more opportunities for people to think outside the box and locally.

The reliance on asian manufacturing and sourcing from the entire world was eventually going to lead to a similar event, maybe in this instance Covid could have sped this up and done us all a favour
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
Never a good day when an Aussie business closes. It’s a tough gig.

Their choice of hubs in the past I felt was unwise. The rims, while I never worked out from the few cracked ones in my possession, who made them, seemed of typical premium Chinese carbon quality. Now I see they have their own moulds, probably moulds they paid for, but located at a factory in the Far East.

I’m planning on purchasing a cnc mill and lathe in Q2 next year. No reason hub manufacturing cannot be domestic. There seems to be no issues with premium carbon rim supply atm, doubtful domestic carbon manufacturing can be viable for the foreseeable future.
 
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Fred Nurk

No custom title here
Never a good day when an Aussie business closes. It’s a tough gig.

Their choice of hubs in the past I felt was unwise. The rims, while I never worked out from the few cracked ones in my possession, who made them, seemed of typical premium Chinese carbon quality. Now I see they have their own moulds, probably moulds they paid for, but located at a factory in the Far East.

I’m planning on purchasing a cnc mill and lathe in Q2 next year. No reason hub manufacturing cannot be domestic. There seems to be no issues with premium carbon rim supply atm, doubtful domestic carbon manufacturing can be viable for the foreseeable future.
I do wonder what happened to Aireal Industries.
 

yuley95

soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
I have a feeling Zelvy was skirting around the edge of collapsing for a while. Brands don’t usually change their trading name (Zelvy changed to ZLV industries) for no reason. Always figured he was writing off some debts. Anyway, i guess this was the final straw.
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
I have a feeling Zelvy was skirting around the edge of collapsing for a while. Brands don’t usually change their trading name (Zelvy changed to ZLV industries) for no reason. Always figured he was writing off some debts. Anyway, i guess this was the final straw.
With the internet around these days, if you give poor customer service the word spreads quite quickly, even with the way he spoke to people on here didn't do much for him. People buying your product at full retail are your lifeline at the end of the day, piss them off, who do you have left?
 

dirtdad

Wants to be special but is too shy
Agree that some dropshipping models suck. Huge markups for no real value add. But better info for consumers (and the power of internetz in general) means that some of these get called out pretty quick though. Or competitors can come into the market.

Problem with Aussie manufacturing is that our market is tiny. So unless it's low (relatively speaking) capital cost and overheads, you probably need to sell more volume than what our market will absorb even if you are popular. So you look at export markets and... back to dramas associated with global supply, huge shipping costs, tariffs, etc.

Then there are supply issues for parts that aren't made here, or even if they are local, are in demand for industries that pay more than a small bike industry business and so will get stock before them.
 
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