So it looks like my best road bike (I'm primarily a roadie) may be off to the great bike shed in the sky. I'm fortunate that I have a great second road bike, a Fairlight Strael, but I'd like to have a fast carbon (summer) bike as well. So the question is: assuming it really is dead: buy now or buy later? At the moment prices are high and stock levels aren't. Obviously I'd like to have a 'best bike' for the summer, however would do better later in the sales, particularly as I'll be spending a few quid? I'll be looking at 56cm, so one of the most common sizes. What do people think?
You can't buy back missed opportunities.....do what makes your summer riding the best summer riding you can think of
Who knows?
Spend your money on what you want when you want.
I brought a new road bike recently since my old one was knackered.
If I had had a "great" second road bike personally I wouldnt have bothered since during the summer the mountain bikes generally win out.
Mountain bike wise if my primary bike had died I probably would have gone shopping despite having a second bike (especially since I still need to repair the latter).
I'm waiting till winter to hopefully have a new bike for Spring 2023. All the bikes on my shortlist are out of stock anyway so I'd rather wait for the bike I really want rather than settling on something that happens to be in stock.
Seems futile.
If it's out of stock now then it won't be surplus and in the sales in the Autumn.
And if it is in stock now, but isn't worth the price to ride it in the summer, then it's not worth slightly less to not ride it at all in the winter.
Like other said, if I needed a new MTB Id get one whatever the time of year, because generally new bikes are much better than whatever I have as a spare 2nd bike. Road bikes though, are there any rides at all that the Farlight would stop you from doing?
Sounds like you are running dangerously low on bikes.
I don't think 2023 bikes will be any cheaper and there are still stock issues, so buy when you can I reckon..
The RRP of my road bike has gone up £2000 in the 2 years since I bought it. For exactly the same bike with exactly the same spec.
Not sure any high end bikes are going to be that cheap anytime soon.
If you want a bike and can afford it, buy it. You might not be able to ride next year, who knows…
Can you not get it on ride to work? Unfamiliar with road bike pricing, sorry. I just put my new Status through on RTW, and it came out pretty cheap. Made the whole enterprise a no brainer. I normally avoid new bikes, and go used, yet this scheme made used seem expensive.
Sounds like you are running dangerously low on bikes.
The voice of reason.
My take on it is that there probably will be some discounts in the sales, but it might not be the brand/model/size you would prefer.
I'd pick a fairly-priced bike that I actually wanted and buy now.
What you got your eye on?
You want a popular form of bike (carbon, road) in the most common size. So will others. There won't be many discounts later and the industry is still in recovery from the pandemic drop in production. Buy now at a reasonable price for what you want. Or look for a frame and move the parts across from your other best road bike.
Having just placed my C2W order yesterday for a new Gravel/Winter road bike my thoughts were stock levels are still unstable and many manufacturers are now quoting spring 2023 (have a play around on Ribble's website) for new bikes. Whilst demand is outstripping supply the prices are not going to drop - and prices of raw materials (Steel/Aluminium/etc) are still going up/stating high.
If you've seen something you like, and you can afford it - i'd buy it.
Well I'm going to go against the flow of this thread and I think the OP has a difficult decision. In the last couple of months industrial commodity prices have all dropped significantly ( Iron, Copper, Tin , Aluminium, etc ) which indicates that manufacturing is slowing down as demand slows. But it takes time for factories to ramp down as demand slows so inventories have and are being built. Also with inflation rising and winter approaching the general public will be being far more selective about how they spend their ( if they have any ) disposable incoming so luxury items like expensive bikes could be collecting dust in warehouses. Sorry for the doom and gloom post!
There's a few "sales" starting to appear, but in shocking news to no one who has at least window-shpped in the past ~5 years, these prices are way up. There's one or two good deals on frames and components out there, transferring a few bits over from an old steed or the spares box.
Too many variables to call anything with any confidence - supply chain issues, inflation, recession coming to name just a few.
I’d agree with this
If you want a bike and can afford it, buy it.
buy now or buy later?
Depends on what "later" means. Want a bike this year, and it's in stock? Buy it.
If you’ve decided on the actual bike you want, then buy it now, life is definitely too short, so live for the now!
I’ve been mulling over a new bike for a while and a 10% off code came through on a email, so just scored 19% off for the bike, as it was reduced already.
Is the Strael is it actually any slower than the other bike? I’m assuming you run any posh aero wheels you open on both bikes
In answer to your question if I found a bike I wanted I’d buy it. Even if the supply chain picks up transport is going to shoot up in price. The pound is really weak against the dollar. Next years bikes will be more expensive. Sales seem unlikely
I'm with the majority. Nothing is going to get cheaper in the short term and inflation is not only raising prices, it's eroding your savings. If you can find stock, just buy it now and get riding 🙂
Prices are going to go up, not down
