Specialized bike prices

[croyde]

I say Specialized as they are the ones that I keep an eye on, so maybe it's the same for other makes but

Before Christmas the Spec Allez Elite was £799 but I noticed in Evans today that they are now £919. Hell of a leap and I didn't notice any extras on it apart from a slight colour change.

Surely a new model year plus the extra 2.5% VAT can't equate to a 15% price rise. Similar hikes on the rest of the range as well.

[Gooby]

2010 Orange 5 SE (All the extras) £3900
2011 Orange 5 SE (All the extras) £4900

[shalmaneser]

It's a variety of things; cost of aluminium has gone up, the dollar exchange rate with the yen, taiwan dollar, pound....I imagine that less bikes have been built these year compared to last due to lower sales forecasts, so economies of scale have been reduced.

Ultimately, it's the 'Global Credit Crunch' beginning to really bite...

Have a look at aluminium prices here...http://www.lme.com/aluminium_graphs.asp. Nearly doubled from Jan 09 to Jan 11.

[anonymous-user]

I guess they are just trying their luck. Prices will fall as their sales do. Eg Boardman (made in Taiwan) reduced from £699 to £569 still in Halfords. Same aluminuim & components as any other brand!

[P-Jay]

shalmaneser said:

It's a variety of things; cost of aluminium has gone up, the dollar exchange rate with the yen, taiwan dollar, pound....I imagine that less bikes have been built these year compared to last due to lower sales forecasts, so economies of scale have been reduced.

Ultimately, it's the 'Global Credit Crunch' beginning to really bite...

Have a look at aluminium prices here...http://www.lme.com/aluminium_graphs.asp. Nearly doubled from Jan 09 to Jan 11.

In for the '09 and '10 bikes I would have agreed with you, but the rises this year are a bit unfair IMHO, yes Alu has gone up, but the raw material cost of a new bike is only a tiny fraction of it's cost, plus more bikes are now steel, mag, carbon and they're all up too. Largly the £ is in better health (OK not much, but it's up not down) than it was in those dark days of 08 and 09 plus the cycling industry has been one of the few that's actually grown during the recession as more people ditch the car to commute by bike.

Two things I've heard from a guy I know in my LBS who I'm freindly enough with to think he wouldn't bs me. In 2009 prices went up largely because the mass Taiwaneese makers paniced (like most people) at the size of the bank crash and cut production when in actual fact demand roughly stayed the same same, in the case of suddenly fashionable brands like Lapiare it went up and in 2010 whilst RRP's went up again the wholesale prices didn't so much so I was getting offered nice big chunky discounts on bikes onces the spring rush was over.

I'm hoping it the same story this year, higher RRP's but the chance for dealers to offer big discounts to make the customers think they're getting an amazing deal, the draw of a Spicy 516 is so strong I might actually put my hand in my pocket for once.

[T350 Al]

croyde said:

Before Christmas the Spec Allez Elite was £799 but I noticed in Evans today that they are now £919. Hell of a leap and I didn't notice any extras on it apart from a slight colour change.

I noticed this too. When I was shopping for my Allez, I decided to go for the 2010 model just as the 2011 model was coming out so got an extra discount. As you say, the difference in spec was minimal but they were asking a lot more for 2011 model, even taking the discount out of the equation.

Some people like to have the latest model and fair play to them, but I decided I wasn't that worried so took the money I saved and spent it on upgrading the components!