There is no way demand will outstrip supply forever... at some point it will switch around... it is always thus... but that doesn't mean the new extra costs facing the bike industry will also all disappear. If prices do drop to clear excess stock post Covid... it'll mean closures of companies and shops, as Ben said. Once supply/demand is rebalanced, bikes are still going to cost more... because costs are higher. Price isn't just about demand.
Bikes will always sell, peak demand like the one we had that emptied loads of shops won't happen again for a while, but that was a weird one as most didn't have stock to fulfill orders anyway.
Some companies did really well out of the Covid/C2W stuff, but others didn't as they weren't set up to match the demands, it'll be interesting to see what companies do well or not so well now with the way the UK market is.
I frequent the MTBR forums and Specialized have just increased the prices in Canada but not the US:
Just noticed Specialized jacked up the price of the Stumpjumper EVO in canada but not in the US. Comp up by $300 and Expert by $500
Late last year the price of the Enduro comp went from £4500 to £5000 for the base model which comes with NX groupset!
Well the CdF framesets are up 10%, and since there are no components, there is no mistaking where the increase is coming from. That’s with the 135qr. If you want the 12mm TA, it’s another £250. Pretty sure that it doesn’t cost that much to change the axle lugs.
Ah - you’d said Genesis bikes, so I took that to mean across the board rather than a couple of frames. I’d imagine frames are relatively low volume for them (I see plenty complete bikes in shops, but not so many frames) and so have different economies of scale.
Pinnick blows the whistle on it – anything above 10% rise is going to be about under-availability of supply – what the market will bear, as opposed to awful external costs.
The freight cost increases are huge (temporary, but huge). The effect isn’t a %age increase as it affects cheaper bikes more than spendier ones as the transport cost increase per unit is the same regardless of the value of the unit. Trek’s prices are up circa 10-12% across the board, but the kids bikes are up 25% as they are (or were!) at the cheaper end of the scale.
Never mind bikes. This is the most worrying post on this thread...
I work in a cancer research lab, pandemic & Brexit are perfect storm, much of our reagents come from Germany, Switzerland etc
Costs have jumped by 20% in the lat 6 months with another round this January , its really impacting our budgets, which didn’t have much breathing room anyway, especially since £ fell.
DNA sequencing is our biggest cost & we’ve simply had to rewrite our projects around the higher prices, with less patients studied (we even considered teaming up with the Chinese government to keep costs down)A lot of what we order is incredibly specialist and sourcing from elsewhere is simply not an option
Yep, bike price increases is a snapshot of what is happening to everything we import. We may live in a small bubble bemoaning our expensive toys costing more (that would be me as I'm in the market for a bike right now) but the effects on the wider UK make that pale into insignificance.
I'm looking at price increases of print+ membership in light of the fact our paper stock comes from the EU. We have UK paper options but they are more expensive so one way of the other we are facing the issue of what to do with our pricing. The pressure is only one way and it's Brexit doing the pushing.
I bought a high spec santa cruz blur in 2010 for £3.5k, 11 years later you are looking at £9k for the same spec bike.
Yours and my definition of ‘same spec’ are a little different. Unless you had 12sp wireless electric shifting and carbon rims on that 2010 bike.
I bought a high spec santa cruz blur in 2010 for £3.5k, 11 years later you are looking at £9k for the same spec bike.
Yours and my definition of ‘same spec’ are a little different. Unless you had 12sp wireless electric shifting and carbon rims on that 2010 bike.
He might still have a point though - 2011 isn't the stone age - lets look at the Nomad 2 from 2008-2013:
Comparable frame design
Reverb dropper post
x11
Fox 36 - generation 2, or 3
Maxxis High-rollers
I'd agree that the design or some of these parts has probably come on a bit - but should that mean significant % prices increases? Are AXS electric components actually much more significantly expensive to manufacture? Even if they are a bit, the mark-up is probably as much about SRAM putting an increased differential over its manual XX groupset.
It wouldn't for cars - car and motoring prices are an interesting indicator. Like MTBs they are essentially a mature technology - there have been some incremental improvements since 2010 which make modern cars a bit better - but relative to incomes they haven't increased significantly in price;
Tax and insurance has gone up quite a lot mind!
At base I think the significant inflation in the mtb market is because it is an enthusiasts' pursuit - people want the next best thing, what is in fashion, bigger and better.
Some brands have a gucci appeal - people want them because they are expensive, because they are exclusive, or are believed to be exclusive.
A comparable SC ego chariot would likely be double the price now, not triple.
They've just added some super high-end offerings with a bit more mug tax applied since then.
but relative to incomes they haven’t increased significantly in price
Cars:
https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-cost-cars-uk
Incomes:
Re the Nomad 2
The one linked to is Aluminium, I know there were carbon ones, but I’d wager the recent models are more durable for a similar/less weight. Plus the current gen Nomads have more in common with the V10 now they’ve change the shock mounting.
It wouldn’t have had Nx11 in 2008-2012. Or a reverb for the first couple of years.
Fox forks of that era were, being kind, hit and (mostly) miss.
Electric shifting probably isn’t much more expensive than mechanical to make, though the development of it won’t have been cheap.
A top spec 5010 v1 (essentially the 27.5 replacement for the 26” blur LT) in 2013/14 cost the thick end of 7-8k, thanks mainly to Enve rim options.
Yes prices have increased, but it’s not like you are paying 3x the money for the same performance, Nor am I saying bikes are 3x as good as 10 years ago, but they are much better and performance vs price isn’t a linear graph.
kelvin
Full Member
but relative to incomes they haven’t increased significantly in priceCars:
https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-cost-cars-uk
Incomes:
Thanks Kelvin, that essentially buttresses my point.
Depending on the car segment you are looking at a 22-25% cumulative inflation over a ten year period, which is comparable to the % income increase mean/median.
We've been taking about 25% increase in a year above, probably cumulative increases of 100% plus over the decade.
Yes prices have increased, but it’s not like you are paying 3x the money for the same performance, Nor am I saying bikes are 3x as good as 10 years ago, but they are much better and performance vs price isn’t a linear graph.
I think we agree here. Performance has increase linearly, as price has increased exponentially. As one might expect for a luxury product.
Just to counter the doom and gloom, you can get far nicer bikes to ride for less money than a decade or two ago thanks to better geometry, bigger wheels and dropper posts. Modern hardtails are particularly great value as you free up more budget for an awesome fork.
I think we agree here. Performance has increase linearly, as price has increased exponentially. As one might expect for a luxury product.
Difference is I accept it as part of progress, you seem to take issue with it. That it’s an expensive, or ‘luxury’, product has nothing to do with it. Prices have increased at every level save for supermarket BSO’s, but so has performance to a lesser extent.
Difference is I accept it as part of progress, you seem to take issue with it. That it’s an expensive, or ‘luxury’, product has nothing to do with it. Prices have increased at every level save for supermarket BSO’s, but so has performance to a lesser extent.
I'm not that bothered, just interested in it as a curiosity.
I would prefer if the inflation rate for my hobby was a bit closer to the average.
As people have said above, the smart move is to buy non-cutting edge, discounted, second hand.
It's gone up for mid price performance bikes too, albeit not as much as for halo models.
We’ve been taking about 25% increase in a year above, probably cumulative increases of 100% plus over the decade.
Some equivalent cars have increases 60% in 7 years, some 21% in a year... pretty much like bikes.
I posted those links for comparison to the RAC report... yes people aren't spending that much more on purchasing their car... as the RAC say... BUT... they are not buying equivalent cars... they are buying lower market cars to avoid price increases.
It's the same with bikes... you could buy a good bike for £2K in 2013... you could still buy a good bike for £2K in 2020... you can still buy a good bike for £2K now... just not the same bike. People have a budget... they can still get a bike for their budget... but lower spec.
Personally, I've embraced Deore brakes, gears and cassettes... they're flipping great value.
They’ll just try and push us into the lease market like a lot of products. I’ll not go above £3k I think, even £2.5k seemed like massive money for a toy, especially as I should have bought something more xc.
Hope the bubble bursts and I can pick up a bargain epic evo
dyls
Free MemberI bought a high spec santa cruz blur in 2010 for £3.5k, 11 years later you are looking at £9k for the same spec bike.
I guess this was sarcasm but can't really tell...
