An excellent article appeared just the other day on Vital MTB dot com. "Vital reached out to a number of bike and component brands to find out what was driving the increase in bike prices. We wanted to get the full story from the brands themselves. Transition Bikes, Devinci Cycles, Marin Bikes, and FSA were able to share just what they were seeing on their end and how this may play out for a consumer who just wants to ride". So many factors involved in this issue. Fuel cost's, shipping/freight costs, raw material shortages from alloys (aluminum up 60%) to rubber. Plants having to shut down due to Covid. Devinci mentions their carboard box supplier went up 12% having a massive impact on their prices. And this little tidbit from Transition "I think the bigger concern is with the long-term health of the industry. Everyone is increasing their production numbers tremendously right now and demand is through the roof at the moment, but no one is really sure how long this bike boom will last, and if the demand will stay anywhere near this level. If brands, distributors, and dealers end up with too much product in stock or in production they might have to put things on closeout sales to move things faster, and it could drive down retail prices across the industry. That might seem great to the end-user in the short term, but that race to the bottom isn't sustainable. If that happens, some companies and bike shops are going to end up going out of business as a result. As an industry, we are producing more parts and bikes than ever right now, and at much higher costs per unit. If the retail prices did drop back down quickly, it would probably be for the wrong reasons, and it won't be good for the long-term health of the bicycle industry. We just hope that things can stabilize, and if everything calms down a bit, hopefully, prices can drop gradually without a giant crash".
Racks at bike shops are empty and the trails are full. 12-speed chains have practically become a form of currency. While many riders say they aren't having a problem finding parts, it is with the qualifier that the parts they do find aren't the exact parts they want. This means they're having...
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