2025 Bikes

What are you after that isn’t available from the current ranges?

There don’t appear to be many places selling Spesh Epic 8 Pro or Cannondale Scalpel 1 2024.

Plenty of brands electing to do continuation models (2024 holdover) rather than "2025" bikes

Many brands have (thankfully!) moved away from constant yearly changes which tends to lead to forced discounts of "old" stock ahead of "new" models coming in.

Tends to be just "a model" now which might have minor changes but basically stays the same for 3-4 years before a more tangible refresh.

Shimano does the same with its groupsets, usually working on a 4-year product cycle before the next iteration.

Shimano does the same with its groupsets, usually working on a 4-year product cycle before the next iteration.

Laughs in Zee & Saint.

Doubt they've been making any Zee stuff for a few years at least now.

Just got a new set of the (12-year-old design?) Saint brakes though - and they are amazing.

OP - 2024 seemed unusually low on new bike launches. Feels like we're in a fallow period due to the lack of R&D during the Covid bike boom plus brands wanting to flog their unsold stock before they launch new models still?

'Year models' may be the most stupid thing the bike industry does. Competition-induced annual churn, a sort of marketing crack that wastes away the whole industry and turns it into fast fashion by racing to have the new parts on a bike first. With some luck the pandemic supply chain issues have killed that idea off.

Does anyone do model years anymore? I thought it had fizzled out.

It was crap for shops. By the time you'd stocked up on the current year the new stuff was announced in autumn and you had to start your 40% sale and order all the same stuff again in the new colour.

I saw that some Santa Cruz models had offerings in 6 colourways. So that’s 3 years of inventory still selling through. That might help explain the death of GT if one of the parent companies main brands is struggling.

Slow sales + ebikes taking up development time. Also SRAM + Shimano releasing new groupsets next year (mechanical transmission + new XT/XTR).

I saw that some Santa Cruz models had offerings in 6 colourways. So that’s 3 years of inventory still selling through. That might help explain the death of GT if one of the parent companies main brands is struggling.

I mentioned this on the GT thread but I can't remember Santa Cruz ever having any meaningful reductions in previous years. They used to sell out everything they could make. I live in Sheffield and you'd be tripping over SC's everywhere you went. They're not as common currently.

Wharncliffe used to be look like a Santa Cruz riders meeting every weekend now it's 95% e-bikes.

I mentioned this on the GT thread but I can’t remember Santa Cruz ever having any meaningful reductions in previous years.

Noticed that too (and took advantage of!) - they're one of the brands that rarely had significant discounts in the past, but almost the entire range had 40-50% off during Black Friday before returning to 30% selected bikes only afterwards. Overstocking since Covid and the downturn in the economy combining I guess.

Those level of discounts will have a knock-on effect into 2025 with reduced sales as I suspect many who'd planned to buy a new/2025 year model bike took advantage of the discounts and bought earlier than they planned.

tomhoward

Laughs in Zee & Saint.

if it ain't broke . . .

As others said above, there's some companies selling old stock still and a lot seem to be opting not to refresh anything for 2025 to avoid having to discount old models that are basically the same.

I'm seriously looking for a new road bike in some shape or form and stocking and spec's are a mess.

Loads of stuff still being specified with what is presumably warehouses full of 11s groupsets that obviously isn't selling as in some cases you could buy a '2024' bike that had 11s 105 for less than the '2025' in the same colors but with 12s 105 and still have enough left over to buy a R7120 groupset at Merlin!  Same with SRAM XPLR / Shimano GRX, the 11s stuff is probably fine, but I'm upgrading a 20 year old bike with 10s, I'll be keeping whatever I buy long enough that I'd like it to be at least contemporary now.

I'm holding off until Jan, with any luck the heavy discounting of old stock is an indicator that RRP's will have to be cut / discounts offered to keep cashflow going which will be great for consumers.

Laughs in Zee & Saint.

It'd be nice at least if they updated the lever so it worked with whatever I-spec they're up to now.

Those level of discounts will have a knock-on effect into 2025 with reduced sales as I suspect many who’d planned to buy a new/2025 year model bike took advantage of the discounts and bought earlier than they planned.

Agreed, because as well it is keeping the second hand market prices suppressed as well. I had not planned particularly to buy a 'new' bike this year, but blimey there are some fabulous deals to be had second hand and new.

I would hate to be an LBS at the moment. I feel really sad, borderline guilty, about being in LBS and looking at a new bike with them, only to find that second hand was a better model at 70% less...

i posted this on the Trek Fuel Exe thread, similarly relevant here :

iaincFull Member
agree some cracking deals on these just now, higher spec ones available in every size at around half price, with a bit of googling.  I think it just highlights the savings on a new but 23 or 24 model expensive bike.  My initial reaction was around the huge ‘depreciation’ associated with ebikes, but looking at same model year regular bikes from Trek and others the savings to be found are comparable, so it’s not just ebikes.

It does confirm that the second hand value, should you wish to move one of these on, having paid original full or near full price, is a losers game.  I think this is more the case with ebikes due to the likely problems with motors and batteries when out of warranty.

I did look at selling my hardly used and heavily upgraded 2020 Levo SL earlier in the year, and surmised I’d be better keeping it even if I do only rode it once a month or so, as I’d be lucky to get much over 2k for what was a 10k bike.

Back to the Trek, if I was looking for another ebike I’d be buying one for sure, infact my LBS, Sprockets have my size in stock and half price…

Theres a few issues with all of  this

Tough times in the global economy doesnt help

Covid and the huge backlog and oversupply of bikes and components is definitely a factor, but companies were already trying to move away from the model year thing and be honest that frame development was on a 3-4 year cycle. Instead of pretending that their new model with a 0.5 degree slacker head angle, was just last years model in a new colourway (cringe) and a fork with 10mm more travel!

Also geometry has pretty much settled down, 29ers with LLS geo are pretty well sorted now so theres not much room to improve (high pivot points are not grabbing peoples imagination or wallets?)

Component manufacturers have been caught out by overstock and their own hubris a bit, always trying to sell the latest and greatest when a 10speed setup that has a very similar range but just 2 less sprockets is just as fine  than teh latest 12speed or every new version of the fork damper completely blows last years model out of the water...... which just last year was receiving 5 star reviews. The 'ancient' Saint brakes still being run on WC winning DH bikes being another example.

Ebikes having terrible resale value despite their high costs was also inevitable, especially as batteries and motors out of warranty or suddenly unsurported by manufacturers are a millstone s/h- And I know ebay has been around for a while but it really has changed secondhand market for pretty much everything

Plenty of brands electing to do continuation models (2024 holdover) rather than “2025” bikes

Sign of the times and unprecedented on this scale. I can't remember it happening before!