Originally Posted by
prj71
My marketplace spans out further than WI. Lots of people that bought bikes during Covid are now unloading them.
The hell they didn't. My mountain bike that I purchased in 2020 for $5200 shot up to $6800 in 2021 and now it's recently "on sale" for $5500". That scenario played out all across the industry with a majority of the major bike manufacturers.
I hope people slow down on buying bikes for a bit so that "sales" keep going on to bring bikes down to a more reasonable price.
Costs have increased for new bikes, I agree. Its been 3 years since covid first hit. In that time, shops were selling bikes for the same price they had in years past, shops couldnt get enough bikes or components, shops increased rates to offset higher vendor costs, etc. And yes, many brands benefitted during the last 3 years. The lack of inventory seems to have allowed them to increase bike costs and reset expectations. Their production costs had increased though and it seems like you dont even acknowledge that.
The US dollar has lost 13% of its value since 2020. $100 in 2020 equals $114.68 today. So $2000 in 2020 equals $2293 today. Can you maybe possibly accept that some of the price increase you see is based on this simple reality that all of us are experiencing?
I will agree that in some ways bikes have increased well beyond that inflationary number mentioned directly above. Enthusiast road groupsets have become much more expensive. That isnt bike companies though, thats Shimano/SRAM/Campy.
I strongly dislike 105 going to di2 only as that will force the price of mid-level 105 bikes to increase substantially. Thing is, that increased price comes with more features so it isnt just an increase in price for the sake of taking more money out of consumer's hands. I still dislike it, but thats because I want mechanical drivetrain options to continue.