Have a team custom kit order from jakroo going through international shipping this week
Individual packages, direct from China to each team member
Some packages got tariff warnings from UPS, some didn’t. Our jakroo rep assured us it was a mistake and no tariffs are due on any of them
I’m not sure the legally correct answer, but seems likely that neither the shipping nor manufacturing companies do either
That’s how our Cuore team orders/kits come in as well. No tariffs hit us and we got them last week. Curious about future orders though.
Curious if anyone has purchased wheels from a place like Light Bicycle, Farsports, etc.
I saw on Panda Podium they had an article (About the recent US tariffs – Panda Podium) talking about it and mentioned you could choose to prepay duties which tacks on $100 and they will pay the whatever the tariff costs. This seems kinda low if you were buying a ~$1600 wheelset. Though I have read in the past these places will often report the cost of goods as much lower than the actual cost
When I was playing around on Elite’s website they have on top of the website “Free shipping & Customs duties included for US/EU/UK/Australia.”
So it looks like some of these DTC companies are eating some of the costs in order not to lose US customers? Does make it complicated though since some are doing that and others not
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.
Just because they’re based in the US doesn’t mean they aren’t importing small parts, components, or raw materials.
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.
I haven’t looked to confirm, but I’m pretty sure the GIANT aerospace company I work for imports all the carbon fiber we use. So even though the work is almost completely American HAND built, prices will still go up because of the materials.
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
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.
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?
Unless I was in dire need of a new bike, I’d just sit it out unless the “price is right”
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.