I’m with you. I also feel that regardless of there being no change, this not being automobiles, etc, whether buying new or used, I’m going to give less money for an older product. If there are two identical bikes on Marketplace and one is 2 years older than the other, most people are not going to give identical value to the 2 bikes.
We have a local Trek dealer and I was in the market for a XC MTB. I was eyeing a supercaliber that was a year old but they wouldn’t budge on the price. I ended up going with a Blur… I check back every now and then. As of writing this the now 3 year old bike is still sitting on their floor at the same price. 
Surely they’d be better off getting back some of the money they have tied up in this albatross that won’t get any easier to sell, and using it to stock some merchandise that does sell. But I don’t know, maybe I’m missing something.
I think my LBS does have some bike inventory that is pretty old, but they usually operate by custom order, not so much selling floor stock. They never have much in the way of bike inventory on hand. So maybe it’s just some bikes they keep so the store isn’t empty.
Damn. Solid deal. These are normally $3900, they dropped to $3100 once in July.
“Fastest way to go broke saving money” - is how I feel about this thread.
Yes… and there can me mechanical changes between years that are invisible to the functionality and the users… sometimes they fix stuff or slightly mod things to save a few bucks… but unless you are hardcore car person, you cant tell.
I have their Summit Stratos 12 hour and the Summit Raptor. The Stratos tend to chafe right where I don’t want them to after 3-4 hours, so I really need to go heavy on the chamois cream. Raptors are preferable for me because of the chamois, even though the Stratos have a generally better fit. Probably just my weird dad bod.
what if i tell you I bought the bike new from the shop 2 years ago…
I’d tell you… It’s a used bike worth 25% what you paid at best. 
The way it works in all the ads I’ve seen for lightly used bikes is an ad with the following:
- I’m the first owner
- sometimes the approximate age / purchase date
- components/specs/upgrades
- no crashes, or not mentioned (red flag?!)
Because ultimately with bikes the perceived value comes down to:
- mechanical wear/tear, including appearance
- any remaining warranty
- upgrades
- perception of value relative to buying new and getting full warranty
So “we” ask questions about warranty (do you have receipt?) and condition, then go see it and inspect before buying.
I’d ask you to share the SN so I could check the age of the bike.
You would… trek out the year on the SN, but some companies might not…
But I can go on the company website and see the year they made that bike for other companies. If Trek is putting out the exact same bike in multiple years, I can’t do that.
If you read the 3 and 4 star reviews on the Pactimo site, many agree with you that the newer 12 hour chamois can chafe, and many of those reviewers prefer the older version or another Pactimo bib
I don’t have direct knowledge of any specifics, but based on what I have heard from people in the industry, and my own experiences in it, the reason you are seeing identical bikes across “model years” is simply because of excess inventory issues.
Which is the same reason you are seeing prices come down….it isn’t because some companies jacked up prices to an unsustainable level (although that may be a contributing issue), it is simply that suppliers have too much stock and they need to clear it out. And not just to make way for new models but because they need to turn the inventory and get their money out of it. Holding inventory on bikes is incredibly expensive (big ticket items) and they take up a LOT of space. There are numerous reports of suppliers having to rent additional warehouse space to store the inventory.
But with so many consumers having bought bikes during COVID and shortly after, the discounts being offered now aren’t enough to move sufficient product. Bikes aren’t a consumable.
It is pretty bleak in the biz right now….lots of people not sleeping well at night.
It’s me. I’m the sucker that bought a Tarmac SL7 Pro at retail.
Interestingly, it doesn’t seem like Specialized is discounting the Pro/S-Works versions of their bikes much. I guess they figure there are enough suckers willing to pay for Force/Ultegra and above at retail?
Me too, 2021 paid full retail on a Tarmac SL7 Comp Rival AXS. After that I was determined to find a lightly used gravel bike.
It’s not how much you spent, it’s how much you saved!
I save so much money will all this deals. Still my bank balance is not going up. 
Fascinating discussion. I bought a new Spark at the end of 2020, a small discount from retail, and by the time I’d ridden it for the first time the RRP had gone up by nearly $2000. Bikes then weren’t being offered with any discount!
The main thing they claimed was that it was shipping costs. It confused me though who was making all that extra money. Some shops who had received bikes in the first shipment were able to just add a bunch of profit margin. Other shops, I assume, we’re forced to pay a higher cost to the distributor.
Trek for example, would have huge warehouses of bikes somewhere else to get sent to distributors, which should now be paying less shipping for them again. That would explain a drop in RRP, I think they could gain some credibility/good will if they came out and explained it a bit?
(From a non business minded person)