Is anyone else finding that everyone is out of stock of various Shimano bits and bobs...?
Either that, or my google-fu is utter poor show...

Yep! Difficult to get a full groupset or even, cassette, shifter and derailleur from the same place that isn’t 12 speed.

I’ve noticed several small bike brands (I don’t mean that to be rude) that are only offering frame only options at the moment and not full builds (Brother and Fearless), which is a shame as I want a full build soon

This is going to be an issue throughout 2021. Even the largest bike brands are struggling to get components. I usually have a small stock of consumables so I've been topping that up whenever I see availability / a bargain. I've a couple of larger bits still to buy (like a spare rear mech) but hope to then have enough to ride out the year. It'll help if I can avoid falling off.

Bewt to buy second hand where you're able to. Brandnew from the shops and its a struggle. Arcteryx plan to replace my shoes but the ETA is June (not Shimano but just as way of example)...

As the co-owner of a small bike business I have a little insider info that is (depending on who you ask) quite interesting.

Obviously demand went through the roof last year and everything is out of stock at the moment but we also saw a huge surge in demand for gravel groupsets. Shimano appear to have doubled down on GRX so now we can get GRX again pretty quickly (~2 weeks) but the manufacturing was slower than expected, meaning we probably won't see more than a trickle of 105 or ultegra (disc) until July/August.

Sram is a different ballgame completely, We can get AXS pretty readily but I've just had to pull together some second hand Force bits for my own personal build (!) Poor me.

We've had to be super dynamic and we're ordering groupsets from small resellers from as far as Japan to meet customer orders at the moment but it's quite good fun trying to source things from all over and still turn a small profit!

voodoo_simon wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 1:12 pm Yep! Difficult to get a full groupset or even, cassette, shifter and derailleur from the same place that isn’t 12 speed.

I wonder if that's partly down to 12spd being relatively new (in Shimano terms) and with the shenanigans in the last year people haven't upgraded their bikes so are still on 10 & 11spd and thus replacing components rather than buying the latest and greatest. Not just Shimano either, Sunrace cassettes are getting harder to source.

A mate who runs a bike repair business has even had to resort to buying components from Wiggle/CRC as they saw the supply problem approaching this time last year and all but bought Madison out of stock so there was very little on the B2B side of things either.

Its interesting isn't it. I appreciate that people bought lots of bikes last year but I wonder how much of an increase it was over a normal year given that bike sales do seem to be continuing to rise year on year. I suspect the real problem is a combination of all sorts of things - workforce issues across the whole extraction/ processing/ manufacturing side due to covid (both lock down restrictions and absence), logistics issues as everything has been geared towards food supplies which then affects the whole supply chain from raw materials to manufacture to retail supply.

It would be nice to think a few lessons will be learnt from this like 'just in time' logistics being seen as too high a risk, not concentrating manufacture in a handful of countries and limiting supply to avoid manufactures stockpiling too much.

Probably not......

whitestone wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 1:52 pm

voodoo_simon wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 1:12 pm Yep! Difficult to get a full groupset or even, cassette, shifter and derailleur from the same place that isn’t 12 speed.

I wonder if that's partly down to 12spd being relatively new (in Shimano terms) and with the shenanigans in the last year people haven't upgraded their bikes so are still on 10 & 11spd and thus replacing components rather than buying the latest and greatest. Not just Shimano either, Sunrace cassettes are getting harder to source.

A mate who runs a bike repair business has even had to resort to buying components from Wiggle/CRC as they saw the supply problem approaching this time last year and all but bought Madison out of stock so there was very little on the B2B side of things either.

Aye, we've grabbed more stems and saddles at retail than we're happy admitting.

ah yes, the joys of "CV power" to corrupt everything and anything......
fat tyres are non existent and over £100 each...wow
front rings if one still luditically, a la me, runs 2x9 are very rare...
i did build up a spares supply for a rainy day, ha ha, so am able to get by so far.
fuk knows when the brains of the world will find it amongst themselves to pull heads out of arses...one can only hope..???
i'll tell ya though, if you think not wearing a mask isn't a crime, try walking into ya local cycle shop to pick up an order and see what happens..!!!!
boxing gloves to the fore....christ.
get me outa here.....
peter
loontown london.

I've a mate who's run a great little mobile bike mechanic business for 15 years and was talking with him last night. So many people have pulled their old bikes out of the shed in the past year, the supply of older cheaper bits has basically dried up. Per comment above, he's resorted to sourcing components from German online shops and adding a little uplift for his trouble.

But, hey, more people on bikes. Result eh?

All the reps we've spoken to reckon at least october before stock is anything resembling "free flowing".

Doesn't help that we can't buy stuff from a lot of the European retailers anymore.

petermac wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:05 pm i'll tell ya though, if you think not wearing a mask isn't a crime, try walking into ya local cycle shop to pick up an order and see what happens..!!!!
boxing gloves to the fore....christ.
get me outa here.....
peter
loontown london.

It’s not a crime. It is however rude, inconsiderate and selfish

Back on topic....
Reading this made me think I should get a stock of brake pads. My brakes on both my main bikes take an slightly obscure older style Shimano pad. As it happens I had a bit of trouble getting what I wanted - are bike parts going to be the new bog-roll and flour?

I had Project New Bike all mapped out but will probably just get some new tubeless compatible wheels for the anthem instead and think about a hard tail next year.

So I've just spent a fun few hours trying to track down a Shimano GRX RD-RX812 SHADOW RD+, even the German's appear to be out of stock. At this rate, it would be quicker and easier to buy a new bike...

My friend is basically living for stock alerts for Shimano - stock levels are mad. I’m seriously considering one of the Chinese group sets if I do need bits any time soon.

Well blow me down with a feather... Found one.
Might have to go an have a lie down, as now we need to find the mythical replacement RAG+ mech hanger.

Not just Shimano eh, I’ve been after a Sram force 11spd mech shifter for a while. It seems every time I go to chain reaction I’ve just missed them!! And no one else seems to have stock, pairs at least:(
I don’t think the Suez thing is going to help!!

I've heard that some shifters aren't available until next year.

Aww Colin, you’re just trying to make me feel better
Fortunately I’m not in any real rush, I’ve had the frameset and most of the components now since June

Mythste wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 1:51 pm Sram is a different ballgame completely, We can get AXS pretty readily but I've just had to pull together some second hand Force bits for my own personal build (!) Poor me.

I recently wanted a X01 kit but couldn't wait for 1 - 2 months (messed up a GX drivetrain - took me 3.5 years to do so). Dealer made me a fantastic deal on a readily available XX1 AXS.
I didn't want to go electronic on my bike, not just yet, but well... can't have everything

You folk all need to go single speed.

htrider wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 12:15 am You folk all need to go single speed.

I dislike pushing my bike and I like my knees just how they are thanks...

htrider wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 12:15 am You folk all need to go single speed.

Half of my bikes are ssp.
But I guess we folks all need to go brake less too..?