Best time to buy new bike UK?
 

When is a good time to buy a new bike in the UK to get the best deal? Do bike shops go big on Cyber Monday/Black Friday? Christmas/Boxing sales? Or next year when the 2025 bikes are released, do the 2024 come down heavily?

The best time to buy a bike is anytime you want to buy a bike. You may occasionally find sales but honestly bikes are very low margin for a bike shop so it is less likely they go on sale and waiting could mean your bike is gone. If you get a good bike and enjoy it the money you paid for it back in the day will be pretty insignificant. Obviously if you are living paycheck to paycheck (or should I say paycheque) or something like that then yes talk to your shop see what is possible but if not I would just get the bike, people always procrastinate and I have seen people procrastinate themselves out of the bike they wanted and some will get mad "you didn't save that bike for me" or some such nonsense. Just get it ride while the weather is good (or hopefully decent) rather than buying a bike as the weather start turning and you don't really get to ride it much. That isn't fun.

It varies from year to year depending on supply and demand, which was obviously pretty messed up over the pandemic years.

I got a great deal on a Giant Defy (saved £1000 on a £3000 list price) in the Autumn of 2019 just after the 2020 model year bikes were released. But I saved nothing on a Canyon Endurace in the Autumn of 2021 when bike supply was very limited.

Generally speaking,... At the end of the riding Season, but the availability of popular sizes can become more limited.

Barry

May not be relevent but there's also a couple of Cycle to Work schemes
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The Halfords one might be a bit sh*t - seen a few coments.

In my case wait 40 years then buy an identical bike for the same price you bought a new one in 1983 :)

Not really serious here, but the next year after the bike you want (right bike, right size, right color) has sat on the bike shop floor and not sold. Shop has an incentive to clear out last year's inventory. The chances of this actually happening are quite small, so if you really want a bike, visit the shop every week and watch the inventory flow of the bike you want. Make an offer just before they run out of the bike you want.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the Halfords scheme other than it's limited to shops associated with Halfords (I think that includes Tredz), which limits the choice. However, the buyer doesn't get to choose the scheme, that's down to your employer. If you're in full time employment and your employer doesn't have a cycle to work scheme you could petition them to join one. I'd say the best is Green Commute Initiative (GCI) as they are welcome at a wide range of shops and have lower costs for the seller. It isn't limited to shops, either. I got my Dolan road bike and Sonder MTB through cycle to work and I believe other direct sellers such as PlanetX also welcome the scheme.

It's probably worth having a look at Chain Reaction's closing down sale. Stock is very limited but there's some good bargains to be had if they've got your size.

There still seems to be a lot of overstock from the cycling boom over covid, so there are still bikes on sale. Halfords seems to be doing 30% off sales pretty regularly. There's also a lot of bikes on the 2nd hand marketplace at the moment going pretty cheap. There are also loads of cycling co-ops/charities that sell reconditioned used bikes so you can get a great deal and help out local cycling initiatives.

But it all depends on what you want bike wise - you're not going to get much discount on an entry level bikes compared to something high end.

I will add that the weather will become 'nice' soon, so discounts are likely to dry up as demand increases. So I'd try and get one whilst it's still miserable.

If you are not in a hurry I think the easiest way is to just sit it out until you find what you want on sale. Make a shortlist of suitable bikes and then keep checking prices regularly. Sooner or later one of them is likely to get discounted. You could set yourself a target discount and I think something like 25-30% would be realistic.

The longer you are prepared to sit it out, the more likely you are to get a larger discount and this is probably the worst time of the year to find a bargain.

3:30 pm.

Not sure how things differ between UK and US. In most of the US, you have a better selection for the next couple months. Need a large, small, special model bike? Get it in the spring while they're still available. If you're looking for lower prices, you want to wait until September-October, when the shops are willing to offer price cuts to get the leftovers out of their inventory. (Southern Arizona is different because their summer is like winter, hardly anyone bikes in the summer because it's too hot.)

So how do you define "best?"

During the dry season.

Fixed.

Interrupt afternoon tea?... :)

If you're doing your homework and there's a specific colorway that you want in a certain size, then speak to the shop. Most of the time, and with most brands, new bikes are released from June through to August-September. Models are commonly released like cars, 6 months ahead of time. Thus, models arriving in a few months will be 2025 models, and shops will currently be holding 2024 stock from last year. You can go to a dealer at this time of year (spring-mid spring) and make an order, to ensure that they will order the model you want in the size you want so you can get it in a few month's time. If you're serious, the dealer may be able to access the dealer website to see what's coming down the pipeline. One local guy did that for me, showing me the new season's colors and specs, so I could make a better choice.

You will sometimes see guys online complaining bitterly about waiting 8 months for a bike, very angry at their local dealer and with the general attitude of it being a massive conspiracy against them, until you realize that they went into their dealer in October with a specific colorway in a specific size in mind, only to find out that the model they wanted in the color they wanted was sold out in the whole country and new models would not be coming back until June of the next year. Mentally sold on the bike, they put down a deposit, waited for 8 months feverishly calling the dealer, until their new bike arrived. It's got a new colorway and the company changed the entire drivetrain around, enraging our hero, who takes to the Internet to warn everyone that bike companies change specs and colors between year models.

That's in normal times. Right now, the bike industry has got a really bad case of long covid. They're filled up with inventory that's just not selling all that well and so there have been some amazing deals. Large companies are even looking shaky at the moment, and while they'll probably weather the storm, they're desperate to liquidate stock, so right now is a pretty good time to be buying a bike.

Now is probably a good time.

My advice is to stop worrying about getting the best deal and start shopping to find a good deal. Trying to save the last dollar in savings(sorry about currency, but I live in Canada) can prevent you finding the best bike for you. Start shopping