new bike availability

jrstevens said:

Any other new bike shoppers running into a problem with new bike availability like I am. I initially thought it was an issue with one specific brand (Cervelo) but the more I investigate it seems to be happening industry wide. One dealer I spoke with claims it's due to the outsourcing of manufacturing to Taiwan. Just seems odd that in mid-July dealers don't have access to '05 models and don't expect any more shipments until the '06 models are released. What's up with that?

JS

Was in all three of LBS here recently. Only noticed a thin inventory at the C'dale/Giant dealer, who told me the 05 close-out sales were strong; that roadbikes seem to be making a real comeback. The Trek dealer, as well as the Fuji/Felt/Kestrel/Scott dealer, looked to have plenty of bikes.

I thought outsourcing to Taiwan happened 20 years ago; outsourcing to China is the news now, but don't know why that should be decreasing inventories.

jrstevens said:

Any other new bike shoppers running into a problem with new bike availability like I am. I initially thought it was an issue with one specific brand (Cervelo) but the more I investigate it seems to be happening industry wide. One dealer I spoke with claims it's due to the outsourcing of manufacturing to Taiwan. Just seems odd that in mid-July dealers don't have access to '05 models and don't expect any more shipments until the '06 models are released. What's up with that?

JS

The dealer telling you the reason there are no '05 models because of outsourcing to Taiwan is f'ing ridiculous. Taiwan has the largest bicycle factories in the world. The Giant factory also makes some low-end Trek, etc...

Truth is, this is peak season in the US for bicycle retailers. Unfortunately, this puts alot of pressure on bike manufacturers to ship more bikes to retailers that just aren't there. Some models are no longer being produced because the '06 models will be shipped in a few months.

Yeah its just plain dumb, but the same thing happens with auto makers during this time of year.

I remember a couple years back, we couldnt get any bianchi bikes to any costumers for months because dock workers here in the US went on strike.

The other thing to keep in mind, if you're buying a carbon bike, that might be a bit of a wait. Especially if you're looking at a Trek. Trek gets their carbon from the same factory the military gets their carbon. And the government during this war, gets first dibs on it all.