What road bike?
Discussion
'Model Year' (which is a bunch of b
ks (or a lick of paint), if you ask me 
) is not a specified date on a calendar, and it varies between manufacturers and distributors as to when they 'change over' in UK.
The unveiling and promotion of 'next year's bikes' begins in earnest at the US and Asian bike shows round about now, with the first bikes hitting retailers late August, early September. Then the ranges are presented to UK distributors and retailers, forecasts are made for sales, and orders for production are placed. Anytime from late September onwards you'll begin to see the new models in stores and on the road, with the full ranges usually on shop displays by the end of October to stimulate the Christmas market.
Quite often, the discounting of 'last year's bikes' begins before the rollout of the new stuff, to free up space in warehouses and stockrooms. But be warned - I wouldn't be expecting too much availability of discounted 2014 bikes this year. The 'Tour effect' and a generally good summer have encouraged people out onto shiny new bikes, and the best discounts are always at the extreme ends of the size range, especially larger frames, going on previous experience.
One good place to look is http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/ who's business model seems to be 'hoovering up' a lot of surplus distributor stock, and flogging it off at ever increasing discounts. The website claims to offer "up to 60% off" some models, but the bigger cuts are on prices of 2011/2012/2013 stuff. There are a few 2010 bike floating around on the web, but they seem to be few, and far between. Bricks and mortar shops are less keen to slash prices wholesale, as it undermines their efforts to sell new stuff at full RRP, but there will be deals about, you just need to seek them out.
ks (or a lick of paint), if you ask me ) is not a specified date on a calendar, and it varies between manufacturers and distributors as to when they 'change over' in UK.The unveiling and promotion of 'next year's bikes' begins in earnest at the US and Asian bike shows round about now, with the first bikes hitting retailers late August, early September. Then the ranges are presented to UK distributors and retailers, forecasts are made for sales, and orders for production are placed. Anytime from late September onwards you'll begin to see the new models in stores and on the road, with the full ranges usually on shop displays by the end of October to stimulate the Christmas market.
Quite often, the discounting of 'last year's bikes' begins before the rollout of the new stuff, to free up space in warehouses and stockrooms. But be warned - I wouldn't be expecting too much availability of discounted 2014 bikes this year. The 'Tour effect' and a generally good summer have encouraged people out onto shiny new bikes, and the best discounts are always at the extreme ends of the size range, especially larger frames, going on previous experience.
One good place to look is http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/ who's business model seems to be 'hoovering up' a lot of surplus distributor stock, and flogging it off at ever increasing discounts. The website claims to offer "up to 60% off" some models, but the bigger cuts are on prices of 2011/2012/2013 stuff. There are a few 2010 bike floating around on the web, but they seem to be few, and far between. Bricks and mortar shops are less keen to slash prices wholesale, as it undermines their efforts to sell new stuff at full RRP, but there will be deals about, you just need to seek them out.
civicduty said:
Slight thread hijack...
When does the model year for bikes run? Dec to Dec or different.
Only wandering as thinking of looking for last years bike for discount purposes and was wondering when the best time to do this would be?
Normally new stuff is out around now as the main trade show Interbike in the US is early sept, then Eurobike a week or two later.When does the model year for bikes run? Dec to Dec or different.
Only wandering as thinking of looking for last years bike for discount purposes and was wondering when the best time to do this would be?
Always look for older models, major brands will only change colour and include subtle changes to the spec throughout the life of the product. The frame, geometry, lay up etc will be untouched unless they make a massive fuss about it and flood the magazines with adverts and test bikes for review. Hey, buy this, its new, new, i tell you, shiny shiny, woooooo....
Given global financial market uncertainty, the value of the pound/dollar against the far eastern currencies and the rising cost of raw materials, bikes have been going down in spec and up in price for the last 5 years.
Lol, should have wiated 3 minutes and typed "what yellowjack said", Pauls is still a good place to look for a bargain, www.ukbikesdepot.com is pretty good too, they have sopme good deals (25% off 2014 Genesis bikes). www.discountcyclesdirect.co.uk is worth keeping an eye on too
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 12th August 11:44
Only thing to remember when looking at previous models is the slow trickle down of tech without changing a groupset name.
E.g Current 105, ultrgra, D-A is all 11sp. 1012 it's all 10 speed. 2013 was the crossover, so some 2013 frames have 10sp and others 11.
Other times, you see a marked downgrade in spec in order to keep a price point - e.g the "red" triban 3 vs the "new" one. The red has carbon forks, the new one does not. So, on 1 hand, an older setup might _sometimes_ mean older spec components, but on the other it often means better finishing kit.
That said, just because 11sp exists, does not mean that 10sp ultegra or Dura Ace is suddenly crap. They're just as good as they ever were!
E.g Current 105, ultrgra, D-A is all 11sp. 1012 it's all 10 speed. 2013 was the crossover, so some 2013 frames have 10sp and others 11.
Other times, you see a marked downgrade in spec in order to keep a price point - e.g the "red" triban 3 vs the "new" one. The red has carbon forks, the new one does not. So, on 1 hand, an older setup might _sometimes_ mean older spec components, but on the other it often means better finishing kit.
That said, just because 11sp exists, does not mean that 10sp ultegra or Dura Ace is suddenly crap. They're just as good as they ever were!
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