Originally Posted by
folder fanatic
I got this email in my inbox today. I will pass it along to possible interested parties.
Dreaded Deadline - September 14th!
Dahon has been holding their ground on prices for the last few years despite industry wide increases in the cost of components and production. That's about to change. We've just received word that on September 14th Dahon the new prices will go into effect. That means our large stock of Dahon bikes are currently available at the lower price.
Get your Dahon while the getting's good!
Although Dahon has not announced firm numbers for the price increases we expect most bikes will go up. We expect to receive more precise information on the price increase early next week.
I am not really all that surprised at this news. My 2 purchased new & 3 years apart Dahons showed an increase of about 50 dollars a year. Nothing is safe from price increases I guess.
About 6-10 years ago, you can find some affordable triathlon bikes. Nowadays, there are virtually few to no triathlon bikes that doesn't start at a $1600 to whatever price tag. Prices go up because tri-bikes manufacturers do not see a value in trying to sell cheap bikes. The value is in the innovation and frame technology and most notable veterans like Cervelo, Quintana Roo (QR), Felt, Kuota and Guru Bikes to name a few are not selling cheap bikes. You think $50 price increase is new -- price increases are the norm to high valued bikes. We are used to low end bikes that you can buy from Nashbar, Bikesdirect.com, Performance to name a few and you think prices are stabilizing or going down. That's really further from the truth.
Number 1 problem is the economy. We are still in the midst of a recession, which means that most people are in savings mode. They DO NOT have extra discretionary income to spend in buying a second, third or perhaps their 10th bike year over year. The fun money times for some people had ended! This means that going forward, there will always be lesser people buying bikes which means less supply need to be off-set by higher prices. That's how you are going to justify wages and operating costs to keep your staff and everything running. Therefore, in order for people to justify those higher prices, the newer bikes must have innovative technologies that make people want to upgrade. Otherwise with money tight, they will simply keep what they have and upgrade theirs piece meal as there is no real reason to be spending more money buying the same bike with a different color, etc..
There's also some thought about this current bike boom being people who are getting into cycling to save money, do local trips until good times come back again and they will go back to their cars. I am not so sure about this. We are so used to having short recessions. The last one before 2008 only registered as a blip. The current one is going to be much longer.