Unlike most retailers, many bike shops do not hold deep discount sales during every holiday. Many shops do have Christmas sales, however, which is the high demand season for children’s bicycles. You can see sales pop up early spring, late summer, and early fall since these times are linked to the beginning and end of the typical riding season in the United States. Road bicycles can be expensive, and if you are on a budget, there are opportunities throughout the year that can help.
It is important that you sign up for bike shop email newsletters or sale notifications if they are available. Some bike shops can go as far as to offer 25% off of bicycles or components at various times of the year. Therefore, timing your purchase may save you hundreds of dollars. Early in the spring, bike shops will usually put on the beginning of the riding season sales.
New bicycle models and components come out in the fall and winter similar to the automobile industry. Bicycle manufacturers introduce next year’s model either during the Tour de France in July or either of the bicycle industry’s biggest trade shows, Eurobike held in Germany in early September or Interbike, held in Las Vegas in mid-September. Between the moment the new models are announced and when they begin to show up, bike shop owners will either start model closeout sales or customers will begin to seek and ask for steep discounts on the old models still in the store by themselves. If a local shop has an older model that will fit you in September or later, you can expect deep discounts on that model. The discounts could grow as the next year’s models begin to arrive.
Some bike shop owners do not like the yearly model release every fall. They may have a full inventory of the current models of bicycles. Once the next year’s model is announced, suddenly their inventory is on discount. Customers expect it. Other bike shops will follow tradition and launch end of season and model closeout sales. Trek Bicycles is eliminating the yearly release of new models and is Trek is now introducing new bike models around the year. This spreads the older model discounting around the calendar, instead of the inventory dumping every fall. Trek introduced the new aerodynamic Madone in July 2015, just before the Tour de France. The lightweight Trek Emonda was introduced one year earlier. In the years to come, the other big bicycle manufacturers will probably follow Trek, so that one-third of the calendar year is not overlaid with the end of season/closeout sales.
Components are different from bicycle models. Bike components do not have top to bottom product line introductions and revamp every year. Component manufacturers will update their product line, item by item over the course of years. Also, some components manufacturers rarely have discounts on some their products or allow Internet sales.
You can negotiate for every transaction to some degree. It depends on the volume of sales in the shop and the motivation of the shop owner. Keep in mind that the profit for the shop owner decreases as you go higher in price, in contrast to car dealers, where the profit increases as the car price increases. Therefore, your negotiation will become tougher as you go up in price. Also, the bike shop may not be able to provide a discount on the components. Here you may have to switch to lower level components instead.
It is important that you sign up for bike shop email newsletters or sale notifications if they are available. Some bike shops can go as far as to offer 25% off of bicycles or components at various times of the year. Therefore, timing your purchase may save you hundreds of dollars. Early in the spring, bike shops will usually put on the beginning of the riding season sales.
New bicycle models and components come out in the fall and winter similar to the automobile industry. Bicycle manufacturers introduce next year’s model either during the Tour de France in July or either of the bicycle industry’s biggest trade shows, Eurobike held in Germany in early September or Interbike, held in Las Vegas in mid-September. Between the moment the new models are announced and when they begin to show up, bike shop owners will either start model closeout sales or customers will begin to seek and ask for steep discounts on the old models still in the store by themselves. If a local shop has an older model that will fit you in September or later, you can expect deep discounts on that model. The discounts could grow as the next year’s models begin to arrive.
Some bike shop owners do not like the yearly model release every fall. They may have a full inventory of the current models of bicycles. Once the next year’s model is announced, suddenly their inventory is on discount. Customers expect it. Other bike shops will follow tradition and launch end of season and model closeout sales. Trek Bicycles is eliminating the yearly release of new models and is Trek is now introducing new bike models around the year. This spreads the older model discounting around the calendar, instead of the inventory dumping every fall. Trek introduced the new aerodynamic Madone in July 2015, just before the Tour de France. The lightweight Trek Emonda was introduced one year earlier. In the years to come, the other big bicycle manufacturers will probably follow Trek, so that one-third of the calendar year is not overlaid with the end of season/closeout sales.
Components are different from bicycle models. Bike components do not have top to bottom product line introductions and revamp every year. Component manufacturers will update their product line, item by item over the course of years. Also, some components manufacturers rarely have discounts on some their products or allow Internet sales.
You can negotiate for every transaction to some degree. It depends on the volume of sales in the shop and the motivation of the shop owner. Keep in mind that the profit for the shop owner decreases as you go higher in price, in contrast to car dealers, where the profit increases as the car price increases. Therefore, your negotiation will become tougher as you go up in price. Also, the bike shop may not be able to provide a discount on the components. Here you may have to switch to lower level components instead.
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