When will the bike shortage in the UK end ?

[deaninkl]

as i kinda suspected - interesting - thanks - another good reason if you aren't a competitive racer, of running more "humble" stuff, not above 9 speed etc.

I had wanted to buy a a Merida Silex 400 that runs of a GRX groupset, but Merida couldnt give any delivery date and said certainly would not be until mid 2022 at least. I found a Silex 200 in a shop in Taipei in my size, its the same frame but a Sora 9 speed drive train.. reluctanly I went with it, but with some changes to the front rings to get the same gear range as the Silex 400, parts were confirmed available in Taiwan a couple of days later. Going 9 speed does at least currently have that advantage.

However for those interested, I have found and bought 10 speed 11/40 sunrace cassettes online from Ali Express, cheap and fast delivery.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Ribble have a page at https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/best-availability/ which lists bikes available with 7 days or so and over the last few weeks more Tiagra based road bikes are becoming available via this page.

In the past I have had a bit of a negative view of Tiagra, what's the point of it? It's not the cheapest, Claris (or 2000 series before it had a name) and Sora are cheaper and it lags behind 105 often seen as the sweet spot in the Shimano range in terms of sprockets and features.

Yet given the choice of waiting or getting a 2x10 it seems that others still share this reluctance, otherwise they would all have been sold.

Changing the frame size doesn't seem to alter delivery dates, supporting other posts that says that Ribble have frames but are struggling with complete groupsets

£1,100 for carbon frame/forks and Tiagra seems a pretty good price as well, given that a Trek 520 has gone from £1.1K to £1.6K, ouch!

Bye

Ian

 

[13 rider]

Called the bike shop to check on Warrenty crank replacement still no due date . They told me they had just order a 10 speed tiagara chainset ,delivery expected Aug 22

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I'm still waiting for a rim going back to December last year.

 

[Blue Hills]

all of this seems like a good argument for having several bikes, especially with not too "advanced" components and with a lot of crossover in their bits - if the worst comes to the worst you can at least start cannibalising.

Can't help wondering if this might lead to a certain move down the pecking order - and some folks maybe discovering that they maybe rather like the lower depths.

 

[All uphill]

all of this seems like a good argument for having several bikes, especially with not too "advanced" components and with a lot of crossover in their bits - if the worst comes to the worst you can at least start cannibalising.

Can't help wondering if this might lead to a certain move down the pecking order - and some folks maybe discovering that they maybe rather like the lower depths.

That's me! I've enjoyed 105 11speed on my road bike, but have gone for Sora 9sp on my new bike because I really don't need close ratios, expensive chains and cassettes or super slick changes.

 

[GuyBoden]

It might be easier to build your own bike than buy and wait for a complete new bike. Source the parts from what are available and then build it at home.

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

Delivery times on the majority of new bike orders are long, most are months and often years away, I have even quoted late 2024 for some! Parts are also in short supply, last week I checked two of the most popular cassettes from Madison the official Shimano distributor:

Shimano Ultegra : CS-HG800 11-speed cassette 11 - 34T Expected Availability On 6/04/2022
Shimano 105 : CS-HG700 11-speed cassette, 11 - 34T Expected Availability On 21/10/2022

Stores should have bikes but it's those ordered last year, few are actually available from suppliers, the stores that had not reacted to this change and pre ordered will struggle at the moment. In many ways it has gone back 35 years when I started in the trade, a customer bought what the store had in stock where as in recent pre pandemic times the store used their stock to showcase what could be ordered in.

Hopefully things will improve although few of my suppliers are indicating that it will any time soon

 

[Oldhippy]

Cycle shop in Canterbury is jammed to the gills with new cycles and didn't seem too perturbed when I enquired about updating my Rayleigh. They did have to search harder but didn't say it was impossible.

 

[Blue Hills]

Odd times for delivery times on new bike orders, most are months and often years away,

Not disputing what you are saying (I gather you are in the business) but this is going to make for a very odd market isn't it, particularly for those who want to ride "the latest thing"? By the time it turns up it will be so last year and would normally of course be discounted. Could this possibly just freeze the new market?

From a personal perspective would be interested in any info/views you might have on the availability of 9 speed bits.

 

[Pale Rider]

I'm still waiting for a rim going back to December last year.

That can't be very comfortable on your long rides, which reminds me:

Mary had a little bike
She rode it on the grass
Every time the wheel went around
The spokes stuck up her....

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

Not disputing what you are saying (I gather you are in the business) but this is going to make for a very odd market isn't it, particularly for those who want to ride "the latest thing"? By the time it turns up it will be so last year and would normally of course be discounted. Could this possibly just freeze the new market?

From a personal perspective would be interested in any info/views you might have on the availability of 9 speed bits.

Yes I came into the Cycle Trade to follow my vocation, just for a few months so I could say to myself I had done it; 35 years later I am still in it

Old surplus stock is often discounted, but there is virtually no old or surplus stock this autumn so don't expect to see much in the way of the traditional end of season offers. It is indeed a very odd market at the moment although we are seeing new models gradually arriving, we ordered what was current at the time last year and when they finally arrive it maybe the updated version. All that has really changed is the ETA for new orders, which is often very long and this is why stores have pre-ordered more stock than normal; the bikes ordered all that time ago are now starting to be delivered; so they should at least have something viable to offer, although with model ranges being so large it is not unusual that the customers first or second choice is not instock!

I imagine that as the world hopefully gets back to normal delivery times will improve; only time will tell. Bike manufacturers/distributors have enjoyed dealers forward ordering, a trend that suits them of course, but less so the dealer, especially as many don't have much storage space to hold surplus stock. For a while cycling was pretty much all we could do and with demand so high and supply so poor many were panic buying, but I have noticed a huge drop in demand, potentially because as restrictions lift and we can do other things than ride a bike. In time if a dealer is able to get new stock quickly they will not need to hold as much instore, it is then you will start to see offers appearing as they sell off what will then be surplus of course.

As for 9 speed everything is in short supply, but a store can often find something to keep a rider going.

 

[Alex321]

Yes I came into the Cycle Trade to follow my vocation, just for a few months to say I could say to myself I had done it; 35 years later I am still in it

Old surplus stock is often discounted, but there is virtually no old or surplus stock this autumn so don't expect to see much in the way of the traditional end of season offers. It is indeed a very odd market at the moment although we are seeing new models gradually arriving, we ordered what was current at the time last year and when they finally arrive it maybe the updated version. All that has really changed is the ETA for new orders which is often very long, which is why stores have pre-ordered more stock than normal that is now starting to arrive; so they at least have something viable to offer, although with model ranges being so large it is not unusual that the customers first or second choice is not instock!

I imagine that as the world hopefully gets back to normal delivery times will improve; only time will tell. Bike manufacturers/distributors have enjoyed dealers forward ordering, a trend that suits them of course, but less so the dealer, especially as many don't have much storage space to hold surplus stock. For a while cycling was pretty much all we could do and with demand so high and supply so poor many were panic buying, but I have noticed a huge drop in demand, potentially because as restrictions lift and we can do other things than ride a bike. In time if a dealer is able to get new stock quickly they will not need to hold as much instore, it is then you will start to see offers appearing as they sell off what will then be surplus of course.

As for 9 speed everything is in short supply, but a store can often find something to keep a rider going.

Yes. It is possible to get a decent new bike at the moment, but only if you are prepared to be flexible. When I bought one at the start of August, I had a shortlist of about 10 bikes, and finished up getting what was probably about my 4th choice, because it was the first one that was in stock in my size.

But as you say, this has to improve as manufacturers can get hold of the required materials better, and demand will almost inevitably fall as people who only took up cycling because they couldn't do anything else will some of them drop out. And many of the others now have a decent bike, so won't be looking for another.

 

[Elybazza61]

Yes I came into the Cycle Trade to follow my vocation, just for a few months so I could say to myself I had done it; 35 years later I am still in it

Old surplus stock is often discounted, but there is virtually no old or surplus stock this autumn so don't expect to see much in the way of the traditional end of season offers. It is indeed a very odd market at the moment although we are seeing new models gradually arriving, we ordered what was current at the time last year and when they finally arrive it maybe the updated version. All that has really changed is the ETA for new orders, which is often very long and this is why stores have pre-ordered more stock than normal; the bikes ordered all that time ago are now starting to be delivered; so they should at least have something viable to offer, although with model ranges being so large it is not unusual that the customers first or second choice is not instock!

I imagine that as the world hopefully gets back to normal delivery times will improve; only time will tell. Bike manufacturers/distributors have enjoyed dealers forward ordering, a trend that suits them of course, but less so the dealer, especially as many don't have much storage space to hold surplus stock. For a while cycling was pretty much all we could do and with demand so high and supply so poor many were panic buying, but I have noticed a huge drop in demand, potentially because as restrictions lift and we can do other things than ride a bike. In time if a dealer is able to get new stock quickly they will not need to hold as much instore, it is then you will start to see offers appearing as they sell off what will then be surplus of course.

As for 9 speed everything is in short supply, but a store can often find something to keep a rider going.

Same for our shop.

Had a look this afternoon at our back orders for Sportline(Ridgeback and Genesis) and most are for mid/late 2022 and 2023.

Already doing orders for 2024 including Surly and Ridley.

We do actually have three Fenix SLIC frames coming but will have to see what we can get to build them with.

And we are trying not to laugh when people are asking when the 'sales' start

 

[Biker man]

Panic buying all over again!

If we get a hard winter like years ago deep snow and ice that will slow bike sales down.