Oh no. 
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100%. He was a very sharp guy.
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Gotta tell you, I absolutely love handbuilt bicycles!!! Somewhere on the forum there is a thread where people listed all their bikes. Many folks with some great machines.
Over the years I have been fortunate to commission 7 or 8 frames just for me and have had several others obtained second hand. I grew up just a few miles from where Sachs and Weigle set up shop after breaking from Witcome USA and the shop I worked in sold their frames. My first good bike was a second hand Sachs (circa 1978) and my favorite bike of all time was from Peter (circa 1984).
There was absolutely a time when the bespoke handbuilt frame was the mark of a serious cyclist. Well, a serious cyclist with some disposable income or a racer with a connection to the maker 
There was a renaissance 12-15 years ago when the handbuilt segment exploded for a brief period. But itās mostly gone back into hiding. I wonder sometimes if there will be a future renaissance or if itās gone for good except for aficionados?
The first problem going forward is the guys who are really good at building frames from metal are getting old. They are retiring and with a few exceptions, there arenāt guys following behind them. Because problem number two is building bike frames and living off of single commissions is a very difficult way to earn a living. Romantic at first and then it becomes a job. Thatās what the guys will all tell you behind the scenes.
The third, and biggest problem, is that the mass produced bikes are extremely good. Itās hard to state how good they really are today. In many ways the mass produced stuff is better than what a handbuilt guy can produce. Richard Sachs is probably the best known builder in the world. Heāll say pretty much the same thing. But being Richard heād use more flowery and obtuse language to do it (ATMO).
Believe me, this all makes me very sad because there is can be something very special and joy inducing to riding a bike that you thought about, worked with the builder to spec and had built just for you. But times move on.
Here is a good story / podcast with Carl Strong. Carl is a godfather of the handbuilt frame business out in Montana. He was a principle in building IBIS frames back in the day as a small production shop. He then became well known for his titanium frames (I have one - beautiful bike). His latest venture is CF frames with a partner under the Pursuit branding. What makes Carl standout is he was/is vocal about running a frame building shop as a business and what it takes to stick around.
Back to Episode #4 of the series, I laughed out loud at the QBP guyās comment. To my view, QBP is a perpetrator of the issue not a solution. They should have more data than anyone yet donāt seem to have it together. Iām perhaps bitter because there was a time when QBP would give a number (and dealer pricing) to any Joe who said they had a bike shop. You had guys with a Park stand in their basement getting wholesale pricing and getting parts for their buddies.
Nothing against a guy wrenching in his basement, but when you are the number one wholesaler in the country and you are actively undercutting the brick and mortar store down the street, the outcome is pretty obvious as to what will happen over time. If your business is selling bike parts, you might want the bike shops to stay in business. If your friends own bike shops you might like them to stay in business too!
$0.02
Iām going to go look at my lovely handbuilt bikes hanging from the rafters and then go for a ride. Supposed to be in the 60s and sunny today!!
Cheers,
Darth
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Spot on analysis re: QBP. Kudos to the guy for at least trying to use surveys to gauge current market conditions, but jeez, what a horribly ineffectual tool when you have so much raw data at your fingertips.
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Weāre all preaching to the choir here, but Iāll put in my anecdote: Back in very early 2020 I was living in Spain and looking to buy an XT dual suspension MTB and a mechanical Ultegra (disc brake) road bike. My LBS is an Orbea and Cannondale distributor and I was considering the Orbea Oiz for MTB and Orca for road (both carbon). I asked them for a quote and the Oiz was around ā¬4,500 and the Orca ā¬2,700.
While I was counting my shekles the Pandemic hit. When I was finally able to get to my LBS it was June, and Orbea were all out of the 120mm Oiz I wanted. I got a Cannondale Scalpel SE (120mm R/F suspension) with full XT, dropper post, and carbon wheels and handlebar, for ā¬4,300.
I never did get the Orca 
Fast forward to March 2023, and Iām living in Colorado, and I got a Trek Checkpoint gravel bike with GRX 600 (thatās mechanical 105 level), and aluminium wheels and bar, for $3,700. XT dual suspension bikes now seem to go for well north of $5,000, and you canāt buy a new mechanical Ultegra road bike anymore. If you want a mechanical 105 bike, the Trek Domane version is $3,500.
And yeah, there are sales, some of them crazy like Konaās 2x1. But many brands are just discounting their very top-level bikes, so instead of $13,000 theyāre now $11,000, which really only helps the people who donāt need help buying a bike.
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Wait a few months. Even bigger sales are coming.
This was one of the best series on anything bike-related Iāve listened to in a long time. Thanks for sharing!!!
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I feel so much future FOMO, cos I donāt need a new bike 
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You have to remember that the majority of the problem re: inventory is for bikes which hold little appeal to us (at least that is my understanding, currently). It is mid to low end stuff, and largely focused on MTB.
It sounds like the situation for high end road and gravel, while still not great, is nowhere near as dire as the lower priced stuff. Dunno if I would expect major price adjustments for those segments.
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COuldnāt decide to post this here, the Peloton thread or start a new oneā¦opted for this one since it was the most recent.
Bowflex filed for bankruptcyā¦will be bought by Taiwanese fitness company Johnson. Couldnāt survive the post-COVID economic falloff.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/05/business/bowflex-bankruptcy/index.html
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Iād say ānear as dire yetā - we are starting to see some serious price drops on higher end road models locally. Thereās a few Orca Ultegra Di2 builds for 40% off, a Cube DA build for 45% off, various 3T for 30-40% off, etc. Iād bet weāll see more to come as shops are forced to turn over inventory.
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Trek announces 10% cut in spending and 40% reduction in SKU count by 2026.
(Kinda hard to reduce SKU count before then when your warehouses are stuffed with existing SKUās).
Best wishes to anyone getting laid offā¦but we know it wonāt be the upper management that helped create the mess.
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Canyon bikes went on sale multiple times this year already, which is very unusual for this time of the season obviously. Did get me to buy the Aeroad Ultegra Di2 (was 5.5kā¬ on sale, now back at 6kā¬). Itās the 2023 model (same specs except no power meter ) and they still seem to have lots of it in stock even in size M.
I am sure there will be some much better deals later this season but I really wanted one to ride this summer
Do you think the Tarmac S Works SL8 will decrease in price? I am thinking the frame set only. I mean, even the full bike at Ā£12k is way too much.
Not too likelyā¦the quantities of the super high-end stuff is pretty limited and there is usually sufficient demand for them. You may find some dealer looking to dump something, but donāt expect anything official from Specialized.
There tons of SL7 deals out there. They can probably accurately predict SL8 demand so you probably wonāt see those same deals.
It never feels this way with XS, unfortunate for me.
Where is āout thereā? Would be interested in a hot S-Works SL7 frameset deal in size 52. My LBS just has big sizes.
Edit - I see you said frameset. You just have to look around. Set up some automated searches on ebay so you get an email every time something pops up.
And FWIW, I scored an S-Works sL7 frameset for a little over $3k ($5500 msrp) after looking for an SL6 since the pandemic. I didnāt necessarily want S-Works level but I took it for the price of the regular SL7.
Look on ebay - lots of authorized dealers dumping stock there lately. For example Incycle:
These guys are also dumping lots of stuff. Just bought some other things from them and they were good:
Iām sure youāll find others if you start hunting.
The other thing you can do is search the specific model by zip code on Specializedās web site. I bet you can get a price match at a local shop.
Ah yes, I have eBay searches going for a bunch of stuff. I will check out the web site though!