33% price hike in 3 years?

combatclaret

Looking at new bikes compared to 2018 when I was lucky enough to get the Defy on sale about this time of year. Will only compare sticker price, not many discounted bikes this year due to supply.

Giant Defy Advanced Pro 1 2018 - £3000 rrp
Carbon, Ultegra, SL1 Wheelset

Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 2021 - £4000 rrp
Carbon, Ultegra, SL2 Wheelset

So in three years price has jumped £1000, 33%, for equivalent spec/model (wheelset actually dropped a down a tier).
Inflation, pound a little weaker, But 33% !? Where's the rationale for that?

pblakeney

Supply & demand, covid, Brexit, supply chains, combination of the above.
Take your pick.

combatclaret

My mistake,
2018 rrp was £3200 (got mine at £2400 sale, this used to be normal reductions you could find for 'last years' model)

So £800 hike or 25% increase

combatclaret

pblakeney said:

Supply & demand, covid, Brexit, supply chains, combination of the above.
Take your pick.

I know these things exist but they don't add up

Brexit = We're talking financials so combining Inflation + Weakening of the pound that accounts for about about 7%

Supply chain issues - Should only affect your ability to find stock.

Supply/Demand - High end luxury goods tend to be insulated from short term price fluctuations as it's bad for business long term.
An interesting story recently in The Time on how second hand Rolex's are going for three times RRP, Rolex could charge more to relect demand, but they don't.

DeVlaeminck

I don't know why prices have gone up quite so much but I do wonder who is spending over 5k on a Tarmac Expert with mechanical Ultegra. Just googled 2018 Tarmac Expert Disc and first one that pops up costs £3,200 - it's about a 60% price rise.

pblakeney

combatclaret said:

pblakeney said:

Supply & demand, covid, Brexit, supply chains, combination of the above.
Take your pick.

I know these things exist but they don't add up

Brexit = We're talking financials so combining Inflation + Weakening of the pound that accounts for about about 7% + import duties, + admin fees.

Supply chain issues - Should only affect your ability to find stock. No stock, suppliers can increase prices for the desperate willing to pay.

Supply/Demand - High end luxury goods tend to be insulated from short term price fluctuations as it's bad for business long term. Businesses no longer take the long view, survival is where it is at.
An interesting story recently in The Time on how second hand Rolex's are going for three times RRP, Rolex could charge more to relect demand, but they don't. Makes you wonder why people would pay 3x for used Rolex's. Less quality, or mugs?

davidof

DeVlaeminck said:

I don't know why prices have gone up quite so much

Too much money printing finding its way into the real economy.

kingstongraham

Supply chain issues include a 5 fold increase in shipping costs. So that won't only affect availability.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Brexit and Covid mostly.

Crazy to think my 2016 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc had an RRP of ~£1700 back then and I got mine in May '17 as one of the last ones available at Rutland Cycles for ~£900.

Even the modest Voodoo Marasa has shot up in price, they could be had for ~£320 in sales for years before Covid, I had to get one in summer '20 as a commuter due to lack of options after my fatbike crank broke and it cost me £450 before British Cycling discount, the new one released recently is retailing at Halford for ~£550 iirc!

daniel_b

I think 33% is putting it mildly, I saw 2021 bikes go up by 20% in the space of 9 months. Launch price, price rise 4 months later, one more 4 months on.

Double that up with the fact you always used to be able to get a 10% discount if you asked, and now they don't have to agree to anything as people are buying bikes that are not available for 6-9 months.

rick_chasey

Yeah it is mad - some of the cassettes i've looked at have more than doubled in price.

combatclaret

pblakeney said:

Brexit = We're talking financials so combining Inflation + Weakening of the pound that accounts for about about 7% + import duties, + admin fees.

Supply chain issues - Should only affect your ability to find stock. No stock, suppliers can increase prices for the desperate willing to pay.

But are you able to tell me how much these Import Duties and Admin fees have increased by. Because they were included in the old prices too.

If they've not gone up by anything less than a huge factor it all comes down to your second point of gouging the consumer. And remember these are the RRP prices set from head office at Giant, Cube etc not some rogue bike shop.

Seems very counter-intuitive. Now I can only see what I good deal I got and am thinking it's worth waiting a decade or more to upgrade where as they could have had my custom every 3-4 years.
Presently I could spend 25% more than I did just three years ago and arguably get a worse bike.

ibr17xvii

rick_chasey said:

Yeah it is mad - some of the cassettes i've looked at have more than doubled in price.

I had to resort to eBay to get a Ultegra cassette I needed at what I considered was a decent price. Prices at Wiggle / CRC / Merlin etc were off the scale.

pblakeney

combatclaret said:

pblakeney said:

Brexit = We're talking financials so combining Inflation + Weakening of the pound that accounts for about about 7% + import duties, + admin fees.

Supply chain issues - Should only affect your ability to find stock. No stock, suppliers can increase prices for the desperate willing to pay.

But are you able to tell me how much these Import Duties and Admin fees have increased by. Because they were included in the old prices too.

If they've not gone up by anything less than a huge factor it all comes down to your second point of gouging the consumer. And remember these are the RRP prices set from head office at Giant, Cube etc not some rogue bike shop.

Seems very counter-intuitive. Now I can only see what I good deal I got and am thinking it's worth waiting a decade or more to upgrade where as they could have had my custom every 3-4 years.
Presently I could spend 25% more than I did just three years ago and arguably get a worse bike.

You asked a question and I answered it. You obviously disagree.
Fair enough, but if you have all the answers why ask the question?

kingstongraham

combatclaret said:

pblakeney said:

Brexit = We're talking financials so combining Inflation + Weakening of the pound that accounts for about about 7% + import duties, + admin fees.

Supply chain issues - Should only affect your ability to find stock. No stock, suppliers can increase prices for the desperate willing to pay.

But are you able to tell me how much these Import Duties and Admin fees have increased by. Because they were included in the old prices too.

If they've not gone up by anything less than a huge factor it all comes down to your second point of gouging the consumer. And remember these are the RRP prices set from head office at Giant, Cube etc not some rogue bike shop.

Seems very counter-intuitive. Now I can only see what I good deal I got and am thinking it's worth waiting a decade or more to upgrade where as they could have had my custom every 3-4 years.
Presently I could spend 25% more than I did just three years ago and arguably get a worse bike.

If they previously imported from Asia into a central Europe hub, then distributed across the EU, then there would now be new tariffs to pay on the way from that hub to the UK. So there would either be tariffs or a restructuring to avoid that hub for the UK. If they always imported directly from Asia to the UK, there should be no great change.

womack

Large price rises are not restricted to bikes. Things in general are going up at an alarming rate.

focuszing723

I would be interest to know what the real CPI is?

pinno

Mate tried to replace his Athena 11sp rear mech with a second hand one. Bid ended @ £67.
Bid on an older Chorus (2nd hand), paid £97.

This is the contradiction - 1 complete Wilier Gran Turismo for £1100, Campag levers, rear mech, front mech, Fulcrum wheels, matching FSA stem, callipers and carbon chainset.
Complete (second hand) bikes selling for a song but components/wheels; huge price hikes.

It's worth buying complete bikes and auctioning the bits off.

Wheelspinner

pinno said:

Mate tried to replace his Athena 11sp rear mech with a second hand one. Bid ended @ £67.
Bid on an older Chorus (2nd hand), paid £97.

This is the contradiction - 1 complete Wilier Gran Turismo for £1100, Campag levers, rear mech, front mech, Fulcrum wheels, matching FSA stem, callipers and carbon chainset.
Complete (second hand) bikes selling for a song but components/wheels; huge price hikes.

It's worth buying complete bikes and auctioning the bits off.

Yep, there’s a bloke near me selling a complete bike I’m considering doing just that with. Only issue is I suspect the frame would be hard to flog, and I don’t want another cluttering up the shed.

rick_chasey

focuszing723 said:

I would be interest to know what the real CPI is?

3.1% in September

MidlandsGrimpeur2

As has been pointed out, issues such as Brexit, duties etc. will be a part of it.

I suspect that the main factor, as bike companies would probably point to if asked, is the cost of component prices due to the global shortage. As a manufacturer that supplies a single part into big companies, most of my customers are buying multiple parts from multiple suppliers. If all these costs go up (which is happening across pretty much all manufacturing industries), then pretty soon the final product starts to become rather more costly.

For example, I can supply one part in a finished car, my costs for materials, labour, 3rd party finishing, delivery have all gone up considerably in 18 months. The car manufacturer is seeing this multiplied across all their parts. I suspect it will be the same for the bike industry.

I think this also possibly answers the component question. They are getting more expensive to manufacture as single pieces i.e. a cassette. In addition, the huge shortage means big players like Wiggle etc cannot buy in bulk at a saving and pass this on to the consumer. They are having to pay more at source and therefore we, as a customer, are having to do the same.

skyblueamateur

With frames coming mainly from the Far East the largest single biggest cost will be shipping. A 40ft container used to cost approx.$4k, they are now between $20-22k.

It's always very easy to accuse firms of price gouging but there is usually a reason behind it.

This is before factoring in raw material increases of up to 25%.

There is a reason why inflation is running out of control. This will only get worse next year.

carbonclem

Chain slip on my bike has lead to a new chain, then cassette and now chainset. No chainrings available and almost no choice on chainsets, availability is the critical factor, so well over £200 on bog standard 105 bits to get going again. What a pain …

ednwireland

my 2019 di2 cannondale synapse cost £2500 in 2020

to replace from irish distributor is just under 5k euro.

ive been buying spares from across europe found formula brake parts and fulcrum spokes and bearings from italian suppliers, with brexit most uk shops are offimits with customs charges

bought bontrager carbon wheels from alltricks last summer for €750

and a 2nd haand full sus mtb for €500

Ncovidius

Knackered supply chains + extreme demand + poor supply = ££££££. It’s a market economy after all.

daniel_b

ednwireland said:

my 2019 di2 cannondale synapse cost £2500 in 2020

That must have been heavily discounted no?

My now sold 2016 Di2 Synapse had an RRP of £3250, though I ended up getting it for a lot less as they damaged the non Di2 bike I actually ordered.

Discounts used to be the norm, 20%/30% sometimes even 50% - my Foil was 33% off in 2018.

There is so little supply, and so much demand, there is no need for anything but the most token of discounts, and with current year in demand bikes, you may as well forget it.

alexcarry664

Yeah, I also have the same thinking. Lots of people are interested to buy a new bike for them. This is one of the reasons for price increasing.