Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Fifty Plus (50+)
Reload this Page >

Planning on buying a new bike? Act soon

Notices
Fifty Plus (50+) Share the victories, challenges, successes and special concerns of bicyclists 50 and older. Especially useful for those entering or reentering bicycling.

Planning on buying a new bike? Act soon

Old 09-24-18, 04:36 PM
  #26  
tcs
Palmer
 
tcs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 8,576

Bikes: Mike Melton custom, 1982 Stumpjumper, Alex Moulton AM, 2010 Dawes Briercliffe, 2017 Dahon Curl i8, 2021 Motobecane Turino 1x12

Mentioned: 37 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1644 Post(s)
Liked 1,785 Times in 1,041 Posts
Originally Posted by zippifish
Noticed Trek has bumped up their prices on the 2019 bikes, been looking at the Domane SL most have increased $180 to $200, SLR looks like it got a $300 hike since checking prices in the last week or so.
Hmm - 25% import duty on a $12000 Trek Domane SLR 9 Disc would be ~$3000.
tcs is offline  
Old 09-26-18, 08:17 AM
  #27  
Hunterdog
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Southern Tier New York
Posts: 128

Bikes: 2018 Specialized Roubaix Expert. 2015 Specialized Roubaix SL4

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
I was thinking of buying a new bike, looking at a Trek Domane. If I don't buy right now am I going to pay a premium so that Trek can pay the US tariff tax? Should I be looking at a European brand instead? I know that Allied (owned by the Wallmart folks) makes it's bikes in the US but really has a premium price tag with little if any LBS support. Any thoughts? Maybe just keep what I have.
Hunterdog is offline  
Old 09-26-18, 01:59 PM
  #28  
rutan74
Full Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 218

Bikes: Felt ZR3, Specialized Sectur

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 100 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 52 Times in 37 Posts
Originally Posted by Barrettscv
This is an excellent summery of the situation. My company uses imported bearing steel, which is no longer made by anyone in the United States. Imported "bar stock" steel was hit with a 25% tariff this summer. The steel contributes 30% to the cost of the finished product. This created an instant 7% price increase on product coming out of our factory in Indiana. We also import nearly identical products from Japan. Finished product from Japan was not effected. Imported Japanese product did not get the same price bump, but prices will go up.

Well, here is another summary. My company has a product built in China, shipped here and sold here. With the 25% we are no longer competitive cost wise and my company is thinking of moving the production of that machine back to the U.S. or to the home base facility in Europe. No decision yet, but if they move it back to the U.S. because of the 25%, that means more jobs in our facility. So, it works both ways. Right now, we are busting at the seams. Our problem is finding sheet metal vendors that can make our parts. All of our Vendors are slammed with work which translates to at least a 12 week lead time on just getting sheet metal parts.

john
rutan74 is offline  
Old 09-26-18, 02:47 PM
  #29  
tcs
Palmer
 
tcs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 8,576

Bikes: Mike Melton custom, 1982 Stumpjumper, Alex Moulton AM, 2010 Dawes Briercliffe, 2017 Dahon Curl i8, 2021 Motobecane Turino 1x12

Mentioned: 37 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1644 Post(s)
Liked 1,785 Times in 1,041 Posts
Originally Posted by Hunterdog
I was thinking of buying a new bike, looking at a Trek Domane. If I don't buy right now am I going to pay a premium so that Trek can pay the US tariff tax?
I didn't mean to mislead anyone with my above comment. I don't know where various Trek models are made or what Trek's actual tariff liability would be, if any. I was just pointing out the price increase zippifish noted seems more in line with common year-to-year variation than tariff increase.

Of course, you mentioned the Trek Domane, a top quality bike. If you were thinking about buying a Huffy from Walmart, yeah that sucker's 100% Chinese and it's going up 10% right now and 25% January 1.

Should I be looking at a European brand instead?
Chiang Kai Shek vs. Mao Zedung &etc. is inappropriate on this list, but recall for our present purposes Taiwan (the source of a great many quality bicycles & components) is a different source of origin than China.

Last edited by tcs; 09-26-18 at 03:27 PM.
tcs is offline  
Old 09-26-18, 03:05 PM
  #30  
Hunterdog
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Southern Tier New York
Posts: 128

Bikes: 2018 Specialized Roubaix Expert. 2015 Specialized Roubaix SL4

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
I just spoke with local Trek dealer and after first round of tariffs, depending on the Trek bike, retail prices have been increased between 5% and 10%. This, of course, is before the 25% tariff increase that is expected to take place in January.
Hunterdog is offline  
Old 09-27-18, 07:45 AM
  #31  
tcs
Palmer
 
tcs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 8,576

Bikes: Mike Melton custom, 1982 Stumpjumper, Alex Moulton AM, 2010 Dawes Briercliffe, 2017 Dahon Curl i8, 2021 Motobecane Turino 1x12

Mentioned: 37 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1644 Post(s)
Liked 1,785 Times in 1,041 Posts
It takes a couple years to compile the data, so all this is a few years behind 'right now':

95% or 99% of bicycles sold in the USA are imported. About 94% of bicycles imported into the USA come from either China or Taiwan.

USA domestic bicycle manufacturing is either 'boutique' craft makers, specialty firms like Worksman (industrial) and BikeFriday (travel) or a small effort by Kent/Bicycle Corporation of America to assemble imported parts onto imported frames.

Unlike the USA, in the EU roughly 2/3rds of bicycles sold are produced in member countries.

Bicycles manufactured in China and imported into the EU are burdened with a 48.5% 'dumping' tariff and a 14% import tariff.

Last edited by tcs; 10-11-18 at 01:13 PM.
tcs is offline  
Old 09-27-18, 09:28 AM
  #32  
Tamiya
Senior Member
 
Tamiya's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: AU, MY, SG & ZZZzzz...
Posts: 235
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 107 Post(s)
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
wonder how much of that is from UK... that'll drop, after Brexit
Tamiya is offline  
Old 09-27-18, 01:45 PM
  #33  
tcs
Palmer
 
tcs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 8,576

Bikes: Mike Melton custom, 1982 Stumpjumper, Alex Moulton AM, 2010 Dawes Briercliffe, 2017 Dahon Curl i8, 2021 Motobecane Turino 1x12

Mentioned: 37 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1644 Post(s)
Liked 1,785 Times in 1,041 Posts
Originally Posted by Tamiya
wonder how much of that is from UK... that'll drop, after Brexit
Actually, very little. It's estimated in one of those reports I linked that out of a total annual EU market of ~20,000,000, only ~80,000 bikes/year are manufactured in the UK: niche firms Brompton, Pashley and Alex Moulton, some children's bikes made in Wales and the craft, bespoke builders.

Brompton says they export 80% of their production. The EU is a major market for Brompton, and if there's a 'hard' Brexit with tariffs & quotas as a warning to other member nations thinking about leaving, it would surely impact that company's bottom line. Brompton has announced plans for a major sales/marketing expansion into China, where they'll find at least (IIRC) seven other companies already offering folding bikes based on Andrew Ritchie's brilliant, patent-expired folding design at various price points and quality levels. One of these bikes, the Dahon Curl, is already provided to the EU market out of another of Dahon's factories, in Taiwan (which is in this context, as we have discussed, not China).
tcs is offline  
Old 10-16-18, 01:28 PM
  #34  
Barrettscv 
Have bike, will travel
Thread Starter
 
Barrettscv's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Lake Geneva, WI
Posts: 12,392

Bikes: Ridley Helium SLX, Canyon Endurance SL, De Rosa Professional, Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra, Schwinn Paramount (1 painted, 1 chrome), Peugeot PX10, Serotta Nova X, Simoncini Cyclocross Special, Raleigh Roker, Pedal Force CG2 and CX2

Mentioned: 46 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 910 Post(s)
Liked 288 Times in 158 Posts
Well, I guess I'll be following my own advice. October is always a great time to find close-outs and I'll be getting my first race-worthy bike with electronic shifting this month.
Barrettscv is offline  
Old 10-16-18, 11:34 PM
  #35  
B. Carfree
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Posts: 7,048
Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 509 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 9 Times in 8 Posts
I went on a ride with my Congressman's district office director a couple of months ago. The other rider runs a shop that only sells e-bikes and was very concerned with the impending tariffs. I don't know where his estimate comes from, but he thought that he was looking at a 25% price increase.

This is a real shame. My city used to be a leader in bike use, but has fallen on hard times and is on track to have no cyclists left after 2024 if trends continue. However, the majority of the bikes I see during the day these past couple of months have been new riders on e-bikes. I was really hoping these things would help lead a resurgence in cycling locally. They may still do it, but as the price for a decent e-bike jumps up over $2k, that's going to slow things down a bit.
B. Carfree is offline  
Old 10-17-18, 08:25 AM
  #36  
indyfabz
Senior Member
 
indyfabz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,053
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18319 Post(s)
Liked 15,285 Times in 7,226 Posts
Don't need any new bikes. Hope it stays that way.
indyfabz is offline  
Old 10-17-18, 03:31 PM
  #37  
bogydave
Senior Member
 
bogydave's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: ALASKA , SoCal
Posts: 914

Bikes: /Skye/ Torker mt, Sirrus flat bar

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 188 Post(s)
Liked 24 Times in 10 Posts

No real need to buy China bikes
214 USA made Bicycles & this list is growing
https://usamadeproducts.biz/vehicles-bicycles.html

Lynskeyperformance.com

A good one

My Rove frame made in USA,

Lowest unemployment rate in decades.
7.1 million US job openings


bogydave is offline  
Old 10-17-18, 05:49 PM
  #38  
vol
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,797
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Liked 18 Times in 12 Posts
Are USA made bikes and accessories of better quality than China made?
vol is offline  
Old 10-18-18, 01:11 AM
  #39  
bogydave
Senior Member
 
bogydave's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: ALASKA , SoCal
Posts: 914

Bikes: /Skye/ Torker mt, Sirrus flat bar

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 188 Post(s)
Liked 24 Times in 10 Posts
Originally Posted by vol
Are USA made bikes and accessories of better quality than China made?
well
the thousands of US workers employed by the above companies believe they are.
I have no reason to disagree with them.

I believe bikes made in the USA are of the highest quality.
IMO , yes, better than China.
bogydave is offline  
Old 10-18-18, 11:46 AM
  #40  
tcs
Palmer
 
tcs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 8,576

Bikes: Mike Melton custom, 1982 Stumpjumper, Alex Moulton AM, 2010 Dawes Briercliffe, 2017 Dahon Curl i8, 2021 Motobecane Turino 1x12

Mentioned: 37 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1644 Post(s)
Liked 1,785 Times in 1,041 Posts
I only know of a couple of what I think are 100% US manufactured bicycles. (When I suggested one to a fellow looking for an 'American bike' on this list a few years back, I got a profane reply!)

Other so-called US made bicycles are US frames assembled into rideable vehicles with imported parts. Often the value of the parts exceeds the value of the domestic content.

Are USA made bikes and accessories of better quality than China made?
Well, go down to your local Walmart, inspect a BCA bike and if you think so, buy one!

tcs is offline  
Old 10-18-18, 12:21 PM
  #41  
indyfabz
Senior Member
 
indyfabz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,053
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18319 Post(s)
Liked 15,285 Times in 7,226 Posts
Originally Posted by bogydave

No real need to buy China bikes
214 USA made Bicycles & this list is growing
https://usamadeproducts.biz/vehicles-bicycles.html
Engin Cycles | Handmade Titanium Bicycles Philadelphia, PA

Frame designed and welded, and bike built up, 12 miles from my house. Hubs, headset and cages made in the U.S. Rode it home from the shop.


indyfabz is offline  
Old 10-18-18, 06:28 PM
  #42  
Paul Barnard
For The Fun of It
 
Paul Barnard's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisissippi Coast
Posts: 5,843

Bikes: Lynskey GR300, Lynskey Backroad, Litespeed T6, Lynskey MT29, Burley Duet

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2131 Post(s)
Liked 1,639 Times in 822 Posts
Originally Posted by B. Carfree

This is a real shame. My city used to be a leader in bike use, but has fallen on hard times and is on track to have no cyclists left after 2024 if trends continue.
Pardon the aside, but can you tell me more about that? How has your town fallen on hard times and what effect does that have on cycling?
Paul Barnard is offline  
Old 10-18-18, 10:59 PM
  #43  
B. Carfree
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Posts: 7,048
Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 509 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 9 Times in 8 Posts
Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
Pardon the aside, but can you tell me more about that? How has your town fallen on hard times and what effect does that have on cycling?
Eugene has been seeing a remarkable decline in bicycle use over the past six years, that's what I meant by hard times. (Though like any other city we have our issues, with affordable housing being right at the top.) If you look up Eugene's bicycle commuter numbers on the US Census American Community Survey, you will see that cycling here was humming along with an increasing trend from 2005-2012. Since then, we've seen an epic collapse. (The high was actually 2009 at 10.8%; the low is the most recent year, 2017, at 4.4%). The data since 2012 matches tightly with the best fit line and projects zero cyclists by sometime in 2024.

This isn't happening in other cities near us. Portland is sitting flat at 6.3% and Corvallis is continuing its rise and is now up over 13%, so it's not the weather, gas prices or the economy, which we share with those other two. Eugene is doing something(s) different than other places that isn't working as intended and I'm kind of on a mission to figure this out. The leading candidate is official city fear messaging. Perversely, Eugene sends people out to targeted neighborhoods to chat face-to-face and then does a closed street event where cars aren't allowed for a few hours on a Sunday in that neighborhood. Cycling rates drop substantially in those neighborhoods almost every time they do this.

I'm really hoping e-bikes will save the day here. I'm seeing boatloads of new riders on them. I'd rather never figure out what is going wrong here and have it self-correct than figure it out only to find myself riding in a city that doesn't have any other people on bikes.
B. Carfree is offline  
Old 10-19-18, 04:43 AM
  #44  
Paul Barnard
For The Fun of It
 
Paul Barnard's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisissippi Coast
Posts: 5,843

Bikes: Lynskey GR300, Lynskey Backroad, Litespeed T6, Lynskey MT29, Burley Duet

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2131 Post(s)
Liked 1,639 Times in 822 Posts
Originally Posted by B. Carfree
Eugene has been seeing a remarkable decline in bicycle use over the past six years, that's what I meant by hard times. (Though like any other city we have our issues, with affordable housing being right at the top.) If you look up Eugene's bicycle commuter numbers on the US Census American Community Survey, you will see that cycling here was humming along with an increasing trend from 2005-2012. Since then, we've seen an epic collapse. (The high was actually 2009 at 10.8%; the low is the most recent year, 2017, at 4.4%). The data since 2012 matches tightly with the best fit line and projects zero cyclists by sometime in 2024.

This isn't happening in other cities near us. Portland is sitting flat at 6.3% and Corvallis is continuing its rise and is now up over 13%, so it's not the weather, gas prices or the economy, which we share with those other two. Eugene is doing something(s) different than other places that isn't working as intended and I'm kind of on a mission to figure this out. The leading candidate is official city fear messaging. Perversely, Eugene sends people out to targeted neighborhoods to chat face-to-face and then does a closed street event where cars aren't allowed for a few hours on a Sunday in that neighborhood. Cycling rates drop substantially in those neighborhoods almost every time they do this.

I'm really hoping e-bikes will save the day here. I'm seeing boatloads of new riders on them. I'd rather never figure out what is going wrong here and have it self-correct than figure it out only to find myself riding in a city that doesn't have any other people on bikes.
Thanks for the info. I am very curious about all that may be driving that change.
Paul Barnard is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
fishboat
Bicycle Mechanics
38
09-28-17 09:45 AM
nuclear_biker
Bicycle Mechanics
21
05-22-15 06:52 AM
joe_mn
General Cycling Discussion
8
11-08-11 05:08 PM
1nterceptor
General Cycling Discussion
73
08-08-11 06:47 AM
friscokid
Road Cycling
59
09-19-10 08:51 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.