are availability issues really gone in 2024...?

[tymon_tm]

for the last couple of weeks I have been constatnly refreshing Merida's page waiting for the 2024 line up; I 'knew' this year's team color scheme is gonna resemble last year's TdF white. and I want the Reacto really, really badly. couldn't get one last year, so when the new team paint scheme was finally revealed (2-3 weeks ago?) and Reacto Team hit web pages, I went to my lbs to place and order.

and here all the fun starts. although people don't often fly through the doors shouting from the start "shut up and take my money" I was met with a rather confusing face expressions. "Reacto, I don't think so, let me check...". at this point flashbacks from last winter came alive: "nope, it is what we have on the floor, there's nothing to order really. there's NOTHING NOWHERE, WE"RE ALL GONNA DIE". you get the vibes, we've all been there. and similarly, after maybe half a minute, the verdict came - there's probably one Reacto to order, not even close to the model or size I want.

and turns out it's not just Merida. I pointed my finger at the S5, asking "ok, how little can you sell these for" and guys responded - same here, there are no S5s to order. turns out they are waiting for a bunch of bikes ordered two (T W O !!) years ago. ok, probably not waiting or anticipaiting them in any manner anymore, but the reality is, they sell what they can get their hands on. place an order on a variety of bikes and see what gets delivered. "sometimes a rep calls having some extra bikes but it's hard to tell, maybe we'll have something, maybe not".

I know I can grab my phone and start calling shops all around the country which handle Merida (probably hundreds) or even order from abroad. "check Spanish shops, they have bikes on stock and offer big discounts" guys at the shop told me. see, but the point is - I don't want to have to do that. I wan't to order what's being advertised on the web page as an UPCOMING model, get it properly built by people I trust, buy some extra bits, have full warranty etc.

at this point I don't know what's the deal here. again, last winter I tried Trek for the Madone SLR gen 6. shop had one at stock, but not the color or specs I wanted. and Mads is a bit too pricy to surrender vitals such as proper paintjob. ordering? nope, impossible (I was just about to ask what's the business model for that fancy Trek store if what I can buy are leftovers but abandoned that hefty discussion with staff; although they do ride Madones themselves, so at least they're getting paid right, at least that was my only positive impression of that joint).

long story short - despite lockdowns being a distant memory, and the industry blooming with new offerings like almost every day, it seems I'm either living on a lonely island in the middle of europe, or the business model behind bike producers is just one big BS.

I wonder if some of you, esp. those living in EU, can relate to this? do you also find ordering desired bikes next to impossible, or maybe your lbs' somehow stock aplenty?

[Karvalo]

It depends what you want, obvs, but mostly it's fine now. Cervelo are a special case, they're only just un *f##k* themselves from a forced factory change 18 months ago that caused horrendous issues. Brand new models still vary by manufacturer. More brands are making sure they have stock on hand at launch day like Specialized do - but plenty are still happy with the old style 'media launch now, stock in 3+ months' approach for some crazy reason.

[1swiftvelo]

Things are close to being back to normal or new normal. High end bike are still going to be tough to get. Like the issues in 2008/2009 when a lot of companies got caught with excessive stipock, won't happen again. Companies will keep the supply a bit lower to help keep demand high.

So companies have learned, so haven't. When the press releases are dropped most companies have stock or the local shop is sitting on embargoed bikes.

It's an Olympic year so any new will be released early than normal.

[tymon_tm]

so if companies "know" there are gonna be limited quantities (or none really) why don't they offer less models? Reacto depending on the country comes up to like ten models. with different paint obviously. apparently they're on paper only. but same goes with Trek - their website lists like 5-6 options for Mads and hardly any model's availible.

if it was a deliberate strategy to lure customers with variety of options, common logic dictates there should be at least one model availible to actually buy. but there isn't.

I know it's only january. but what are the chances come spring i'm gonna be riding that very new bike i want, which they freakin advertise? looks like none at this point.

[eins4eins]

i struggle to understand the distribution strategy of many brands. I'm in germany close to the dutch border. When looking into buying a new bike german distributeur for giant/cannondale/Trek didn't know when, how many or even which bikes he'll get. Drove 50km, across the border and showrooms were full with those same bikes.

Also many brands have not arrived in 2024 managing their inventory. There is lots of stock for many things, but its impossible to locate it because its not "online". I was at a specialized dealer end of last year, that had new venge frames hanging on the wall....

[Karvalo]

i struggle to understand the distribution strategy of many brands. I'm in germany close to the dutch border. When looking into buying a new bike german distributeur for giant/cannondale/Trek didn't know when, how many or even which bikes he'll get. Drove 50km, across the border and showrooms were full with those same bikes.

That's a retailer not a distributor, and it sounds like it's a him issue not a brand issue. Trek, for instance, now has one central massive warehouse that serves most of Western Europe. Even the stuff for UK retailers is shipped from there at the moment. So when it comes to Trek availability the German/Dutch border (AFAIK) doesn't exist.

[TobinHatesYou]

Trek has three main warehouses in the US alone and they act as their own distributor for a lot of non-Trek products too. They are far more efficient in terms of logistics than, say, Specialized, their closest stateside competitor.

[eins4eins]

i struggle to understand the distribution strategy of many brands. I'm in germany close to the dutch border. When looking into buying a new bike german distributeur for giant/cannondale/Trek didn't know when, how many or even which bikes he'll get. Drove 50km, across the border and showrooms were full with those same bikes.

That's a retailer not a distributor, and it sounds like it's a him issue not a brand issue. Trek, for instance, now has one central massive warehouse that serves most of Western Europe. Even the stuff for UK retailers is shipped from there at the moment. So when it comes to Trek availability the German/Dutch border (AFAIK) doesn't exist.

i lumped all brands together to express my frustration. The problems weren't exactly the same for those brands.
My Trek experience was related to a domane rsl frameset. Dealer didn't know anything and the sales rep he called, couldn't help either. He could just say that there is no stock at the moment, but had no idea if there ever will be.

same warehouse doesn't always mean same stock though. The company i work for, has one central warehouse in europe, but dedicated stock for the different sales regions that isn't available to others.

[Karvalo]

i lumped all brands together to express my frustration. The problems weren't exactly the same for those brands.
My Trek experience was related to a domane rsl frameset.

Then I highly doubt the showrooms across the border were full of them. It's an extremely niche bike that'll always be planned to have extremely low production regardless of the wider supply situation.

[eins4eins]

like i added in my last reply, not the same problem in all those cases. full showrooms was related to supersix and propel.

[raisinberry777]

long story short - despite lockdowns being a distant memory, and the industry blooming with new offerings like almost every day, it seems I'm either living on a lonely island in the middle of europe, or the business model behind bike producers is just one big BS.

I wonder if some of you, esp. those living in EU, can relate to this? do you also find ordering desired bikes next to impossible, or maybe your lbs' somehow stock aplenty?

Interesting. I expect it's region and distributor dependent. Here in AU, the distributor for Merida also owns one of the largest bike store chains. They seem to be plentiful here, and I was able to order a 105 Di2 Scultura and the shop had it in stock (and seemed to have it in a variety of sizes).

[mrlobber]

Cervelo are a special case, they're only just un *f##k* themselves from a forced factory change 18 months ago that caused horrendous issues.

Very interesting, any more public info on this anywhere?

[Karvalo]

Cervelo are a special case, they're only just un *f##k* themselves from a forced factory change 18 months ago that caused horrendous issues.

Very interesting, any more public info on this anywhere?

They (at least in the UK) sent out a communication about it in late 2022 for retailers to distribute to affected customers but nothing since that I'm aware of. The gist was that a rapid decline in factory quality meant they had to make an emergency decision to stop working with them immediately and try to get a new partner up and running much more quickly than normal - which tbh it doesn't look like they managed to do as well as they'd have hoped.

I do get the feeling they strongly prioritised some markets over others to receive the production they could manage though - so for instance North America looks from the outside to have been a lot closer to normal while the UK has been an absolute wasteland for the whole of 2023. For instance there were plenty of American Soloist builds being shown off on here months and months before any stock trickled into the UK / Western Europe.

[Salespunk]

There are plenty of new supply chain disruptions popping up right now. The current fiasco in the Red Sea has shut down the Suez Canal so anything from Asia to Europe is being re-routed I believe (my geography is not 100% in that region). This is slowing things down while also dramatically increasing shipping cost.

[bikeboy1tr]

I searched out the Domane RSL Gen 4 and its only available right from Trek in all sizes cept for one in Canada but only in one colour. Most of the local shops to me show No Stock so I put it in my cart and went to check out with no warnings of a wait time anywhere. I think they give you a heads up before checking out and even though its a frame I might ride with its geometry I dont need an N+1 at this point.
https://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en_CA/cart