Thinking of buying a new bike??

Call this a public service announcement for your wallet.

If you are thinking of buying a new bike in the next few months- do so now.
I just got off the phone with one of my bike reps, and prices on 09 bikes are going to skyrocket. They are saying 5-20%.
From what I've been reading in my trade mags it looks like it's going to hit the smaller builders the hardest. But even the big boys are feeling the pinch.

Scarcity of metal and the cost of fuel being the two biggest factors.
I know I've had issues getting my Intence bmx race bikes because of the metal shortage.
I've also noticed that the groupsets are getting outrageous! it used to be that you could get a decent Ultegra bike for around 1500.00, now that's around 2k unless you get a mix.

So there ya go.... Sorry to be little miss doom and gloom.

Oh- and one other thing. If you are thinking of upgrading to Dura Ace and money isn't an object, hold off. My shimano rep says the new DA coming out soon is the bomb diggity.

thank you for that info....

but happy dance happy dance, hubby and I both have new bikes.

wow. this next year is really going to be something! (bikes, gas, food, etc)

Yeah, I'd already heard that from the local LBS guys. I've also been noticing that more custom fabricators(ones with waiting lists that are 18+ months) that they can no longer guarantee the price of the bike they build for you. It used to be for most of them that the deposit went toward your place in the queue and locked in the price of the bike to the current published prices for the work on the frame and fork. Some of the current policies say that they will notify you of the final price when your bike is ready to be built.

Thanks for the info, good thing I have a few in my stable. Although another one would be nice:D

haha maybe I should go out and buy a bike then!

Maybe I'll finally be able to sell that mixte :D

That is such a beautiful mixte... sigh.

Thanks RM for the info. I have been loking into getting a mtn bike but have held off due to school. I guess I will continue looking in the ads and wating to see what happens as there is nothing else I can do.

Red Rock

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

That is such a beautiful mixte... sigh.

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If only it were a little bigger:(:(

Ha! You just gave me an excuse to waste some tiime on ebay looking at cranksets. I've been wanting to switch the triple on my cross bike to some sort of compact double/cross-geared double for at least a year and haven't wanted to lay out the cash... but maybe better now than later :D:D:D!

Denise, thanks for the heads up. Will carbon fiber costs rise too?

Sundial= yep, it's ALL going up... sigh...:o

Thanks for that, RM!!! I've been making noises like I want a new bike for months now, but couldn't make up my mind. This could be the incentive for me to "fish or cut bait," as they say.

Oh, that hurts. I was hoping to get a feel for what builder I was going to use in the next year or two for a custom bike at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, coming to my hometown in February of 2009. I think it'll still have to wait, despite higher prices unless the new flooring I am putting into my house costs far less than I expect it to. Better get those estimates soon.