Brompton waiting time

[Pale Rider]

A tentative Brompton inquiry gathered the news that waiting time for a custom Brommie is currently 13 weeks.

Longer than usual, a bike ordered today might not arrive before Christmas.

My Brommie dealer, who professes no inside knowledge, wonders if the delay is caused by Brexit.

I hate to mention the B word on this section of the forum, but I suppose it's possible foreign dealers are ordering extra bikes, fearful that supply might be interrupted after October 31.

My dealer reckons it's an example of Brompton looking after the export market when they should be supporting UK dealers.

Brompton has always been a law unto itself, and dealers do find them frustrating to deal with.

Is it likely Brexit is responsible for longer waiting time for UK customers?

 

[alicat]

Who knows, apart from Brompton?

I suspect that if what your dealer hypothesises is true it would have happened before the first extension. They won't have shifted the stocks by now.

 

[Cycleops]

Highly unlikely I'd have thought as they are not reliant on supplies from outside as I understand it and many of Bromptons new markets are outside the EU anyway. Nice position for a company to find itself in and it only increases demand.
Why don't you buy an off the shelf model? Unless of course you want a pink and blue one .

 

[rogerzilla]

It's always taken a while to get one. There aren't many components from mainland Europe (Sapim spokes, I think, and the SA hubs are probably imported via the Netherlands even though they're made in Taiwan).

I wonder if Sunrace/SA can cope with demand now that SRAM has exited the hub gear market.

 

[Sharky]

Could it be that manufacturers are now holding onto stock, expecting that prices are going to rise generally after Brexit and fuel prices will be going up as well, making the demand for Bromptons higher.

Would you sell stuff now, knowing that after October, you could get a much higher price?

 

[Cycleops]

Would you sell stuff now, knowing that after October, you could get a much higher price?

Given the already high price of a Brompton that might mean buyers having to sell a kidney.

 

[Dogtrousers]

When I bought mine four years ago I went into my local dealer and they happened to have exactly what I wanted (H6R) already assembled and ready to go. And as a bonus it was in a finish that I liked - laquered raw metal - if I'd considered that beforehand (which I hadn't). So my waiting time was zero.

Is it Bre*it related? Pfft. Who knows, and not really worth pontificating about as we can't know. It's likely to have had some sort of influence. A large influence? Mebbe aye ... mebbe nooo.

 

[Pale Rider]

Why don't you buy an off the shelf model?

There was no click and collect bike in my preferred spec, leaving aside colour.

If I'm going to pay £1,250 for a £300 folder I may as well have it right.

There might be a suitable bike in stock locally, but I'm inclined to stick with the dealer I've spoken to who've I've known on and off for 25 years.

Another point is the dealer tells me he only gets 20 per cent on a click and collect bike, as opposed to 30 per cent on a bespoke order.

That could be why Halfords/Cycle Republic are not part of the the click and collect scheme - their shops do not come up as an option event though they are now dealers.

 

[srw]

If I'm going to pay £1,250 for a £300 folder

...then you're a mug. If you want a £300 folder there are plenty of them out there.

When I got my last, individually specced, Brompton, I was quoted a delay of well over a month and it was delivered well within a month. I suspect there is some expectation management afoot.

There could well be some Brexit related activity too, or a seasonal effect, but it's unlikely they're deliberately favouring foreign stockists to piss off the UK ones, because that would be stupid.

 

[Cycleops]

They may well be favouring new export markets at the expense of UK dealers. You can't really blame them as the home market must be getting saturated by now with sales maybe slowing, hence trying to increase demand by throwing it open to all and sundry like Halfords.

 

[u_i]

I find the remark that Brompton should first care about UK market insulting, though maybe consistent with sentiments that spurred Brexit. When ordering a custom Brompton from a US-based dealer in 2015 it took 8 weeks for me to get it.

 

[chriscross1966]

It's always taken a while to get one. There aren't many components from mainland Europe (Sapim spokes, I think, and the SA hubs are probably imported via the Netherlands even though they're made in Taiwan).

I wonder if Sunrace/SA can cope with demand now that SRAM has exited the hub gear market.

Thought SA hubs were made in India.. that might be me being confused tho

 

[berlinonaut]

many of Bromptons new markets are outside the EU anyway.

The export ratio for Brompton has been aroundish 75% of the production for deacdes already.

 

[berlinonaut]

There aren't many components from mainland Europe (Sapim spokes, I think, and the SA hubs are probably imported via the Netherlands even though they're made in Taiwan).

Handlebars are AFAIK from Humpert (Germany)
Dynamo lights are from Busch and Müller (Germany) and Spanniga (Netherlands)
Bags are from Radical Design (Netherlands, partly made in Asia)
Tires are from Schwalbe (Germany, made in Indonesia)
etc. etc.

If you go beyond the finished products: Where does the steel for the frames come from? I think I've read it would be imported from from spain some time in the past, but I may remember wrongly. Are the rims made in the uk? etc. etc.

 

[berlinonaut]

They may well be favouring new export markets at the expense of UK dealers. You can't really blame them as the home market must be getting saturated by now with sales maybe slowing, hence trying to increase demand by throwing it open to all and sundry like Halfords.

The numbers from the yearly blanance prove you wrong. The home market seems by no means to be saturated. Still it seems rational behaviour to create an inventory within Bromptons various daughter distribution companies especially in Benelux as long as there are no customs and probably the local distribution and the local dealers throughout Europe do the same to a degree.