More end of year pricing shenanigans

Suppose instead of an entry enthusiast level bike in the trailbike category in which the Specialized Alloy resides, you were looking for an entry enthusiast level XC bike. Perhaps the aluminum framed, Shimano Deore level, 120 mm travel Orbea Oiz H30 was in your view. Nice looking rig, isn’t it? Now you might go to the company’s website and think you can just order a bike and have it delivered to you. The 2022 model of the Oiz H30 has the Archive Sales badge and indicates the original price of $3,299 has been reduced to $2,969 for a 10% savings. Note that the 2021 version of this bike, probably almost identical save for the wheels, went for $2,599. Some decry the price increases that went into place in 2022 as profiteering off the bike popularity. I personally am convinced that bike companies had increased costs across the board that became priced in. So did, if we are honest with ourselves about how a business has to work, costs associated with lost productivity during the worst Covid years.

At any rate, if you try to start the ordering process you quickly find out that the Orbea site is going to try to find your size and color at some dealer / retailer that is local to you. So you might as well just google for places that will actually sell you one.

Similar to the issue with Specialized, your price depends on size, color scheme and the vendor in question.

First stop is Jenson USA. Jenson has the Grey or Black colorway but only in XL. It will run you $2,474. The lowest price but you have to need the XL model.

Next is Performance. They have the Black one in M, L and XL for $2,804. Not sure where this price comes from. I am pretty sure that the Nashbar site is just another front end on the Performance site.

Next, I found this “around the cycle” place. They appear to have more stock, listing three colors in three sizes. The Orange one in Large is $2,800. Cheaper than the price on the Orbea site by a little bit. No worries, that only applies to the Medium and Large sizes, the Small and XL will cost $2,969, the official Orbea sales price. Interesting to see the extreme sizes more expensive than the middle sizes, usually this is the other way round. In Grey, all sizes are the higher price and in Green, the Small and Large are the higher price and the Medium and XL are the lower price.

This random pricing HAS to be about their individual supply of bikes.

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