I so wish I took the opportunity to rent the Ripley AF last march when I was in Sedona. I went with the Ripmo instead but that's way too much bike for the type of riding I do. Shop not too far from me has one on sale for $3200 which is a grand less than msrp, but I just can't pull the trigger until I test it out. This is wishful thinking, but I'll be able to rent again this March and I just hope that bike sticks around until then.
The Ripmo AF and Ripley AF are currently 25% off everywhere. My local shops are all out of stock, but they can be ordered online…. Which makes me a bit nervous
What you think might be going down?
Some articles have mentioned that there might be a discount on bikes at the end of this season - it sounded like the manufacturers ramped up when there were no bikes available, and now there might be a glut. I haven't seen it yet, though.
I have a good friend who works in the industry and he says that there will be great bike deals in November as inventories went way up and demand came down this season.
So the inverse of a year ago?
Yup. The pandemic rush cleaned them out of supply so they upped production and by the time production and inventories came up, demand went down. They have a lot of product on their hands.
That’s what happened with cycleops (smart trainers). Interesting case study, and they can be found dirt cheap now.
Can you point me to these deals? Considering staying in shape this winter.
Saris H3 is $518 on Amazon right now. Less than half what it was a year ago.
Thanks, it's in my cart while I decide whether to hit the fire button.
It's been sub $400 a couple times in the last couple months (no telling if it will again). I missed it - drat. The H4 has been announced, so maybe they'll keep clearing these out. I'll be tempted if they do.
I had the m2 before (their wheel on trainer). I did that because at the time my bike was a 10 speed and my wife’s was 11. It was fine, but loud. Was easy enough to swap between bikes, though. The biggest issue was I’d swap tires to an actual trainer tire to not tear up a regular tire (and they are quieter).
Sold that for $120 and bought a used h3 a few months ago for $350 as my current bike is 11 speed also. Now the “issue” is that while 11 speed, my bike is QR and hers is thru axle. Depending on the thru axle of the bike (if they have a handle at the end to spin them) some trainers don’t allow for them to spin, so you have to get a different adapter.
Anyway, I’ve got it down to about 5-8 minutes to swap bikes on the trainer now. You have to remove the wheel, install the wheel back on the bike you just removed, and swap axle type adapters. Just food for thought.