That’s the story I got at one of the bike shops in town. I was looking n their “used” rack, and he said, “bike prices are coming down–for a few hundred more you can buy new.”
So I was wondering. How come the price keeps going up on the bikes I like? Or are they coming down?
Felt MSRPs just jumped up a little in the last few weeks.
The price on the high-end bikes keeps going up, but back in the mid range, say $2,000, I think the situation is getting better and better - this is where trickle down technology has had a dramatic impact. A $2,000 bike is essentially the same bike that was winning bike road races in Europe and IM triathlons only a few years ago. I am no techy, but this is also the point of diminishing returns. You can pay more and buy more bike, no doubt, but it starts to be come harder to really figure out the differences after this point.
My girlfriend just picked up a loaner training bike from her sponsor - a Specialized Allez Comp with last year’s 9-speed Ultegra on it. I have had a look over this bike and it is an outstanding machine. It’s as light as a feather with the training wheels on it and rock solid. It’s a beaut!! I believe that it retails for around $2,000.
Fleck
Monk - How is your foot? Maybe we need another picture to see how you are healing?
The LBS guy gave you BS. They probably mark up their used bikes for the ole bait and switch. Prices are going up b/c groupos have gone up. Don’t worry…when 105 goes 10, it will only get higher. The only company that really wants this to change is Specialized as they spec non-Shimano whenever possible. Until SRAM gets their 10 on the market and another company enters the drive-train market, Shimano is making nice money.
Doug from Full Speed Ahead here.
It is likely that bicycles will go up in price for the next model year or be down-spec’d to maintain magical price points.
Most parts and frame makers have recently instituted price increases in the approx range of 5-10%.
These increases are based on increased costs of materials (steel, aluminum, carbon fiber) as well as other costs like transport costs and labor costs.
US Dollar must also be taken into account. It is weak compared to Euro, Yen and Taiwan dollar. US dollar versus Taiwan dollar has changed quite a bit in the past 90 days and a high percentage of most bicycle content is from TW.
But…most bikes and parts are still a great value.
Doug