Forum menu
The Ever Given is finally on its way to Europe, after being stuck on a sand dune for a few days, followed by many weeks parked in a nearby lake while canal authorities and insurance companies argued over compensation for the traffic jam. Ok, it's only one ship...
But does this mean that some of the recent severe shortages of components will be eased just a little? Might we be able to find a cassette or the 'right' chain anytime this summer?
Unfortunately not.
My understanding is that the entire supply chain has been disrupted. It's not just one ship, it's the entire industry and it will be many months before everything gets caught up again.
It’s getting worse, not better. Dates for all sorts, including cassettes, keep moving further towards some kind of event horizon… dig out your singlespeeds for the winter.
I've heard there is a big Sram consignment on there for one distributor. I don't doubt there'll be other stuff on it as well.
Will it make as massive difference to supply...
Probably not..
I was in my LBS at the weekend and they were saying that they've been told December at the earliest for Shimano and March for SRAM stock. It may have been the other way round but either way it's not looking good.
They have a couple of Eagle cassettes in stock and I was seriously considering buying one as a spare before they sell out! They mentioned that 12 speed chains are impossible to get hold of currently.
While I generally disapprove of panic buying, I think you'd be daft not to have some spare consumables put to one side right now.
On the other hand, it would be shame if all the new stock coming into the country went into folks' spares boxes, rather than into the hands of people who need it right now.
I don't wanna spend £100 on a spare cassette but the way things are going I'll kick myself if I don't when I do need one.
Might we be able to find a cassette or the ‘right’ chain anytime this summer?
I suppose it depends what speeds you are running, a lot of the older stuff looks available ,but then this is coming from someone who still runs 9 speed on a few bikes 😉
You need to look away from the main brands to get stock. Eg ztto have an offical shop on aliexpress. Just ordered some xc phantom muds from chaoyang via bikeinn as I am out of muds at the moment.
On the other hand, it would be shame if all the new stock coming into the country went into folks’ spares boxes, rather than into the hands of people who need it right now.
Always had a shelf with spares on, nowdays it just has a few more things on there!
Relying on the shambles that is the bike industry is a waste of time and effort.
I'm just maintaining my usual level of spares stock TBH.
A few cassettes to cover MTB and road, a few chains, a rear mech, gear cables, disc rotors, brake pads, bearings, sealant, fluids and waaaay too many tyres.
I fitted my new 12 speed XT mech last week, as the old one had loads of play in the parallelogram pins/bushes. This thread just reminded me, so I just called my Lbs and they have put me a SLX one to the side to pick up later. (No XT’s left)
Heads up that Merlin have 12 speed XT & SLX cassettes and XT chains in stock.
Just ordered the SLX cassette.
How hard could it be to open a factory in the UK that makes this stuff I wonder?
How hard could it be to open a factory in the UK that makes this stuff I wonder?
If you think prices for parts are high now then that would only make then even higher.
I don’t wanna spend £100 on a spare cassette.....
Neither did I... so ended up spending £200..d'oh!!
It is, however, a lovely Garbaruk 12spd thing of milled beauty!
Plus my GX chains arrived today (from Lordgun), so i'm sorted for a bit...
Kinda glad my OH's Ebike runs Sram 12spd stuff too, so we can swop and chop as needed!
DrP
picked up a deore 12s sgs derailleur for £56 2 weeks back, quite a few uk shops had stock, they seem sold out now
merlin have shifters deore / slx/ xt for first time in a while,
“ How hard could it be to open a factory in the UK that makes this stuff I wonder?”
I have a factory in the UK that makes (non-bike) stuff and the last 18 months have been such a battle to make sure we don’t run out of materials or components - a battle we have sometimes lost. In the modern world many supply chains are global and this pandemic has exposed their fragility…
I just bought a KMC 12 speed chain from PlanetX for £29.99 and they are saying they have lots in stock.
How hard could it be to open a factory in the UK that makes this stuff I wonder?
There was a thread about component shortage a while back that discussed related matters. The existing component makers know there's a parts shortage, but they don't know how long the demand will last. A lot of stuff will be contracted out to fairly general engineering shops in Taiwan or other Asian countries that will make parts for bikes, cars, etc. To expand their production would cost millions in new factory equipment and also require hiring new employees at a time when people can't work because of the pandemic. The new factories wouldn't actually be built and turning out bike parts until the pandemic was over anyway. Once the pandemic demand is over, that extra production capacity will be surplus, so they will never be able to pay off the investment. Therefore, nobody is investing in new factories. It will take a couple of years for the huge backlog of orders to be met, but there isn't any short-term solution to that.
I wonder how much of the far eastern Shitty Bike Kit Industry could be retasked to make good stuff? All these £45 12 speed cassettes and that...
I wonder how much of the far eastern Shitty Bike Kit Industry could be retasked to make good stuff?
They'll do whatever's most profitable. If you switch from making cheap bike parts to expensive ones, you haven't increased capacity. Also, making higher-end stuff may require extra production steps or more complex machining operations so it may not be possible to switch without investing in factory equipment.
“I wonder how much of the far eastern Shitty Bike Kit Industry could be retasked to make good stuff? All these £45 12 speed cassettes and that…”
That would depend on how different the materials and manufacturing processes are on the nicer kit - it might just require better QA/QC or it might require totally different tooling and totally different machines to handle the materials and hit the tolerances.
How hard could it be to open a factory in the UK that makes this stuff I wonder?
Some people think this about cars too....
Curse you all. My spare brake pad order just ballooned slightly to cover (almost) all eventualities over the winter (mostly CX bike stuff wearing out).
Still debating a spare turbo cassette but I guess the beauty of a turbo cassette is that you can be less picky, I barely stray from the same 3 sprockets at the back anyway for most of my workouts...
I'm currently working on a GRX build. I've been able to source all the parts I need but it has taken some creativity.
If you are just riding for leisure then I reckon that you don't need to hold too much stock of spares. I am betting that there will probably be *someone* with the part you need in stock, *somewhere* in Europe.
Perhaps I'll be proved wrong.
Road bikes are still 8 speed vintage, so I'll be OK, and the MTB's are both 2 x 10 with one 3x7 so we'll manage, but even 10 Speed Cassettes aren't in great supply - ended up buying the PG1070 for the extra bling (polished Spacers and spider) as the PG1050 wasn't available - and that was 6 months ago.
Its not just bike stuff, there is a global shortage of many electrical components which is going to stretch into next year.
It’s not just bike bits. There is a new house being built next door and the neighbour is having trouble sourcing materials.
Back to bikes. I couldn’t get an 11 speed XT derailleur last year so I bought an SLX (before they ran out too). I really can’t tell the difference.
I couldn’t get an 11 speed XT derailleur last year so I bought an SLX (before they ran out too). I really can’t tell the difference.
Don't say that too much, my experience is the 11sp SLX are not so sturdy.
Also just fitted another SLX because it's all that was available.
I am actually making a mild effort not to **** my mechs off of rocks & roots so much in recent months. Went through a bad period for that last year.
I've got a complete spare drivetrain ready to go.
Cassette, two chains, chainring, mech, shifter, cables inner and outer.
I wouldn't normally have this, but I stocked up prior to 31st Dec a bit and some more since.
Riding is too important to me to miss out due to shortages and I could be bothered to spend the time and money tracking this stuff down.
Selfish? Up to a point yes. But at least I'm not buying up stuff in bulk and trying to profit from it (which is going on a fair bit).
some stock is getting through slowly
shimano MT800 XT/SLX 68/73mm (BSA) threaded bottom brackets on amazon £20.22 delivered (from 25th july)
some stock is getting through slowly
The problem is, though, that to get your hands on it you'll either have to be surfing t'interwebz 24/7 or relying on PSAs on places like here.
**** that for a game of soldiers. I'm just snapping up bits and pieces as I see them. The way I see it, I'm just taking a tiny 'hit' by buying everything early once - assuming I replace used spares immediately.
If someone else isn't being prudent, then that's up to them.
As others have said it is not just bike bits. The global manufacturing company I work for sells machinery, we have unprecedented back orders and current estimate is to be caught up next June. Our price increases have been nowhere near the real world percentages that we have seen in the bike world however
Sure, but where are Shimano gonna source the components for their facility expansion?
I was advised by a local bike mechanic to buy a cassette and chain now and keep it until needed, as it could well be the middle to end of 2022 before things are heading towards normal.
Managed to get a 12 speed shimano slx cassette from Merlin and a shimano 12 speed shimano xt chain from Mantel.
It's like the great bog-roll shortage of 2020 all over again!
There's going to be a shortage, so everyone buys an extra chain to keep as a spare, and low and behold there is a shortage, and it develops twice as quickly as it needed to. The only difference being is that the bike industry doesn't seem to be agile enough to increase production to replace the stock that's been stockpiled before everyone's had to resort to (metaphorically) wiping their arses on the daily mail.
(And yes, for full hypocritical disclosure: I did order an extra chain this week, even though I've already got a spare)