Scott4957

In the coming weeks I hope to buy both my Wife and myself our first road bikes. I have been to about a half dozen LBS and looked or road everything offered in our price range. I have made a decision on what shop I want to use due to their great customer service and knowledge. The only thing left is choosing the bike and getting the right price. I have had my eye on a Cannondale CAAD9 7. They have several of the 2009 models, and are asking $900. I have seen people post that they have purchased these for 100-150 less, and that was in the 2009 season. Should I be asking for a better price, or is it worth it considering they give me an extensive fit test that takes over an hour, tune the bike and do free tuneup's for life?

Thanks for your help.

Scott

MuddyMo

By no means is the LBS obligated to reduce the price..... however..... you never know unless you try.... just be tactful.

hammond9705

You will often do better to ask for free or discounted accessories rather then a discounted price on the bike

7bmwm3gtr

That's a rip-off, one of my LBS has a 2009 Caad9 6, which is one level better than a Caad9 7, for $849.

You should show them this (look at the bottom of Road Bikes):
https://www.goridebicycles.com/Site/Closeoutlist.htm

You should at least get the price down to $750-$800.

Scott4957

Good to know, I had one LBS tell me he could do better if I bought both bikes from him, so that is what made me think about it. I usually buy everything on-line and save tons of money. Buying our first road bikes is not something I want to cut corners on, I want to make sure the LBS has my back and will take care of me so we can have the best experience possible. Maybe some free helmets, the ones we looked at were about 40 bucks. I just can't help my self when I see someone paid 800 at their LBS and mine wants 900

Scott

donreb

All I can say is my local bike shop has some 2009 CAAD9 7, and they told me 720.00, I chose a 9 6 for 840.00. Hope this helps, and good luck!

Atol

Get at least a CAAD9-6. You'll regret buying Sora components later.

Nick29

according to bicycling.com, MSRP on that bike was $940. $40 less than MSRP is way too much to pay for a bike, especially considering it's last year's model. The fact that you're buying two bikes should definitely work in your favor as far as negotiating the price, but $900 shouldn't be the starting point for that negotiation.

mzeffex 

I can understand that it is a previous years bike, but would you haggle a price on something in Target or any other store?

I don't get why it is different with a bike.

LesterOfPuppets

I haggled some clearance energy drink at the Shell station the other day. On sale for $1.50, I got it down to $1.00. If you're lucky enough to get a manager on the floor at Target, you might be able to pull off something like that.

mzeffex 

Are you kidding me? I tried to buy a $35 stanley thermos at Target with a broken handle and four dents in the "unbreakable" thermos. She (the manager) said the most she can do is 5% off. She'd be lucky to sell it for 10.

LesterOfPuppets

Nope. I'm in there all the time, so they give me deals. Much easier to talk to the manager there. During the day there are typically two grunts and one manager. Much lower odds at Target. What, 28 grunts and two managers, maybe.

I've never seen a bike on clearance at Target, but most of their clearance stuff is such a light markdown, I bet they'd go even lower.

I can usually get 9 chicken wings for the price of 6 at the 7-11, too.

Never have haggled on bikes. My two new bike purchases were last years models, pretty good discounts.

mzeffex 

I didn't have to haggle on my bike. Pro deal works. Before I worked at my shop though, when planning to get a bike (an allez at the time) I did get them to match another local store.

Nick29

would you pay sticker price for a car without any questions?

It doesn't matter why it's different. The fact is it is different, and the MSRP and prices asked for things like bikes and cars are set to take that into account. The bike shop is under no obligation to sell a bike for any price (barring some agreement with the manufacturer), and the customer has every right to say "I'm not willing to pay that much, but this is how much I am willing to pay."

eta: if Target is selling a year old TV, I'd expect it to be significantly discounted too before I'd consider buying it.

LesterOfPuppets

Yeah, OP, unless you live in an expensive city (NY, SF, etc) you should be able to get a lower price.

Tapeworm21

You like their customer service, they do a fit, and lifetime of tuneups.... and somehow $900 is too much? You looking for more value or you gonna haggle just to haggle?

Don't be surprised if they say "Nay." Working in retail, hagglers are a huge pet peeve of mine.... especially since I can't do jack about it.

Camilo

You should negotiate price on everything. Be polite and business like, and remember you have no negotiating leverage unless you have alternatives - other places and/or other bikes that are a better deal for you. You have to be willing to walk away to negotiate. BUt remember, there's only so far any local bike shop can bend on price, be reasonable.

travkat

I would say any LBS "IS" under an obligation to sell a bike at a price that won't put them out of business. MSRP's are given out to shops from manufacturers to try and get them a reasonable margin on their stock. (this is usually no more than 30% on a bike) When you factor in the overhead a shop has, and the fact that you have an actual physical place to try out an actual bike and not just a digital image of a something you find on Ebay for a great deal, you usually are getting a pretty fair price. Having said that, most shops want your business and will be willing to throw in some goodies or discount your accessories. And usually in a given model year, retailers are not allowed to sell bikes for under a certain amount so as to remain in fair competition with the manufacturer's other dealers. Car haggling is a different animal as car manufacturers give kick backs to dealerships who sell over a certain amount of cars. So if the car dealership sells tons of cars breaking even or even at a small loss, it is made up in huge bonuses from the kick backs. So long story short. Cars=Haggle all you want...Bikes=Have a reasonable idea of what something costs and be prepared to provide proof that you found something cheaper in a physical shop elsewhere. Be tactful no matter what and most importantly ride the damn thing once you get it.

travkat

this post did get me thinking...why don't we haggle on things like T shirts. I mean cost to manufacture for a plain white T is about a buck. It then wholesales to a retailer for 5 bucks, and is sold to us for 15 bucks. Pretty good margin. So by the logic of haggling (with regards to bikes and cars) we should be talking these down to what 8 bucks?

coasting 

we should. a culture of taking what we are given is just as stupid as say a culture of tipping.

It is a tansaction freely entered into and should be done after both sides have tried to improve their position. competition is good. Try it at your supermarket. they'll have you commited to an asylum.

Tapeworm21

A price tag is not a decoration. It's actually there for a reason.

You: Can you go any less on this bike?
Me: No...... but then I'll go into WHY the bike is worth this much. That bike is worth $900.

Still won't budge on the bike's worth? Then I'll show you bikes at the $800 range you're looking for. Maybe I'll show you a Cannondale Quick 4 and see how happy you are with it. Pretty simple really. You walk into a place willing to spend "X" amount of dollars, I'll make sure you spend more than that.

Phantoj

Yes, it shows that an item is for sale.

coasting 

it is the seller's offer. the buyer should have an opportunity to counter offer. that's how all markets should work and the best markets do work. why do you hate freedom and capitalism?

FR4NCH1SE

oh if that deal gives you a headache, try to meet my deal a nice road bike for 500 bucks, NEW. With nicer components that you will get with that CAAD, I am assuming you get sora and tiagra and sora shifters with that caad, my bike has the stuff on the over one thousand caad bike.

v70cat

I agree i would suggest getting 2010 Ultegra for 2010
https://freakride.blogspot.com/2009/0...irst-look.html

The high end gear set will require less adjustment and work better. The entail addtional cost we be offset by the reduced shop charges.

I would suggest looking for the exact bike one line and getting your LBS to match the price. It is a very simple negation, I want to but the bike from you but can you match the price from this shop.
You might look at this bike shop https://roysbikes.com/index.cfm for price. They actually give great service as well.