davethelefty

Hi everyone. I'd previously posted here about a cracked steerer tube on my Canyon Endurace. Folks on this forum thought the problem could be as varied as over-torquing the stem, to no expander plug, to a carbon fiber de-lamination. I send photos to Canyon and they agreed it was a crack not caused by external forces, and offered to replace my fork.

But the fork is not available in my bike's very distinctive color, hellfire red. It looks like I might need to replace it with a black fork, which I guess isn't horrible.

Like other manufacturers Canyon has been hit hard. The website no longer commits to ship dates, but targets sometime in the fall for bike availability, and that date has slipped several times.

Just curious -- do you have a repair or upgrade on hold because parts aren't available, and is it impacting you as it is me, with a bike that can't be ridden until it's repaired?

Crankycrank

Not me personally but have seen people I know unable to get certain parts. It's a part of life for now with many things. Just have to wait it out until things get better but may get worse first. On the bright side at least they're replacing it for free. Having to buy an aftermarket fork during these times may on top of being difficult to find would probably be at premium prices as well.

Iride01 

I've never wrecked a bike bad enough to need new parts. Sucks to be you! <grin>

n+1 has it's benefits.

davethelefty

fortunately I’m in an n+1 situation but I’d much rather ride the Canyon over the clunky hybrid.

Iride01 

Yeah, I'm just a road bike type so all mine are road bikes. Except I just gave my '91 Paramount with a full 105 5800 eleven speed group to my youngest son, so now I only have two bikes. I might be dangerously close to being in your situation.

Andrew R Stewart 

Yes, we've had many repair jobs that waited for parts, some for quite a while. We tell our customers that if they can find the needed parts to just buy them and we'll do the installs (in the past we generally avoided the liability of installing new parts we didn't source from insured resellers). Personally I am waiting of Phil parts for my wife's almost finished frame. Andy

JoeTBM 

Even normal wear and tear parts have been delayed or in short supply. We have a LBS call our volunteer shop on several occasions to see if we had stock of rim liners, brake cables, etc. to loan/trade as their orders were backordered. Getting pretty scary out there.

TCollen

NOTE TO WIFE: This thread demonstrates why it is important that I maintain 9 emergency backup bicycles.

ClydeClydeson

A few of my projects are stalled due to parts not being available, but this is primarily because the bike is old and the parts I need are of older standards, like 1-1/8 straight steerer forks.

If I need tires or cables or brake pads I can find stuff to work, but the stuff I find might not be my first choice.

Phil_gretz

It's August 17th. On January 24th, I ordered an aluminum track frame in a stock size and color. Learning that this was unavailable, I received my refund and made a 2nd attempt to order the same frame from another vendor. That was February 24th. Similarly, that order was cancelled 1 month later for lack of inventory at their warehouse.

So then, I decided to place a semi-custom order through a third vendor (this time lugged steel) on April 13th - and I'm still waiting on shipping, although I've seen photos of the completed frame.

In the mean time, I ordered a third (attempt at an) aluminum frame on July 11th, but this time it's the 2021 production run of the same frame I attempted back in January and February. It has shipped, and I expect it in the next 45 days or so.

So, my project bike has taken seven months waiting on a frame, and it looks like I'll have one before Halloween. The bonus is that I'll have a second one, too! That one will get a different treatment and a hand built tubular wheelset. Yay!

GhostRider62

Can't get parts for an 11S etap failure. I will wait for Shimano and never buy SRAM again.

MNebiker

This is a problem across many industries, not just bike parts. I follow a couple automotive forums, and there are numerous complaints about parts being on indefinite backorder by several different car manufacturers. One transmission shop is buying anything they can get their hands on to keep operating., and another bought up junk yard units to tear down to find good parts. Amazon has many items listed as unavailable with no projected in-stock date.

The problem is that no manufacturer makes all their own parts - someone else makes the rims, tires, bearings, bolts, connectors, struts, etc Many of these subs and vendors were deeply affected by the covid shutdown, and some have not been able to come back from it. A good example is the microchip shortage that has new car deliveries messed up with parking lots full of new vehicles waiting for computer modules. Then there is the factor that a lot of the parts are made offshore. And don't forget that there was undoubtedly some poor planning involved too.

I'm afraid it will be a while before it gets a lot better.

dsbrantjr

It may not get better. A big problem as as I see it is that the bean counters have cut all of the slack out of the systems because they are incentivized to keep costs down, by keeping "lean" "just in time" inventories, so when any unplanned supply chain interruption occurs there are instant shortages. I design SATCOM systems and I find myself designing around parts availability; they are quoting as much as 52 week lead time on some common electronic parts and prices are skyrocketing. If they can just raise prices when there is a shortage and still sell all that they make where is their incentive to change anything?

TiHabanero

Our shop is sending people to ebay for parts. Somehow they are able to find what they need there. Unfortunately this does not apply to your situation.

dedhed

We're looking at holding up multi-million dollar infrastructure construction projects because we can't get materials, many ordered in May

_ForceD_

Not me personally, but there is one LBS (maybe a second) that went out of business because of parts availability/shortages. On a side note…just this week, in a couple of different department stores…I’ve noticed that they finally have new, fully assembled (although maybe not correctly assembled) bikes for sale again for the first time since early in the pandemic.

Dan

pdlamb

Just curious, what's the normal lead time? I'm watching a vendor order some specialty castings with a nominal 24 month lead time.

Bald Paul

I have some bad news for you......

GhostRider62

Do tell.

I can easily find 10 speed dura ace parts and suspect Shimano and certainly Campy won't just stop making spares.

GhostRider62

Do tell.

I can easily find 10 speed dura ace parts and suspect Shimano and certainly Campy won't just stop making spares when they go from 12 to 13 speed or 11 speed Di2 to 12 speed wireless, assuming that is their plan.

oldbobcat

Even stupid routine stuff like sealed square-taper bottom brackets. And 25mm road tires.

oldbobcat

That's what Tiagra 4600 is for. And it's pretty hard to find right now.

As for SRAM 10-speed Doubletap, forget about it. I had a customer who had to give up riding her Red-equipped Madone for lack of a front derailleur.

GhostRider62

Just put an ultegra up front. There are options.

I cannot shift my bike unless I get either a set of 11 speed etap brifters or a blip box. Both are nearly impossible to source.

If I "upgrade" to AXS 12 speed etap, it will cost me a fortune and then I can expect the same mercentary marketing from SRAM. Two years from now just out of warranty and the box breaks or the shifters break and the entire Grouppo is a $3000 paperweight.

dedhed

A good example is our fire hydrants. Ordered in May, was told in June 7/8 ship, 7/15 comes and they said 9/24. Ordered fittings 7/12, some items were quoted 11/29 delivery - project completion date is 12/20.
Most items have "normal" lead times of 4-8 weeks or at least a partial shipment to keep you going. At this point price is an issue as well. Vendors are giving price quotes good only for 14 days. Heck it's more than 14 days from the time you get the quote and when the bid opens to see who got the job.

Bald Paul

If it's a matter of SRAM discontinuing the part(s) you need, well, yeah, but really, that's different from the supply issues many of us are experiencing. I couldn't find a Shimano Ultegra front derailleur anywhere when I was building my latest bike. I actually ended up with a Di2 "Upgrade" kit instead. It wasn't easy finding an 11spd chain, either.

And eventually, all manufacturers will stop making spares for old technology. Most of the "spares" are just excess inventory left over when the newer technology was introduced.