Best time to buy a bike?

[272BHP]

Looking for a mountain bike for my son this summer but there doesn't appear to be much stock anywhere. His Birthday is in June but we could hold off till August as he won't use it much in the summer holidays I suspect, it is more for riding to school.

When do you think bike production will start picking up and the stores get re-stocked?

[stargazer30]

From what I've read on the bike related FB groups its looking like its gonna be 2022 earliest. I've been watching stocks of ebikes over the last 6 months and the trend seems to be a batch will come in and the regular online retailers will show stock. Within hours the populate models and sizes are gone and within about 2 days the rest are gone.

I've bought 3 mountain bikes (regular none electric) over the last year and all have been via Gumtree, two of them were practically new.

[Maximus_Meridius101]

stargazer30 said:

I've bought 3 mountain bikes (regular none electric) over the last year and all have been via Gumtree, two of them were practically new.

Did you check the provenance? I’m sure they were fine, but gumtree et.al. are a great place to find permaborrowed bikes.

[mikewilliams79]

Maximus_Meridius101 said:

Did you check the provenance? I’m sure they were fine, but gumtree et.al. are a great place to find permaborrowed bikes.

Great - bargains.

[stargazer30]

Maximus_Meridius101 said:

stargazer30 said:

I've bought 3 mountain bikes (regular none electric) over the last year and all have been via Gumtree, two of them were practically new.

Did you check the provenance? I’m sure they were fine, but gumtree et.al. are a great place to find permaborrowed bikes.

Yeah proof of purchase receipts shown on the two newish ones.

[Drawweight]

Maximus_Meridius101 said:

stargazer30 said:

I've bought 3 mountain bikes (regular none electric) over the last year and all have been via Gumtree, two of them were practically new.

Did you check the provenance? I’m sure they were fine, but gumtree et.al. are a great place to find permaborrowed bikes.

Recently I’ve bought one off Gumtree and one off Facebook (if anything even worse).

Both times I went to the sellers houses. Nice houses in a good part of town.

The first one was selling his son’s bike and the second was his old commuter bike.

Obviously they could have been nicked but the vibe was certainly that they were legit.

Just go with your gut feelings as you would if you were buying a car.

[mikewilliams79]

Drawweight said:

Recently I’ve bought one off Gumtree and one off Facebook (if anything even worse).

Both times I went to the sellers houses. Nice houses in a good part of town.

The first one was selling his son’s bike and the second was his old commuter bike.

Obviously they could have been nicked but the vibe was certainly that they were legit.

Just go with your gut feelings as you would if you were buying a car.

Yeah
Avoid st holes and you’ll probably be ok. All the cars I’ve bought have been in nice areas and always better written adverts and maintained than the adverts of ones from dumps

[Master Bean]

Give it two years and everything should settle down.

[Drawweight]

I bought a hybrid yesterday on Marketplace after looking for weeks with either nothing suitable or I’d be just too slow.

This morning there’s at least half a dozen I could have gone for

So my advice is to buy one...then you’ll suddenly see loads more.

[louiebaby]

I'm always looking out for the next bike for the kids, and then stick it in my Brother-In-Laws garage.

There won't be anything at a decent price when you need one. (Sod's Law.)

Other than that, work out what you want and set up some eBay alerts. I look nationwide, then work out if I know anyone nearby who could pick it up for me. I live in Devon and found the last Frog roadie near Sheffield. I sent my brother who lives in Sheffield, and I'll make sure the first few rounds are on me next time I see him.

[CoolC]

What type of thing are you looking for OP?

I've recently bought my 11 year old lad his first MTB. The Fat Baz (great name) from Planet X

29er and comes reasonably well equipped. Certainly good enough to get him out riding and thoroughly enjoying it.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FBPXFB/planet-x-fat-...

ETA: The reason I went new is that no matter how much watching on Ebay/Marketplace I did, nothing suitable ever turned up.

Edited by CoolC on Tuesday 27th April 09:48

[Martyn76]

272BHP said:

Looking for a mountain bike for my son this summer but there doesn't appear to be much stock anywhere. His Birthday is in June but we could hold off till August as he won't use it much in the summer holidays I suspect, it is more for riding to school.

When do you think bike production will start picking up and the stores get re-stocked?

Does it have to be new? I bought my daughter a Scott hybrid bike from Ebay last summer, ok was a few years old but doesn't look it and only cost £185, it's also worth a cheeky buy it now offer, might bag you a bargain.

[ChrisDT]

CoolC said:

What type of thing are you looking for OP?

I've recently bought my 11 year old lad his first MTB. The Fat Baz (great name) from Planet X

29er and comes reasonably well equipped. Certainly good enough to get him out riding and thoroughly enjoying it.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FBPXFB/planet-x-fat-...

ETA: The reason I went new is that no matter how much watching on Ebay/Marketplace I did, nothing suitable ever turned up.

Edited by CoolC on Tuesday 27th April 09:48

That looks a pretty good bike for the money, even got a dropper. May have to check the sizes and see if it'll fit my youngest.

Also, some of the issue with the availability on new bikes if parts/shipping. Some of the distributors I deal with are currently waiting for shipping containers due to the blockage in the Suez and a significant number being backlogged.

[CO2000]

272BHP said:

Looking for a mountain bike for my son this summer but there doesn't appear to be much stock anywhere. His Birthday is in June but we could hold off till August as he won't use it much in the summer holidays I suspect, it is more for riding to school.

When do you think bike production will start picking up and the stores get re-stocked?

Tried Halfords?

[272BHP]

He wants a mountain bike now as all his friends have them and I would like to buy new as it is a Birthday present.

I will be buying online so sizing is a nightmare. He is 14 yrs old now and 5ft 2" and is coming from a 24" which looks very small for him now.

Something like this Specialized Rock Hopper would be ideal but they don't have a Small in stock

https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/specialized/rock...

[GreatGranny]

That Planet X MTB linked above has a small in stock but is £650.

Worth it over the Specialized IMO.

[272BHP]

GreatGranny said:

That Planet X MTB linked above has a small in stock but is £650.

Worth it over the Specialized IMO.

650 for the Small and 429 for the Medium - that is kind of hard to take.

17" frame on 29 wheels as well so too big for my boy I would have thought. Crucially while it has better components it does not look as cool as the Rockhopper - which as we know is the most important thing for a young kid.