Stock shortages?

mloc123

I planned to pick a groupset for my MTB frame today... And after a quick look on CRC/wiggle... There is nothing in stock.

Are there stock issues in general or am I looking in the wrong places?

kenmc

Low stock everywhere, need to split the list among several retailers mostly. Try bike24, bike components, alltricks etc too

ridelikeaturtle

I'm having a helluva time finding parts. Still waiting on something from AliExpress. Try the region-specific Amazons also, you might find what you need.

JazzyJ

ridelikeaturtle wrote: »

I'm having a helluva time finding parts. Still waiting on something from AliExpress. Try the region-specific Amazons also, you might find what you need.

I've been trying to get an 11-42 cassette for ages. I can get a Chinese one off Amazon but....

Nothing likely in stock for a good while either.

mloc123

Cheers... It seems I can piece together a full groupset, component by component on CRC... Just not buy the bundles.

CantGetNoSleep

Very frustrating time to be trying any sort of build at the moment. Even things like hydraulic disc hoses can take months to get (I had a full groupset ready but couldn't find a rear hose anywhere).

I'd strongly advise against any sort of build at the moment unless you are confident you already have everything.

ridelikeaturtle

mloc123 wrote: »

Cheers... It seems I can piece together a full groupset, component by component on CRC... Just not buy the bundles.

The cost of that... might be cheaper to buy an entire bike, then sell the frame later!

smacl

JazzyJ wrote: »

I've been trying to get an 11-42 cassette for ages. I can get a Chinese one off Amazon but....

Nothing likely in stock for a good while either.

Mantel had a shipment of cassettes in last week, possibly all gone by now though.

Rua_ri

I spent ages trawling through online sites trying to find chainrings, cassettes, chains, etc.
Cassettes seemed to be in really short supply.
No online retailer had all I needed.

Eventually decided to head to the local bike shop ( it's within 5km) which had it all and more at an overall price cheaper than I could find online.

Check local if available.
I was genuinely surprised and delighted.
Use them before they disappear.

mh_cork

JazzyJ wrote: »

I've been trying to get an 11-42 cassette for ages. I can get a Chinese one off Amazon but....

Nothing likely in stock for a good while either.

I ordered an 11-40 shimano cassette from alltricks 2 weeks ago, might still be in stock.

CantGetNoSleep

I tried to sell a frameset about six months ago (I bought a bike to take the components off it) and it wasn't easy - I'd say people know that you can't pick up a 105 groupset for 4-500€ and have it delivered within a week and have a bike made up

DaveyDave

Rua_ri wrote: »

I spent ages trawling through online sites trying to find chainrings, cassettes, chains, etc.
Cassettes seemed to be in really short supply.
No online retailer had all I needed.

Eventually decided to head to the local bike shop ( it's within 5km) which had it all and more at an overall price cheaper than I could find online.

Check local if available.
I was genuinely surprised and delighted.
Use them before they disappear.

I ordered a 25t 11 speed cassette online for the turbo as that's all they had. Now it seems there's nothing available but the local shop had 28t and 30t when I asked, definitely worth asking local.

silverharp

what is causing shortages this time?or just knock on from last year or are global logistics/manufacturing not back to normal?

magicbastarder

a proper cluster**** i reckon - there was a massive surge in demand for the same reasons there was also a slowdown in supply chains, and i think i read in a different thread here that shimano are not going to invest in expanding manufacturing capacity as this may only last a few months; and the issue with the suez canal may have made things worse.

kenmc

silverharp wrote: »

what is causing shortages this time?or just knock on from last year or are global logistics/manufacturing not back to normal?

I read\saw\heard that there's been such an upsurge in demand for bikes worldwide, that basically all new components etc being manufactured are being put on new bikes rather than being available as upgrades, repairs etc.

silverharp

I had a quick look on YT, apparently mundane issues like shipping containers are a problem, they are all in the wrong place and shipping costs jumped so distributors are losing money

Shimano. You don't really see anything else at the sub 800-1000 euro price point. You'll see some suntour and microshift bits mixed in with shimano but rarely if ever SRAM or Campagnolo (do they even do claris /sora alternatives?)

One things for sure the big guns don't look to be willing to move away from Shimano or just sell bikes on the budget end of the market with full suntour/microshift drivetrains assuming they have capacity to fill the gap in the first place.

gmacww

Deleted User wrote: »

Shimano. You don't really see anything else at the sub 800-1000 euro price point. You'll see some suntour and microshift bits mixed in with shimano but rarely if ever SRAM or Campagnolo (do they even do claris /sora alternatives?)

One things for sure the big guns don't look to be willing to move away from Shimano or just sell bikes on the budget end of the market with full suntour/microshift drivetrains assuming they have capacity to fill the gap in the first place.

To answer your first question no Campy don't do entry level components so there is no claris/sora alternative.


There is a good reason however for big brand companies not going for sun tour/microshift. It's protecting their brand. Those components are usually the entry level of entry level and if you buy for example a Giant with that on it when it starts not functioning properly or it just doesn't feel great people who will be shopping in that end of things will associate that with the bike brand and not the component. One persons "oh I had a Giant before, it wasn't very good" results in lost sales. If they stick with Claris and Sora entry level as they may be are usually flawless (if a little clunky) in their shifting.



Seasoned cyclists like ourselves can disassociate a component with a bike.

mloc123

ridelikeaturtle wrote: »

The cost of that... might be cheaper to buy an entire bike, then sell the frame later!

I had considered it alright... although I assume actual bikes are pretty hard to come by too.

After shopping around, between CRC and bike24 I have it all ready to order. Strange that although they are now the same company, bike24 are much better value on some components.

Coming in at 450e for Shimano M7000 1x11.. (BB, derailleur, crankset, shifter, chain, cassette, housings and some cheaper shimano brakes) not too bad I think

gmacww

mloc123 wrote: »

I had considered it alright... although I assume actual bikes are pretty hard to come by too.

After shopping around, between CRC and bike24 I have it all ready to order. Strange that although they are now the same company, bike24 are much better value on some components.

CRC and bike24 are not the same company. Wiggle and CRC merged about 5-6 years ago. They bought bike24 shortly after then sold it back to it's previous owner about a year later so completely separate now. CRC's prices have gone up in the wake of brexit and usually you'll find bike24 quite a bit cheaper now.

mloc123

gmacww wrote: »

CRC and bike24 are not the same company. Wiggle and CRC merged about 5-6 years ago. They bought bike24 shortly after then sold it back to it's previous owner about a year later so completely separate now. CRC's prices have gone up in the wake of brexit and usually you'll find bike24 quite a bit cheaper now.

Goes to show when I last bought bike parts

coolbeans

Pretty much impossible to buy a drop bar road bike atm unless you buy in the UK but then Brexit taxes.