Where have all the bikes gone?

Squareroot

After weeks of looking at specifications and reviews and looking around bike shops, I finally narrowed my choice down to three bikes. I went to my local bike shop (which indeed is a very modern, large and highly reputable one) to try out the bikes in question.

My first choice was the Specialized Allez Sport. They didn’t have any in stock but looked up stock on their computer. They found that there was no stock in the whole country and that all ‘Allez’ bikes were showing as having no stock. My next choice was the Giant Defy 2 (triple) and again there were none available in ‘medium’. The Giant website didn’t have a delivery time or any models available. The LBS said that they could get a Defy 2.5, but there was no possibility of a Defy 2 in my size. They showed me the website and this was correct, with many bikes completely out of stock and others ‘call Giant’ for further details. The third bike I wanted was the Trek 1.5, but I decided against this after trying the shifters. I enquired about the next model up (the Trek 1.7, 52cm frame) and I think the system showed only 19 in the country – and no stock with a triple cassette.

I was offered alternative bikes to look at ( it reminded me of a visit to a shoe shop when they would say ‘sorry we haven’t got a size 8 in a black, would you like to try the 9 in a brown?) and told there was a real shortage of bikes because of the ‘credit crunch’.
Has anyone else had an experience like this? Is it common for bikes to be in such short supply, with no delivery dates available? And if so, is it advisable to just wait and hope that the bike I want will come in (the Giant Defy 2) or settle on an alternative?

I’m buying to the cycle to work scheme and wanted to use the LBS as they look really good and obviously there will be some follow up service which would be difficult if I bought a bike from a shop 50 miles or so away.

Any help or advice would be really appreciated.

Thank you.

guilliano

Not a chance of the Defy 2 I'm afraid. They had sold out the entire allocation of this a month ago and the factory is now busy producing the 2010 model. We have had a fair number of enquiries about this bike in my shop too. You'll either have to up the budget to a Defy 1/Trek 1.7 or settle for the Defy 2.5 which as least has the same STI shifting as the Defy 2.

At this time of year road bikes are flying out the doors of bike shops and the "credit crunch" has meant manufacturers cutting back on production a little in anticipation of lower demand....... understandable considering last year they all seemed to have a LOT of bikes left over at the end of the year that they had to flog cheaply

juankerr

Interesting. I was looking at the Wheelies website and the Allez's have disappeared off there completely. I mailed them earlier today asking if they would be getting more in.

FYI - I'm looking in the same price bracket and the Allez Sport is my first choice too.

Monty Dog

Orders for this season's stock were placed last autumn, so when the UK allocation is sold, that's it - I don't think this is anything to do with the credit crunch - more to do with the increasing popularity of cycling. There are plenty of other makes apart from Giant, Specialized and Trek and probably better value too.

kingrollo

There is some truth in there being a shortage of stock at the moment - but I have been told this will ease in the next couple of weeks - they will be shipping 09 models right until the end of July - so if your patient you will get the bikes you want.

Of the course the shops want a sale today - and will tell you anything to sell you a model they conveniently have in stock.

doyler78

Well if the reason is because they cut production because of the amount of stock they were left to shift and the amount of discounts they had to offer then I find that very strange as I found the 08 bike discounts to be terrible compared to the 06 & 07 disocunts which were widely on offer with much interest.

gavintc

Stock is expensive. When an organisation starts to feel the pinch, it is often stock that takes the hit. Just in time logistics, lean systems et al have led to a significant reduction in stock across all industries and the bike iindustry is no different. My nice new Kinesis frame is going to take 4 weeks to arrive.

Wappygixer

If you live near a Decathlon stor ehave a look at this http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/comp-aluminium-carbon-2009-69568379/#INFO-DETAIL

Similar spec to what you have been looking at but I would say a much better frame (I have ridden this frame too and felt very responsive)

Only thing with Decathlon is that they cant use the vouchers for cycle to work, however your company can still pay via cash or card to get the benifits (cycle to work want 10% of every bike sold through the scheme).