The Bike Market. What happened.

[bigjim]

Looking to sell some bikes this year. So I've been keeping an eye on bike sales on E-bay and Gumtree for a couple of months. I've been surprised at how little bikes are fetching. Good steel framed bikes are fetching nothing like they were selling for a few years ago. just seen an excellent Dawes Galaxy go for £110 and a nice old Raleigh Royal for £81! Not just the classic stuff either. Modern bikes are just not shifting even on a good fixed price or not reaching reserve at Auction. I don't know it is the weather or people put off cycling or is there just a glut. It would be a shame if we went back to the days of throwing perfectly good bikes in the tip.

[mercalia]

well cheapo new bikes? alloy frames rather than steel? and e-bikes?

re Streatham High Road - I see a number of perfectly good bikes locked to the cycle hoops and abandoned. eg this one, been there now 3+ months, chain now rusty and tyres delflated.

The seat + post has now been stolen. Lambeth have put on their collection notice ( that has vanished ) By the time they do collect it other parts will have been stolen - Lambeth are too slow to remove bikes? They claim they will recycle them but by the time they do there is not much left

I just dont understand this. any of it

[random37]

They've been too expensive for years, and the Londoners have moved on from fixed gear. These days, they're disposable.
Works out very well for me. You can keep your 33 gear carbon monstrosity.

[horizon]

just seen an excellent Dawes Galaxy go for £110 and a nice old Raleigh Royal for £81! .

Did they have disc brakes?
Were they electric?
Were they matt black?

[Tiberius]

Were they matt black?

I for one will be delighted to see the back of that fashion.

The average bike shop nowadays, row after row of drab looking bikes. What an eyesore !!

[peetee]

It's a very strange time at present. Because of an impending house move I am trying to sell lots of stuff with little luck. Also, takings in the bike repair business are down too and have been for a couple of months.
They say trouble comes in threes; our road is shut for resurfacing for the best part of a week so no sign of business improving for a while.

[Stradageek]

I think it's a maintenance issue.

Quote from a guy who was training for an Etape (having never taken cycling seriously before) and who was stuck on a training ride with a broken chain.

"How come my car only needs a single service every 12,000 miles yet I have to service my bike every week! In this modern world it should be better than this!"

I recycle discarded bicycles. Almost all are given to me for free and all arrive with flat tyres and a comment from the owner that "it doesn't work so I've bought a new one" I have NEVER had to fix a puncture on over 100 bikes I've received. In the vast majority of cases all I've needed to do was pump up the tyres, oil the chain and adjust the brakes.

Even basic mechanical skills and a modicum of thought for the environment rather than a desire to aquire the latest fashionable item would cure this problem.

Will it happen - not a chance - just look at the number of people sat by the roadside in their cars, or in car parks with the engine running.

Suitably random forum-esq rant now over

[horizon]

I think it's a maintenance issue.

Quote from a guy who was training for an Etape (having never taken cycling seriously before) and who was stuck on a training ride with a broken chain.

"How come my car only needs a single service every 12,000 miles yet I have to service my bike every week! In this modern world it should be better than this!"

I recycle discarded bicycles. Almost all are given to me for free and all arrive with flat tyres and a comment from the owner that "it doesn't work so I've bought a new one" I have NEVER had to fix a puncture on over 100 bikes I've received. In the vast majority of cases all I've needed to do was pump up the tyres, oil the chain and adjust the brakes.

Even basic mechanical skills and a modicum of thought for the environment rather than a desire to aquire the latest fashionable item would cure this problem.

Will it happen - not a chance - just look at the number of people sat by the roadside in their cars, or in car parks with the engine running.

Suitably random forum-esq rant now over

Stradageek: great post, spot on!

[bigjim]

Maybe it will become worse as things become ever more disposable. Plus the younger generations seeing disposing rather then fixing or riding an older model becoming the norm. It's already there with white goods and furniture. I've just seen a really nice Raleigh Airlite with carbon fork. The bike looked pristine. It went for £21!
I've had to order three new chains this morning. They cost as much as that bike! I wonder if it's going to come to pass that one strips the bike for spares before dumping the frame.

[reohn2]

Were they matt black?

I for one will be delighted to see the back of that fashion.

The average bike shop nowadays, row after row of drab looking bikes. What an eyesore !!

Beauty,eye,beholder.

[gbnz]

Maybe it will become worse as things become ever more disposable. Plus the younger generations seeing disposing rather then fixing or riding an older model becoming the norm. It's already there with white goods and furniture. I've just seen a really nice Raleigh Airlite with carbon fork. The bike looked pristine. It went for £21!
I've had to order three new chains this morning. They cost as much as that bike! I wonder if it's going to come to pass that one strips the bike for spares before dumping the frame.

I'd disagree. A core issue resulting in the huge drop in consumer prices over the last thirty years, has been the industrial development of many formerly relatively undeveloped countries. Now that such countries surpass formerly developed countries such as Britain in industrial capacity, technology and potential, it'd be absurd to imagine that the boom in cheap consumer products will continue indefinately. Aside from the increasing cost/value of their labour, facilities and technology in relation to Britains, their own populations will become more demanding and thus increase costs.

It'd be reasonable to imagine that in ten, twenty, thirty years time, items such as new a toaster, never mind a bike, may become more of a "capital" item on the wish list

As such, the trend for regarding such items as being disposable, will eventually be disposed of in itself, given that their relative value will have much increased. That said, I was looking at a new bike online this morning, thinking that'f it'd be useful to use it over the summer and then keep the wheels, saddle, tyres, pedals for secondary use

[horizon]

Production has already moved from previously low-cost regions like China to new industrial areas like Vietnam (where Dawes are made and my Tern folder). Taiwan seems to be holding its own. What seems likely in the future is that, yes, there will be further moves to lower-cost countries but the end result will not be a limit to cost-cutting but in fact over-capacity. This has already happened in the car industry with the resulting closure of plants across the world. The remaining plants will survrive by just about keeping their heads above the water until new products and inventions come along. Remember that electric bikes are still very expensive. A good second hand car OTOH can be bought for the price of a bicycle.

[bigjim]

Good points above. But where does that leave the classic, 531 etc, steel framed bicycle. I thought there was was a good market fort the old quality handmade classic, but even that demand seems to have dwindled. Are we seeing the demise of the "collector"?

[reohn2]

..... Remember that electric bikes are still very expensive. A good second hand car OTOH can be bought for the price of a bicycle.

Quite right,my granddaughter rescently bought 56reg low mileage Vauxhall Astra in beautiful condition for £550,a service and two tyres cost her a further £250.The car is spot on both mechanically and bodily.
It cost me £800 for an electric conversion kit for our Circe tandem.

[Mike_Ayling]

56reg? What year is that?

Mike (from Downunder)