Would most local bike stores carry last years model? And if they do, would this be a good way to get a better bike for not as much money?

In the old days stores carry alot of inventory thus when the year was out, they had left over merchandise to sell at cheaper price.

Now times are tough and stores only carry what they can sell during the year (and order the rest at time of purchase). Plus alot of manufactures won't let store drop the price much. There are contracts with other stores and if one store drops the price to much, it affects the ability of another store to sell merchadise.

To make along story short, no, not really, hard to get a good price on an older model anymore. Best to look for a barely use bike from someone wanting to upgrade. Check with local clubs or groups. They may have a web site where they can post merchadise...

The LBS I go to most frequently has quite a bit of stock, some of it from past model years. It's worth checking.

The shop I usually go to has some right when they get in the new year's models, but they sell them quickly. The most I have seen one discounted there was 40% about 6 months later. I just got a new bike about a month ago that was a 2009 model for ~30% off in case that helps.

https://jamesvincentbicycles.com/CloseOuts.html

To answer that question as honestly as possible...............sometimes. You just have to go and check.

I agree....I just bought an '09 from my LBS for about 20% off....

I got my new old stock 2009 Felt in April for 25% off. Ironically it was the same bike I was eyeing in 2009 to buy! Pays to wait I guess.

You said it!

I thought I had found the mother load of bike deals yesterday. I was passing through Olney, Illinois yesterday on business and I found the distribution warehouse for GT, Schwinn, Mongoose & Pacific bikes. This thing was huge. Like the warehouse in Indiana Jones, there were hundreds of thousands of bikes in this place as far as you could see.

Attached to the side of this place was an "OUTLET STORE" I went in and there was a big room full of bikes. I was seeing FS GT bikes that I know I had seen in the $1500-$2500 range for $700-$900. There were $200 bikes everywhere. But the closer I looked, there just was something not right about these bikes. When I asked, the lady working there said that these were bikes that were returned to GT from dealers. Then I started seeing the problems. Bent shifters, seat posts that bent, square wheels, you name it. This was like the island of misfit toys