Cargo Bikes

Wait… so you made an order, were given a delivery time, they delayed it and then hiked the price?

Wow.

UA are saying that, the distributor is disputing it and hopes to keep the same price.

Fully Charged?

Yes

Did you pay a deposit? Did they communicate up front that the price could go up?

Yes, £300, 20% due on collection and the rest over 12 months. and no but there is nothing currently to say FC are going to increase the price to me. They have only currently said they are confident it will remain the same.

Edit, too harsh sorry.

Hope you get the bike at the price you agreed to, in good time!

This is currently super common in the bike industry across the board with a lot of brands, from our experience it seems to be bigger brands that are doing this, largely ones who sell predominately in the EU and now have to come up with a new price for the UK. It seems the distros (or companies themselves) are coming up with a price just before shipping, based on the costs at that moment, to pass on to their stockists. I think it is because the delays on manufacturing and component shortages mean the wait time for bikes is longer than ever so the ability to estimate an RRP is harder (that's my guess anyway), particularly as Covid, WW3 and Brexit seem to keep pushing the price of moving anything anywhere up and up.

It's a bullshit position for bike shops to be in but many of the larger companies and distros have the attitude of 'well if you don't want it anymore there's loads of shops who will'. Some brands have also done things like last minute spec changes on smaller details like brake levers so the price stays the same but the quality the bike shop originally sold the customer has dropped.

I really like the team at Fully Charged, but I think they are probably struggling with the massive increase in demand for e-bikes and the supply chain issues. They could probably do a better job of setting customer expectations in the right place at times.

Again, nothing against FC here at all, they've been more than fine with me so far. Regardless, I've asked what the likely hike would be (and stated that this doesn't mean I will agree to it), plus also asked what else they have in stock at a similar spec/cost.

Yeah, who the fuck hikes the price on something already ordered?

Well, if @VeloSurMer is correct… everyone. Urgh.

Most of them do, especially since C19 hit.

Exactly echo what @VeloSurMer says. We are both dealers of various brands and I have no doubt they have experienced same as us. You get a customer, sell them a bike, attain a commitment (deposit), figure a likely shipping date that they will get their bike (then add the appropriate amount of C19/Brexit/courier/who knows type of delays). Then when the mftr totally blows past the shipment date, and the, until now, very patient and understanding customer starts wondering where it is at. You get a shipment date. And an invoice. For more than the sale price that you agreed way back when (3-18 months ago). You have to work out what you are going to do.
1) Continue with sale, mention nothing to customer, as they are already gonna be on edge. That you are selling them a product of £4-8k value, and will be taking an immediate and direct loss, thats before offering 2 years of product support and warranty.
2) Let them know, try to get new retail out of them, fail, and settle for a few hundred quid into the black on an £8k sale, and still have that 2 years of product responsibility.
3) Let them back out of sale and fully refund their deposit with your apologies. And likely receive a hurl of abuse online/reviews/forums/word of mouth etc.

Its a really shitty position and its happened to us on approximately a third of all bike sales since early 2020.

However. UA and R+M* have comfortable margins. So unless a £4.4k UA family has now become £6k, they are still making money, just not the large chunks that they are used to.

Mftr's and bigger distro's just aren't bothered, they have cost's too, but have found it especially sour that in last 2 years we are now having the issue of 'agreed' sales/orders (that we often now have to put very large deposit on, or pay for OUTRIGHT upfront) that are seeing price increases before shipment and not being honored at all.

The view of the public is that bike shops have had best 2 years of their lives. Some have. Tend to be the larger chains selling regular bikes or folk selling up their stock and retiring from the trade, everyone else has just grafted and grafted their way through it, glad to be here still, but its not the plain sailing that folk think it is.

happened to us on approximately a third of all bike sales

that sucks man

the sad thing is that a lot of customers committing to a purchase in the past two years have done so with a new found passion or focus on cycling, this forum included.

There seems to have had a big shift towards cargo bikes and seeing people make large investments (£3k+) into cargo bikes and then to have it met with a further price increases meaning their budget is stretched or pushed too far for them to commit is not a great way to start a relationship. Particularly when customers buying cargo bikes like to spend local to benefit from the often niche product support they would get from their local dealer.

The worst was having to tell people the deposit they paid on their bike back in 2019 that was meant to arrive by Christmas, was delayed by a virus no one had ever heard of, meaning it wouldn't arrive until after January 2020 when Brexit came into effect so to top it off they'd have to pay extra.

To be clear, my issue would never be with the bike shop… only with the manufacturer/distributor who fails to make good on a previous commitment (price/date/etc). All unforeseen circumstances granted.

Responses from FC are prompt and more than satisfactory (I never once pointed the finger at them). I'm confident they won't be charging me more. It's just the delay, which again is not their fault.

From £950, built in Leicester, I like

https://www.flux-bike.co/products/no-probllama

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It's just the delay

Fucking everything man.

I’m behind 4 weeks on a purchase, which is nothing compared to some horror stories.

Also just heard a truck with €270,000 worth of Shimano kit just got stolen after the driver was gassed.

Those colours. Nice.

Ha! I’d have gone for purple racks I think!

This looks absolutely perfect for my mrs. Great find!

Gettin mr blobby vibes

The large front rack is attached to the frame, not the forks, keeping loads stable under steering.

Does it really work that way (genuine question)?
I can't recall my loads not being stable with racks attached to the forks to be frank.
I road an Orbea bike once that had the basket welded to the frame; that felt super weird to me.

What feels strange is the opposite of what you’re used to.

That said, loads in excess of 30/40kg don’t handle that well IME when they’re moving around with the fork