Ho ho ho?

[Cathryn]

I managed to snag a MTB for my son for Christmas today...due to arrive on Dec 21st! I tried to place an order for the prettiest MTB in the world (which has actually lured me to the fat-tyred dark side) but was told I wouldn’t get it till May! Maybe not!

I’m delighted bike shops have been an unintended winner in Covid but wow, those are long delays!

 

[Slick]

Great you got what you wanted, that's going to be a rarity from here on in from what I can tell. My local bike shop shifted 80 kids bikes for Christmas and now can't get any more and estimated if I ordered a bike today, it would likely be September next year for delivery.

 

[Cathryn]

September!!! We were luckier than I realised!

 

[Slick]

Like most canny scotsmen, I do like a bargain but looks like winter pickings will be sparse at best this year.

 

[Cathryn]

Like most canny scotsmen, I do like a bargain but looks like winter pickings will be sparse at best this year.

Second hand isn’t that cheap either!

 

[Slick]

Second hand isn’t that cheap either!

My usual preference is to try and pick up a bargain in the very new year of the previous year's model. Looks highly unlikely this time around.

 

[PaulSB]

Speaking to my LBS it's apparent some manufacturers, probably all, have limited stocks and are rationing the number of bikes any one shop can purchase for 2021. Two factors, manufacturing shutdown due to Covid-19 and a huge surge in demand during lockdown.

I'm also told Shimano production is fully booked for 12 months and the company is not taking orders.

My LBS has been picking up bikes from manufacturers it doesn't usually use. I got a beautiful Genesis there yesterday and feel very lucky to have done so - a benefit of using the same shop for 20+ years.

 

[PaulSB]

My usual preference is to try and pick up a bargain in the very new year of the previous year's model. Looks highly unlikely this time around.

I doubt there will be any deals or bargains to be found.

Speaking to my LBS it's apparent some manufacturers, probably all, have limited stocks and are rationing the number of bikes any one shop can purchase for 2021. Two factors, manufacturing shutdown due to Covid-19 and a huge surge in demand during lockdown.

I'm also told Shimano production is fully booked for 12 months and the company is not taking orders.

My LBS has been picking up bikes from manufacturers it doesn't usually use. I got a beautiful Genesis there yesterday and feel very lucky to have done so - a benefit of using the same shop for 20+ years.

In some respects it's great news for the industry, in others less so. If products are unavailable or on long lead times this results in frustrated customers etc. When I worked our general view was if we sold out then we had under produced for whatever reason! Retailers and manufacturers have made hay in 2020, there could now be famine in 2021?

I was in our local Halfords on Sunday, stock of all cycling related items was very limited. Usually the place is rammed.

 

[Slick]

I doubt there will be any deals or bargains to be found.

Speaking to my LBS it's apparent some manufacturers, probably all, have limited stocks and are rationing the number of bikes any one shop can purchase for 2021. Two factors, manufacturing shutdown due to Covid-19 and a huge surge in demand during lockdown.

I'm also told Shimano production is fully booked for 12 months and the company is not taking orders.

My LBS has been picking up bikes from manufacturers it doesn't usually use. I got a beautiful Genesis there yesterday and feel very lucky to have done so - a benefit of using the same shop for 20+ years.

In some respects it's great news for the industry, in others less so. If products are unavailable or on long lead times this results in frustrated customers etc. When I worked our general view was if we sold out then we had under produced for whatever reason! Retailers and manufacturers have made hay in 2020, there could now be famine in 2021?

I was in our local Halfords on Sunday, stock of all cycling related items was very limited. Usually the place is rammed.

I agree about the potential famine if we ever get back to normal which probably means no new purchases for me for quite some time.

Congratulations on the Genesis, lovely machines.

 

[TempleDancer]

I'm on the lookout for a new bike (my only road bike is my single-speed ex-commuter currently).

The (somewhat mercenary) view I'm taking is that a lot of the bikes that have sold out in the recent months will shortly be up for sale on eBay with only a handful of miles on the clock.

 

[vickster]

But there'll be high demand from people like yourself hoping to snap up a bargain...which will drive prices up

 

[Blue Hills]

I'm on the lookout for a new bike (my only road bike is my single-speed ex-commuter currently).

The (somewhat mercenary) view I'm taking is that a lot of the bikes that have sold out in the recent months will shortly be up for sale on eBay with only a handful of miles on the clock.

If you can hang on, sounds like a fair approach to me. Or, depending on what sort of bike you are after, you could get out in the second hand market and buy an older thing now. Waiting for a final bit to arrive (space for a 1 inch threaded headset if folks remember such things) then I'll set to on a quality build up of a bike/frame that cost me £21. It was admitedly pre covid but the partner of the woman I bought it off, irritated by my reasonable questions about the size, said if I didn't take it off her hands pronto it was off to the tip.

 

[Milkfloat]

Parts are in short supply too, I had a warranty claim on a disc brake calliper. The retailer cannot get help from Madison and have no compatible parts available from any source. In the end to keep the bike on the road I found NOS on eBay and did it myself.

 

[weareHKR]

I was in our local Halfords on Sunday, stock of all cycling related items was very limited. Usually the place is rammed.

Same here in Hull, I went round all our main dealer LBS last weekend with my son who was looking for a MTB, he obviously didn't fancy any of my 30-year-old proper MTB's...
I did warn him he had very little chance of getting one this year, sure enough, there's nothing to be had, only one said they had a couple of Trek's coming in the middle of November but couldn't promise anything.
Basically, they all have orders on but couldn't promise when they would arrive & they suspected it would probably be August/September next year!
As PaulSB said, even Halfords had hardly anything left, no tires, no tubes, no decent bike lock or lights, the cupboard was empty!

 

[Blue Hills]

Parts are in short supply too, I had a warranty claim on a disc brake calliper. The retailer cannot get help from Madison and have no compatible parts available from any source. In the end to keep the bike on the road I found NOS on eBay and did it myself.

yep the impression I have as well. Suddenly my parts squirelling over the last few year, which may have looked like a mental disorder, suddenly looks rather clever. Yep ebay is a good source of new or virtually new bits.
I have no need of a new bike, just the odd bit - anyone any idea when the parts situation might improve? - I had the idea that a fair bit of the east was getting back to work. Or is the main cause of the problem at the moment demand from bikeshops for folks getting their old bikes fixed up with bits? (I can't imagine many new cyclists buying bits themselves - wouldn't have the confidence to do the tinkering).