Have bike prices gone up for equivalent specs?

[Paulatic]

I see where our difference in opinion lie.

Wheelbase let you get discount price with interest free.

A couple of years ago I saw a tour de fer in my size ready to go for about £300 less than rrp. I expected it to go to full price with credit but the shop assistant said they allowed discounted bikes too. He saw my disbelief so turned to the on duty manager to ask him for me. The manager casually turned round and confirmed it before getting back to what he was doing, without missing a beat.

What you see as a discounted price I read as the selling price as I always disregard rrp.
Granted in some modern day shops the lure of cash isn’t as strong as it once was.

Save quickly or the price may run away from you in the current circumstances.

In this possibly unprecedented level of price rises this could well be very good advice. I can’t follow it for n+1. So bored last week I built a complete 7 speed MtB from boxes of used parts I had.

[Tangled Metal]

Still doesn't get past the point that before covid wheelbase often had some of the best prices for genesis bikes around in the UK and still allowed you to get those prices with interest free credit but now everywhere there's fewer deal prices. The £200 cheaper spa price now used to be £400-500 cheaper at wheelbase at times in the past.

We're in a time without good deals on bikes at the level of 2019 or before.

[rogerzilla]

Some bike stuff has gone up by more than 100% in 5 years. It is truly bonkers.

[markjohnobrien]

Some bike stuff has gone up by more than 100% in 5 years. It is truly bonkers.

My pet hate is Surly and Salsa rip off prices in the last 5-6 years: frame prices are eye watering.

Wish I’d bought one of their frames in 2015 - half the price.

[PH]

Wheelbase let you get discount price with interest free.

That's interesting, and unusual.
The website says "Please Note: 0% finance is only available on non-sale items." and I assumed that meant all discounts.

[Tangled Metal]

Go into the shop and ask. I did and they just put the price through at discount. Maybe not official policy but they do it. Heard from others who did buy discount with interest free. Unless that's another thing that's changed post COVID.

Mind you all academic right now as they're not discounting at all. Another part of the price rise/poor deal we're seeing more of these days.

[pwa]

Still doesn't get past the point that before covid wheelbase often had some of the best prices for genesis bikes around in the UK and still allowed you to get those prices with interest free credit but now everywhere there's fewer deal prices. The £200 cheaper spa price now used to be £400-500 cheaper at wheelbase at times in the past.

We're in a time without good deals on bikes at the level of 2019 or before.

My brother works in the cycle trade and his main headache at the moment is simply not being able to get stuff. And who, in their right mind, would offer discounts in a market in which demand exceeds supply?

Looking at that Croix de Fer ( which I rate as "quite nice"), the stated price sounds a bit dear, but only by £100 or so. What seems different to me is that you might actually have to pay that, rather than get it at a bit of a discount. So yes, the price you actually have to pay is dear compared to what you might have been paying a couple of years back.

[Tangled Metal]

The same bike was rrp £300 cheaper pre-covid. Full price is OK but when most bike prices seemed stable for years this past year, possibly it was happening before covid too, the prices seem to have inflated the rrp without the discount situation being looked at.

[pwa]

My main concern if buying that bike, apart from the price, is that in my experience recent STI levers aren't the longest lasting items you can get, and they are expensive to replace. But with mechanical disc brakes at least you are not looking for a hydraulic set.

I could live with the lack of hydraulics. You get used to the brakes you have, and if they lack bite you get used to anticipating when to brake, and you pull hard enough on the lever to get the braking you need. The problem comes if you move from hydraulics to mechanical and take time to adjust.

For a long time now my expectation has been that any (to my mind) nice bike will cost £1000 or more. If it cost much less I would be looking closely for where corners have been cut. But anything north of £2000 will have unnecessary expense somewhere or it. Bits that perform no better than more reasonably priced items. The CdF may be a bit dear but it is still in the bracket I am comfortable with. As someone who only buys once a decade or less.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Getting key components is getting beyond a joke at the moment as well, at present. I needed new brake pads for my ‘best bike’. Normally it’s a 5 minute job, to go to one of the on line places, and get them delivered ( next day). Not at the moment it isn’t. I went to all the ‘usual suspects’. No joy whatsoever. Trying to get the original replacement parts is completely impossible, because Campagnolo have chucked their toys out of the pram, spectacularly, because of Brexit, and trying to find compatible pads from other manufacturers is more hassle than you’d believe. The first set of pads which were ‘compatible’ ( honest guv) weren’t. It took me about 3 hours googling and internet searching to find somewhere that had pads that actually are compatible. Incredibly, it was a fairly obscure ( to me ) independent cycle shop, in Wolverhampton that had them in stock. I checked my chain whilst I had the bike up on the stand ( just in case ) and it’s at about +0.075mm stretch, so I thought I’d better get a new one ordered. That was easier to source than the brake pads, but the ( well known ) Internet based supplier use Herpes for delivery, and ( quelle surprise ) they screwed up the ‘next day delivery’ ( not for the first time ). So I ended up riding the bike, on not a primo front brake, and with not a primo chain, over the bank holiday weekend, which is exactly why I ordered the bits when I did. The Pandemic and Brexit are really causing issues with cycle supply chains, and prices, as well as everything else at present.

[markjohnobrien]

Agree it’s crazy but more pandemic than Brexit.

[Stevek76]

It's not even really pandemic, though there are ancillary lingering issues with container shortages (and a little of brexit here), the main issue appears to be that there is still very high demand for bikes and bike bits worldwide that is outstripping supply.

I noticed the other day that some of the Boardman 2021 range has had up to 10% added to the rrp

Separately to all that and over a longer timescale the price of certain brands like surly and genesis has certainly shot up. Think that's just a case of they're selling at the price people are willing to pay and tends to be inevitable when a brand moves from trying to make a name for themselves to being popular.

[Marcus Aurelius]

It's not even really pandemic, though there are ancillary lingering issues with container shortages (and a little of brexit here), the main issue appears to be that there is still very high demand for bikes and bike bits worldwide that is outstripping supply.

I noticed the other day that some of the Boardman 2021 range has had up to 10% added to the rrp

Separately to all that and over a longer timescale the price of certain brands like surly and genesis has certainly shot up. Think that's just a case of they're selling at the price people are willing to pay and tends to be inevitable when a brand moves from trying to make a name for themselves to being popular.

Particularly with Boardman. I bought a couple of Boardman bikes in 2014. They were bought with all sorts of discounts, and I got a couple of very decent bikes, with very decent bits, for a very good price ( I still have them ). The new range are a bit ‘meh’ in comparison, and don’t have the discounts.

[simonhill]

Also, don't forget the 20% drop in the £ immediately after the Brexit vote. This took a while to feed through.

A slow rise in the £ has mitigated this to about 10% now, but again that takes time to be felt.

[Tangled Metal]

Nope! Not forgetting that pound dip because it came in with me selling some shares. It seems pound dips but the shares rise. Earnt me a few unexpected thousands some of which bought me a brompton (which resulted in an accident). Swings and roundabouts with everything!!!

PS I also bought a concept 2 rower which it seems to be coming from America. Also with the unexpected windfall, but possibly at inflated prices due to pound drop. Another positive and negative to the current situation.