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I came across this article on bike shops and supply issues. It mentions the possibility of some discounts coming down the line, not that too many people might have spare cash for a new bike.
https://www.velonews.com/gear/fallout-from-the-pandemic-bike-boom/
I just hope there's stock sometime soon. Been waiting a couple of years for a new bike and still nothing in stock anywhere.
I’m surprised you say that. Bikes are being heavily discounted at the moment due to over supply and the bottom has fallen out of the second hand market for the same reason.
https://twitter.com/carltonreid/status/1603036326433099780
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a30ETCkskbk
But he can’t complain. “During the inventory shortage all the manufacturers gained a lot of power,” he says. “They decided who got inventory.”
A tale from outside the bike industry, but a couple of industrial machinery manufacturers are passing on price rises onto customers when delivery day comes around, despite them having bought at the previous price. The customer is allowed to pull out at no-cost, as there's a big queue of buyers and someone will take it.
We should hang fire to see what impact the next round of Covid-19 has on China and the supply chain before we all get too excited.
That'll be late 2023 bikes or even 2024 surely. Any excess stock for the next few months will have already been manufactured now.
Yeah, but would you be in a hurry to sell it if you know there are issues looking ahead? Even component availability could be an issue and that typically has less lead time than complete bikes.
Yeah, that's a fair point if the manufacturers or distributors can foresee a looming shortage.
Yeah, but would you be in a hurry to sell it if you know there are issues looking ahead?
Retailers have to pay interest on the money they borrowed to buy the stock. If there's a recession coming, they're better to dump it as fast as they can.
https://road.cc/content/news/giant-postpones-payments-suppliers-298285
Giant struggling to pay the bills.
Good - the whole bike industry is over valued / over priced.
I know there's rampant inflation but £12k ebikes and supportive apologists on here justifying a bit of gold coloured coating on the forks. **** off I'll buy a Honda with an engine instead.
Some of the prices recently have been insane especially, in my opinion, the somewhat unreliable e-bikes.
I’m glad to see that there’s some discounts on kit again, prices during Covid were just silly and seem to have been climbing ever since.
Well it is good but not for the independent bike shops who don't set the prices. There's going to be a lot less places to get your bike fixed and try new ones for size by this time next year. They and the incompetent home mechanic are the ones who'll suffer most
Been waiting a couple of years for a new bike and still nothing in stock anywhere.
Presume you’re looking for something quite specific?
Even us punters can tell there's been a lot of opportunistic price rises along with the justifiable ones in the last few years, and it does seem LBS owners are getting the shitty end of the stick.
I don't suppose margins have risen nearly so much as bike prices in recent years?
I don’t suppose margins have risen nearly so much as bike prices in recent years?
Projected margins are about the same - price rises have come through from materials, ex rates and shipping and been passed along the line. Achieved margins had gone up on average as there had been no need to discount while there were shortages but that all changed this year. At every price level it's a buyer's market now, simply down to high stock levels. Some very quiet factories in Asia. It's a good time to be a lean business with fast stock turn.
Perfect storm I guess - 2 years of lots of excess money swimming around during COVID saw people not going on holiday etc and buying bikes. Then a triple whammy of cost of living, inflation, and interest rises has seen a huge constriction. Add in the absolute piss-taking of some pricing (£14k for a road bike with no suspension or new tech is just a WTF) and over-supply and you have serious trouble ahead.
Anecdotally walking into bike shops in the last few weeks compared to a year ago has seen boxes and bikes everywhere, but few customers. Surely going to be some makes and shops going under next year.
Add in the absolute piss-taking of some pricing (£14k for a road bike with no suspension or new tech is just a WTF)
Thing is the people who buy those bikes aren't generally as affected by inflation, cost of living, interest rates etc at the moment. Those 14k bikes are probably selling at a similar rate as before and are a tiny fraction of the market anyway - premium marketing models more than any commercial foundation of a range.
When the richest man in the world now is the guy who owns a bunch of luxury brands you have to wonder if there's things Louis Vuitton and the like (and Rapha) get right that mid level bike brands don't. Bikes aren't the same class of product of course but there will be some cross-over in buyer type/wealth.
Good – the whole bike industry is over valued / over priced.
I know there’s rampant inflation but £12k ebikes and supportive apologists on here justifying a bit of gold coloured coating on the forks. **** off I’ll buy a Honda with an engine instead.
Under-valued I'd say, though that's not how it feels from a buyer's vfm pov. It's not a particularly profitable industry overall. The OEM structure is complex, the product is needy and fragile and the route to market isn't easy to take links out of.
The £££ bikes are a distraction, the majority of bikes are commoditised and it's a competitive market. There's only so much a brand can do to add value a bunch of tubes or carbon made by someone else that they hang a load of OEM kit on. If you can sell at a higher price based on brand strength then you're into that luxury goods model to some extent, and like it or not it's a good place for a brand to be.
Just something to consider when talking about bikes prices and how much they have risen. The market will supply what the market can afford. That the UK is now poorer, doesn't mean other countries are
UK wages have fallen a long way behind other countries. This is irrelevant of the Brexit duty affect that caused a substantial jump in prices.
seems the discounts have already hit the UK, wish i was a bit bigger
£4.2k for an XL trek slash 9.8 with GX AXS/carbon wheels for £4.2k seems a cracking price. 40% off, noticed whyte / trek / nukeproof all have hefty sales on