Originally Posted by Urbanmonk
Great choice with the 520! Tell me, I know they list for $1099, but will they negociate, even if it's a special order due to size? I logged about 2800 miles on my commuter last year, and this is a hybrid. I have a roadster/cyclo for the spring and summer months, but I am thinking of buying a 520 for commuting and touring. What was the best price you found?
Cheers,
Urbanmonk
I don't know about special order pricing. Most dealers will negotiate on last years model. At the shop where I bought it the price was $999 for the 2004 model.
After they spent 14 hours working with me on trying different frames and fit as well as other stuff I felt guilty for asking them to come off the price so I wasn't as agressive at negotiating as I usually am. I did end up getting 15% off of all my other stuff including new shoes, bottle cages, saddle, frame pump, extra tubes, etc. Normally their discount on accessories for new bike buyers is only 10%. In addition to that they will give me 15% off any other stuff I buy in the next 60 days.
I have delt with other shops before and have been able to negotiate much better discounts on different brands of bikes but in the case of buying the 520 their service was so far superior to the others that I felt I was already getting a good deal.
It all depends on the dealer too. I bought a mountain bike a few years ago and negotiated $1000.00 off the list price! It would have been a really good deal had it not been for the fact that at the time I didn't know beans about how a bike should fit me. Unfortunatly the shop I bought it from didn't either! I rode the bike for two years anyway but ended up selling the frame a few months ago and buying one that fits.
When I bought my Litespeed the dealer would not budge a penny on the price of the bike because it had already been discounted by the manufacturer but he did throw in a $150.00 pair of shoes and a set of Speedplay pedals. It turned out that his service after the sale was the worse I've ever encounterd while the shop where I got the huge discount on the mountian bike has always given me the best mecanical service after the sale. So go figure!
Keeping in mind that the best deal isn't always the one with the cheapest price it never hurts to ask for a better deal.
