>>1718685You're looking for bikes in the wrong places, and at the wrong time. Cheapass durable bikes were easy to find Before Covid, and they were the entire industry's bread and butter. They have the highest margin, they attract new riders, of which some small percentage will go on to buy a more expensive model sometime down the line. Anything above $1k was harder to sell, and above $2k you'd see inventory sitting around forever, and the shop would usually have to sell them at a loss during the yearly clearance sale.
Now that everything is fucked, even Worksman Cycles is having a hard time keeping anything in stock. The reason why the bike stores you're calling only have the high-end stuff in stock is because everything else is sold out through the middle of next year or even into 2023. The industry didn't think that the bike boom would last, so they didn't do anything to increase production. Instead, backstock was eaten up, and then oh shit suddenly there's nothing left, production is way behind, raw materials are nowhere to be found, shipping a 40' container of shit from China has gone from $2k to $30k, and that container won't make it anywhere within a year anyway so they have to go air cargo. And if you think it's bad now, just wait until WW3 starts in two weeks! ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
