It looks like even American brands are raising prices. ENVE increased the price on their handlebars from $400 to $450. I was looking at picking up a set of their AR bars and swore they were $400. Took a look at my Aero bar order from them in January and yup, $400. So either tariffs on raw materials or just raising prices because they can. What’s the point of tariffs if not to support US companies, who then respond by raising prices? Yea, screw that.
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Just because they’re based in the US doesn’t mean they aren’t importing small parts, components, or raw materials.
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They’re $405 on BikeTiresDirect
I am pretty sure most of the Enve components are made in Asia. I think only the rims are made in US. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
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Doesn’t really matter where ENVE (or anyone else) makes things.
If competitors are forced to raise their prices by X because of tariffs most companies are going to raise their prices by some % of X even if they are not impacted by tariffs. Likely you’ll see a lot of ‘tariff free’ pricing for the first few weeks/months and then prices will quietly go up across the board
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I just assumed that the case across many US industries. I know Boyd Cycling recently started manufacturing their aluminum rims in the US but I wouldn’t doubt at all if they’re importing the aluminum. It’s certainly possible they don’t the US imports so much
Aluminum smelting depends very heavily on energy pricing. With US energy prices rising, smelters have been closing, not opening. Most aluminum is imported, and it’s (at least generally speaking) going to stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Aluminum as well as carbon fiber sheets and the strands to weave the sheets are mostly imported. Only a few companies have upped the research game to where they are market leaders in said technology and innovation. They have innovated themselves to the top. It may not be just cost but skill too.
That was one of the reasons I was surprised when Allied moved offshore. They were making their own CF in house in the USA, at least in the beginning.
enve announced they would raise prices starting May 1st. I’ve heard from at least a couple of different shops, for stuff not made in the USA. Not everything but seems like a lot got a price increase
Well if you are in the U.S. maybe, in Europe, we could actually have deflation.
Mainly because with the U.S. as a market becoming tougher to sell both domestic and China will try and sell more in Europe, more competition means lower prices.
Realistically, if US is China’s biggest market and most likely have the upper hand in negotiations, for a short while, they may dump some low priced goods across the rest of the world. Some good deals to be had at some point I’d imagine. Basic supply and demand would indicate such.
My experience is with aerospace manufacturing, but there are certainly US-based suppliers of carbon fiber pre-preg. Imported as well, but certainly US options. Raw aluminum is pretty cheap, so even if it doubled in cost I wouldn’t expect a huge increase in wheel price since it’s a small fraction of the total cost of goods. All that said, I have no experience with manufacturing wheels or frames in the bike industry, just speculating a bit based on the raw material costs. I did get a chance to tour the Allied factory last year and I’d estimate there is about ~$250 worth of pre-preg in each frame (just eyeballing it), but even that would be a small percentage of overall COGS compared to the labor. Their process is super labor intensive, both with the layup and the finishing. Very impressive finishing/paint shop. Still very manual, but you could tell it was an area of focus/expertise. Glad that they kept that part in the US after outsourcing the raw frames to Asia.
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So what now?? Some companies jacked up prices because of the tariffs, but the actual tariff costs are probably coming down now (at least for 90 days or until someone wakes up on the wrong side lf the bed and changes their mind 
)
Do people buy the Specialized or Trek bike with the jacked up price, or wait to see if it comes down, or just sit out this whole mess?
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Unless I was in dire need of a new bike, I’d just sit it out unless the “price is right”
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If I was in the States I’d be holding off on new bikes and making do with current rig, unless I didn’t have one, and even then I think I’d wait a bit.
It all seems a bit uncertain and mad right now to be dropping lots of cash, and potentially well over the RRP price.
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Be very careful to distinguish between what HAPPENS and what politicians SAY. We’re hearing that a “deal” was signed with the UK, but that “deal” has near-zero hard data and leaves a 10% tariff in place. We’re hearing about “huge progress in two days of talks” but zero specifics.
Until we get hard, clear, specific news on tariff changes, Trump has instituted the largest tax hike in U.S. history and it’s not going away on its own.
The average tariff rate in the U.S. is now 22% IIRC, one of the highest in the world and (I think) the highest it’s ever been in the USA. I might be wrong on that last point… but if I am, it’s not by much. 
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Trying to “time the market” is fine if you don’t need a bike right now, but it can obviously go in either direction.
Nobody wants to buy a bike for $100 today and see it priced at $75 a month later, but it’s not worth worrying about. When I buy a bike, a certain set of features is worth X to me. Hopefully, the price of that bike is less than X when I need to buy it. I had to buy a bike during Covid and I knew it was a terrible “deal”, but it was still worth more to me than what they were asking because I had a strong need for the bike at the time. Sure, I could have probably saved a bunch of $ waiting a year to buy that bike (and I’m always looking for a deal), but zero regrets since that bike turned out to be a great race bike and helped me hit some big goals. Buying a bike just because it’s a deal is seldom a good reason. The worst is when I see someone convince themselves a bad bike is great for them just because it’s a smoking deal (even going with the wrong frame size). If it’s the bike you really want and it’s also a great deal, double bonus.
If you disagree with the tariffs and don’t NEED the item, it seems to me the strongest message one can send is to not buy. Yes it sucks for our businesses, but it also seems to be one of the only messages that certain politicians hear.
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