Giant Supply Problems

frosty99

Hi I've been waiting for a TCR composite 3 for over 6 weeks now. Heard today its been put back another 2 weeks, apparently Defy 1s are put back until Jan 2013. Anyone else having problems?

invincible

yep wanted the defy 1 but was told xmas so bought defy 3 that my LBS had ordered in stock due to knowing of the short supply & a couple of models were available at the time, they have few models that they did that with

Captainlip

I work in a store and was looking at our supply dates for giants. good luck getting one this year, well done giant!

chrisaonabike

I just bought a 2012 Defy Composite 3 from the Twickenham store, and test rode it against a 2013 Defy 1 (Al frame, 54cm). They still have the Defy 1 I think if that's any help to anyone.

If it's any consolation, a bloke that worked in one of the stores I've been visiting recently told me that all the manufacturers are experiencing supply that struggles to keep up with demand - due to the Olympic effect. No idea how widespread it is in reality but I guess not surprising.

garethjohn

Slightly off subject, was told that a caad10 which has just been requested wont be available until April! Work that one out.

Monty Dog

FWIW the bike industry works on a forecast demand at least 6 months in advance and dealers are awaiting 2013 stock- UK dealers simply couldn't have predicted the Bradley/Olympic effect and regretably the supply-chain for popular models and sizes has simply run dry. I expect if you looked beyond the big brands there's plenty of decent bikes out there.

Philinmerthyr

I'm planning to buy a sportive bike in February. The Defty and Caad are high on my list.

Do I need to make a decision now and order the bike? Without them being available for a test ride this would be difficult but I don't want to have to wait months for my chosen bike.

Captainlip

no madone? :shock:

Cannock Chase

Captainlip wrote:

no madone? :shock:

I ordered a 2013 Trek Madone 3.1 from my LBS towards the end of August. Was told three weeks delivery. Got a call less than two weeks bike was in shop..!! Excellent.

Captainlip

Treks B2B is excellent and acurate, unlike giants, id suggest Madone over Giant anyday.

BlakeysFC

Philinmerthyr wrote:

I'm planning to buy a sportive bike in February. The Defty and Caad are high on my list.

Do I need to make a decision now and order the bike? Without them being available for a test ride this would be difficult but I don't want to have to wait months for my chosen bike.

Go for the Defy 1 if you're planning to do alot of Sportives/Long Distance ride, the CAAD is more of a race bike.

DavidJB

And I thought having to wait a month for my neilpryde burasl was a long time :shock:

Bozman

Plenty of Treks available, i wonder why?

chilling

Bozman wrote:

Plenty of Treks available, i wonder why?

Probably because they have a better buying department who recognised the demand earlier and hit the button to produce more bikes quicker.

I mean, Giant are always going on about having their own factories, you would have thought they could ramp up production whenever they wanted.

Captainlip

The carbon treks are in short supply until nov/dec but the alu models are pretty much available.

how peeps jump on the trek hating bandwagon is beyond me, narrowminded individuals if you ask me

Philinmerthyr

Captainlip wrote:

The carbon treks are in short supply until nov/dec but the alu models are pretty much available.

how peeps jump on the trek hating bandwagon is beyond me, narrowminded individuals if you ask me

If I were looking for a sportive trek bike in the £1000-£1200 price range, what is available?

I'll be using it to train for a 100 miler next summer. Defty 1 is currently op of my list but also considering Ribble but would prefer to buy from lbs so I can get the right size and test ride the bike.

lotus49

Aargh, I hope this isn't true.

I ordered a Defy 3 just over a week ago from Halfords (I know, but it was through the Cycle to Work scheme so effectively half price and I am stuck with my employer's choice). They told me then it would be 5 weeks, which was long enough, but I would be very disappointed to have to wait so long that I will have missed the best of the weather. I live in God's Own County so there isn't that much good weather to start with.

I shall have to learn to be patient I suppose. What a pain.

BlakeysFC

Philinmerthyr wrote:

Captainlip wrote:

The carbon treks are in short supply until nov/dec but the alu models are pretty much available.

how peeps jump on the trek hating bandwagon is beyond me, narrowminded individuals if you ask me

If I were looking for a sportive trek bike in the £1000-£1200 price range, what is available?

I'll be using it to train for a 100 miler next summer. Defty 1 is currently op of my list but also considering Ribble but would prefer to buy from lbs so I can get the right size and test ride the bike.

Ribble make decent bikes too, but their customer service department seems somewhat lacking. There's been endless threads on here about Ribble's customer service department that I would seek out if you're seriously considering a Ribble.

Gazspurs

good to see its other suppliers.

I ordered a Ribble 7046 curved frame on 6/9 & been told delivery will be around 15/10. This is due to Olympics & recent adds placed in various bike magazines.

In fairness they've been more than good, phoned me twice to make me aware of lead times etc, perfectly happy to wait as bike I cant wait to get.

alihisgreat

chilling wrote:

Bozman wrote:

Plenty of Treks available, i wonder why?

Probably because they have a better buying department who recognised the demand earlier and hit the button to produce more bikes quicker.

I mean, Giant are always going on about having their own factories, you would have thought they could ramp up production whenever they wanted.

Not really..

Fixed capital and labour in the short term..

giropaul

My understanding is that most brands "mid range" bikes are in short supply (say £1,500 - £3,000 ish).

It's the Olympic effect, plus some other factors.

The lead time for production is quite long. Very few make their own frames, and those that do will in all likelihood be making for other people as well. Carbon frames are, especially, demanding of very high capital investment for moulds, autoclaves etc. At the same time, goupset manufacturers are also not going to be able to magically increase production overnight. If it's a short-term blip manufacturers aren't going to want to invest heavily in new plant anyway.

Add to that, a typical 4-8 weeks or so freight time, maybe more from the Far East (factory to unpacking in UK,) and it's easy to see why a waiting time can build up.

My daughter is currently in the Far East working with factories for clothing order deliveries for Autumn/Winter 2013!

PS - there are still plenty of top end frames about - and some good deals.
PPS - As far as riding a bike goes, as most frames start off in more or less the same place, it doesn't really matter what the transfer on it is at all, within a price range - it's just a question of preferring Campag, SRAM or Shimano!

johnnicebutdim

I must've been lucky, I took delivery of my 2013 Defy 1 in mid September!