In a letter shared to an MTBR forum, Santa Cruz Bicycles informed their distributors that they will be increasing their prices by 10% on average across bikes for model years 2021 and 2022. Santa Cruz says that they have increased prices for a variety of reasons related to challenges created by coronavirus. The brand confirmed the letter in an email.
“The global demand for bikes and COVID are impacting Santa Cruz Bicycles in 4 ways:
- Increased transportation costs – Since we launched the MY21 line we have seen a significant increase in both the price of air and ocean freight.
- Increased component costs – As demand has continued to skyrocket, almost all component brands have forwarded their raw material, labor, and transportation increases to us. We are even seeing an increase in the cost of boxes as a result of the increase in online retail.
- Strengthening of the NTD – further driving up material cost.
- Tariffs and assembly costs – While there is a new administration in the USA, the continuing trade war means that the 25% import tariffs remain in place. We are also seeing significant increases in labor and factory costs associated with assembly in the USA and mitigating the impacts and risk of COVID.”
Santa Cruz notes that other large brands such as Trek and Cannondale are also facing price increases. “I do want to assure you that we have done all we can to absorb these price increases. We had hoped it would be a short-term issue, but as we look to MY22 we see it’s not and it’s at the point where we are no longer able to absorb the increases on our own.”
Prices are increasing March 1, and Santa Cruz said that all unshipped MY21 orders would need to be repriced for shops. They are not sure whether prices will roll back to normal after 2022.
“It seems everyone’s crystal balls aren’t functioning well these days,” said Brand Manager Seb Kemp. “We didn’t expect to be here so we’re not making any bets on whether suppliers are going to roll back their prices to us in the future.”
The newly launched Rocky Mountain Instinct is another example of a bike that saw significant price increases. A newly revised 2021 Instinct frameset alone is selling for about $650 more than the previous year and generation. Rocky Mountain confirmed that the pandemic has caused similar issues for them in raw material sourcing, labor costs, and tariffs and that they’ve had to raise prices. The build that we tested rose $800 compared to the previous generation.
In January, we wrote about how the “great bike boom” will likely extend through 2021 according to a few brands, and how it’s affected prices for Alchemy and Commencal, as well as challenged shops in getting enough bikes in stock to satisfy customers. Now though, we’re seeing how much these cost increases actually are.
Shipping costs alone have compounded things far beyond the bike industry, and it seems like the end of 2021 is the soonest we can expect things to straighten out.
“No one knows how long the upheaval will last, though some experts assume containers will remain scarce through the end of the year, as the factories that make them — nearly all of them in China — scramble to catch up with demand,” writes the New York Times. They note that shipping costs have nearly tripled for some companies.
The auto industry is sharing some of our pain as well. After several shortage-related shutdowns on the new Corvette, Chevy has had to increase the model’s price by $1,000 according to CNET, although that’s only 1/60th of the price.
For mountain bikers as a whole, it’s probably best to act fast if you’re in the market for a bike this year. With vaccinations on a steady rollout in the US thus far, we can at least be hopeful when it comes to events and maybe even racing this summer.
This story has been updated with comments from Santa Cruz.
13 Comments
Mar 12, 2021
Mar 11, 2021
Mar 12, 2021
Mar 11, 2021
I expect *all* bikes to go up in price in the upcoming years. It's just a matter of timing. China, Taiwan and Japan problems with trade, logistics, materials, and supplies, etc. are going to get worse based on current trajectories as related to China and it's ambitions. Until US/Canada/Mexico manufacturing comes back to some degree the supply chain will be at risk.
Mar 11, 2021
I watched the video on YouTube. With the recent stories on their lead times, and now talking about tariffs... Santa Cruz likely needs manufacturing and logistics experts on staff. Some of the issues they are facing just are not happening everywhere else. I have a feeling that some other bike makers ate Santa Cruz's lunch.
Compare this response to what the big automakers have done with component shortages. Experts make good things happen.
Mar 11, 2021
Mar 11, 2021
Mar 12, 2021
Meanwhile, you may have heard about the big weather-related power outages in Texas, a big oil producing state. During that time, refining capacity in the U.S. dropped 33%. That drop was comparing end of January to the end of February. I'm writing this on March 12th, so that refining capacity drop along with increased demand for oil is what's behind the gas price hike. While the pipeline issue may effect prices in the future, that's a long term issue. So prices won't be affected immediately.
As far as slightly longer term trends, gas prices are as low as they are now because of a 2014 oil price drop from over $110 a barrel to around $65 a barrel. This occurred during the Obama administration, and is largely due to oil oversupply. The oversupply of oil was mostly due to increased oil production by the U.S. Were you quick to give Obama credit for this occurrence? I can't say whether he played a role in it or not. But certainly supply and demand play a role in this, and while you erroneously blame Biden for the current gas price rise, you could just as easily blame Trump increasing demand by rolling back fuel efficiency standards for U.S. vehicles, which resulted in a shift of automakers from cars to SUVs and trucks, and will no doubt lead to increased demand.
Mar 11, 2021
Mar 11, 2021
Another issue, the rat race turns into accusations of racism. That's what we've seen ever since Bush-Obama transition. Hey, it was around a lot earlier too, but it's gotten worse in the last decade and really this side of the new millenium. Back in 1997, I moved to Miami, was there until 2016. 2 decades and I saw Clinton => Bush => Obama, even beginning of the election year of Trump. It never improved for affordability there. I bought a condo there eventually (2014), when I bought it there was no county lien, I sold the place 2+ years later and somhow the government had attached a lien on the property for an unpaid water bill from a decade (2004) before I purchased the condo. So to sell it, I had to pay close to $ 750 more for a previous owner that didn't pay their water bills & assessments. Wanna talk about being screwed & pissed off. And guess what ? Title insurance was worthless 2+ years later. I tried making a claim on that because, well that's what title insurance is, insurance tha the property is a clear & clean title.I suspect a lot of properties are going to be dirty going forward, delinquent & deadbeat people that didn't pay for something that pops up out of nowhere. That's just the way life is & has always been, passimg of the buck & stick someone else with footing the bill. And that's what we've become, a game of financial musical chairs of who gets caught standing when the music stops.
Mar 12, 2021
https://flaglerlive.com/161615/fpl-base-rates-hike/
Mar 12, 2021
Mar 11, 2021
I was part of that bicycle everywhere around 2010 to save the planet. In retrospect, I went without, continue to go without. There were more that were more than happy to consume everything I conserved. Really pissed me off seeing those vagina hat protests. People booking flights & driving to protest something that was never going to improve the quality of my life ever. Wasting the precious fuel, the pollution I refrained from being a part of. There's nothing more to go without on my end and I'm tired of hearing about how miserable my life has to become for future generations that don't care about what life I have left on the planet. Sorry to sound so bitter about it, but until you've been so frugal that it hurts mentally to try to squeeze more out of nothing, I don't want to be the What if you're the only one saving the planet ? That I know is the only way this turns out from historically living thru that. nobody wants to hear a damn bicycle is going to cost them a few hundred dollars more to have to pedal the thing to save a planet that doesn't need saving, when the solution is there needs to be fewer poverty & pandemic babies. Falls on deaf ears when neighbors have pandemic babies, yet claim they can't pay for rent, food & utilities in a home they are over utilizing for occupancy. In short, f*ck those selfish a$$h*les. Force them to move elsewhere, not next to me. I didn't sign on to the next round of their problems to go without over. Nobody's child is worth that. Exhausted from the crime & traffic they're creating, they need to discipline themselves to live within their own means. I don't care if they are homeless & hungry, I have nothing more to extend to them. They are dragging the rest of us down in that regard.