Best Time of Year for best prices on Bike Components?
 

OK, I've got a couple of new frames sitting here waiting to be built.

I'm in no particular hurry with them.

Is there a certain time of year when component prices tend to be at their lowest?

I'm partcularly interested in sales at Wiggle, PBK, Chainreactioncycles, and Jenson. Thank you.

I got some really good prices on campy record equipment a couple of years ago when campy was switching to 11 speed stuff. Here in the midwest my LBS business dies down between Oct and Dec and after xmas and I got some good deals then.

I think that you will see sales on clothing in the off season. I am not so sure of components. I was thinking that there may be some good deals on the shimano mtb gear since the change to 10 speed. I don't know about the web sites that you listed.

well if there is an inventory tax bill to be paid to the government, selling off inventory ,
rather than still being in stock and subject to that assessment, will be a motivator.

Brick and mortar is different than web based perhaps buy for the winter in the summer,
and summer when the winter stuff needs shelf space cleared out

of course Obsolescence as a planned mechanisim ruling the bike biz right after the trade shows may be good.

Caviat , I don't own a bike store..

Spring and summer are good times for craigslist - you can find an awful lot of brand new take-off parts. (For some inexplicable reason, folks around here will buy a $700 bike and dump $200 worth of components into it instead of buying a much nicer bike for $1,000.)

Fall seems to be the major sales opportunity around here, though it only begins in later September or early October or so as student demand tapers off.

Thanks, Guys--

I don't really expect any lbs bargains around here since we don't have a winter off-season. I was more wondering about the BIG on-line stores, what they do in the offseason. I would hate to spend big bucks and then get the old "Oh man, you should have waited until xxxxxx, coulda got it half price"--this is the first year I've shopped for bike stuff, so I don't have any seasonal experience.

Just keep browsing those sites, deals seem to pop up randomly.

On the internet, every day is a sale day. Just keep looking around. Be ready to jump on a "Buy it Now" bargain on ebay.

I got some killer deals on all sorts of stuff online (wheels, STI shifters, derailleurs, a Burley trailer) from January to March, then noticed the prices on the exact same items went up in the spring.