planet x rt57 frame

radiation man

i was looking to buy the red and white planet x rt57 carbon frame, but now its sold out and planet x say they are not sure if they are getting anymore, how come they cant make frames and bikes to order like cars, if bikes and frames sell out why cant more be made, this seems to happen with all bikes.

mattv

Most bikes have a model year, which usually changes in September. As almost all frames are made in the far east, there is a 3 month shipping lead time and often 3-6 months or more factory booking time. So you need to order a set number at least 9 months before you need them. It's safer to order less than needed, so you are not sitting on "old model" stock come July when consumers start expecting discounts as its the wrong colour. A few years back, there was a huge glut of old model bikes floating around, which had a knock on effect on sales for the following model year as people were getting old stock. This made it harder to calculate how many for manufacturers to order fir the year after that!

buzzwold

mattv.Good explanation.I'd add one more bit of information for radiation man. Most car models have a life of 5+ years, so the production run is continuous. However, try buying the model you want in the colour you want when the model is being changed.

buzzwold

One more point. I'm more irritated that all the small people (bike and clothes size XS) get all the best end of year discounts because of the manufacturers having to produce to given batch sizes.

rolf_f

buzzwold wrote:

One more point. I'm more irritated that all the small people (bike and clothes size XS) get all the best end of year discounts because of the manufacturers having to produce to given batch sizes.

The small people (gnomes?) are probably more irritated that they have to work harder for every single mile they cover than you do. There's probably more useful things in the world to get irritated by than the price of clothes that don't fit you....................