Ordering a Trek 5200

After test driving various road bikes I am thinking about ordering a
2004 Trek 5200 from my LBS (they don't have a 2003 5200 in my size so
I have to order next year's model). The price should come out to
about $3500 Canadian, give or take a hundred dollars or so.

Would I be pushing my luck if I asked the dealer to knock a couple
hundred bucks off the price, or kick in a decent pair of pedals for
free (say Speedplay X2's or something)? It's been awhile since I last
bought a new bike, back in Sept. 1997 to be exact. And I remember
back then the shop knocked $400 off the price of the bike, mind you it
was near the end of the season when many shops usually mark down
prices anyways.




J. Spaceman

Yes you would be pushing your luck. It's a new bike. Don't push your luck
with the sales guys and usually you get taken care of better by the service
guys.


-kurd

"Jason Spaceman" wrote in message
...
After test driving various road bikes I am thinking about ordering a
2004 Trek 5200 from my LBS (they don't have a 2003 5200 in my size so
I have to order next year's model). The price should come out to
about $3500 Canadian, give or take a hundred dollars or so.

Would I be pushing my luck if I asked the dealer to knock a couple
hundred bucks off the price, or kick in a decent pair of pedals for
free (say Speedplay X2's or something)? It's been awhile since I last
bought a new bike, back in Sept. 1997 to be exact. And I remember
back then the shop knocked $400 off the price of the bike, mind you it
was near the end of the season when many shops usually mark down
prices anyways.




J. Spaceman

Yes you would be pushing your luck. It's a new bike. Don't push your luck
with the sales guys and usually you get taken care of better by the service
guys.


-kurd

"Jason Spaceman" wrote in message
...
After test driving various road bikes I am thinking about ordering a
2004 Trek 5200 from my LBS (they don't have a 2003 5200 in my size so
I have to order next year's model). The price should come out to
about $3500 Canadian, give or take a hundred dollars or so.

Would I be pushing my luck if I asked the dealer to knock a couple
hundred bucks off the price, or kick in a decent pair of pedals for
free (say Speedplay X2's or something)? It's been awhile since I last
bought a new bike, back in Sept. 1997 to be exact. And I remember
back then the shop knocked $400 off the price of the bike, mind you it
was near the end of the season when many shops usually mark down
prices anyways.




J. Spaceman

You never know with the new Madone coming...

I wouldn't haggle too much but maybe there might be a sale around the
corner. You can also offer to pay cash and ask for the 2% discount that
would have gone to the credit card company. Doesn't seem like much but that
2% might just cover pedals at cost.

"Jason Spaceman" wrote in message
...
After test driving various road bikes I am thinking about ordering a
2004 Trek 5200 from my LBS (they don't have a 2003 5200 in my size so
I have to order next year's model). The price should come out to
about $3500 Canadian, give or take a hundred dollars or so.

Would I be pushing my luck if I asked the dealer to knock a couple
hundred bucks off the price, or kick in a decent pair of pedals for
free (say Speedplay X2's or something)? It's been awhile since I last
bought a new bike, back in Sept. 1997 to be exact. And I remember
back then the shop knocked $400 off the price of the bike, mind you it
was near the end of the season when many shops usually mark down
prices anyways.




J. Spaceman

You never know with the new Madone coming...

I wouldn't haggle too much but maybe there might be a sale around the
corner. You can also offer to pay cash and ask for the 2% discount that
would have gone to the credit card company. Doesn't seem like much but that
2% might just cover pedals at cost.

"Jason Spaceman" wrote in message
...
After test driving various road bikes I am thinking about ordering a
2004 Trek 5200 from my LBS (they don't have a 2003 5200 in my size so
I have to order next year's model). The price should come out to
about $3500 Canadian, give or take a hundred dollars or so.

Would I be pushing my luck if I asked the dealer to knock a couple
hundred bucks off the price, or kick in a decent pair of pedals for
free (say Speedplay X2's or something)? It's been awhile since I last
bought a new bike, back in Sept. 1997 to be exact. And I remember
back then the shop knocked $400 off the price of the bike, mind you it
was near the end of the season when many shops usually mark down
prices anyways.




J. Spaceman

I don't know if I buy that they can't come up with a 2003 in your size.
They have little incentive to if they can get you to pay a few hundred bucks
more for a 2004. I was ordering a new Trek 5500 towards the end of last
year and got caught in this little game for a while, too. I made it clear I
was also looking at other bikes at other dealers and that it made little
difference to me if I had to take a walk to the other store and get the
other bike. And the bike I wanted magically materialized from somewhere.

I don't normally like to deal with my LBS that way, but they've been a
revolving door for personnel lately and my years of loyalty have come to
mean nothing to the bubble-headed kids they try to run the place with now.

Bob C.

"Jason Spaceman" wrote in message
...
After test driving various road bikes I am thinking about ordering a
2004 Trek 5200 from my LBS (they don't have a 2003 5200 in my size so
I have to order next year's model). The price should come out to
about $3500 Canadian, give or take a hundred dollars or so.

Would I be pushing my luck if I asked the dealer to knock a couple
hundred bucks off the price, or kick in a decent pair of pedals for
free (say Speedplay X2's or something)? It's been awhile since I last
bought a new bike, back in Sept. 1997 to be exact. And I remember
back then the shop knocked $400 off the price of the bike, mind you it
was near the end of the season when many shops usually mark down
prices anyways.




J. Spaceman

I don't know if I buy that they can't come up with a 2003 in your size.
They have little incentive to if they can get you to pay a few hundred bucks
more for a 2004. I was ordering a new Trek 5500 towards the end of last
year and got caught in this little game for a while, too. I made it clear I
was also looking at other bikes at other dealers and that it made little
difference to me if I had to take a walk to the other store and get the
other bike. And the bike I wanted magically materialized from somewhere.

I don't normally like to deal with my LBS that way, but they've been a
revolving door for personnel lately and my years of loyalty have come to
mean nothing to the bubble-headed kids they try to run the place with now.

Bob C.

"Jason Spaceman" wrote in message
...
After test driving various road bikes I am thinking about ordering a
2004 Trek 5200 from my LBS (they don't have a 2003 5200 in my size so
I have to order next year's model). The price should come out to
about $3500 Canadian, give or take a hundred dollars or so.

Would I be pushing my luck if I asked the dealer to knock a couple
hundred bucks off the price, or kick in a decent pair of pedals for
free (say Speedplay X2's or something)? It's been awhile since I last
bought a new bike, back in Sept. 1997 to be exact. And I remember
back then the shop knocked $400 off the price of the bike, mind you it
was near the end of the season when many shops usually mark down
prices anyways.




J. Spaceman

I don't know if I buy that they can't come up with a 2003 in your size.
They have little incentive to if they can get you to pay a few hundred
bucks
more for a 2004. I was ordering a new Trek 5500 towards the end of last
year and got caught in this little game for a while, too. I made it clear
I
was also looking at other bikes at other dealers and that it made little
difference to me if I had to take a walk to the other store and get the
other bike. And the bike I wanted magically materialized from somewhere.

Might have been the case with your 5500, but '03 5200s most assuredly do not
exist in any of the TREK warehouses, in any size. TREK made the model year
transition very early this year on the 5200, so they were shipping '04s in
mid-June, and had already run out of most '03 sizes at that time (and
completely ran out within a couple weeks after that, without *ever* putting
them on sale to the dealer... in other words, any lower pricing you saw at a
dealer on an '03 was the dealer eating it, not the manufacturer).

In our case, if a customer is looking at bikes at other dealers, that makes
little difference in what price we'd sell the bike for. The combination of
goods & services we offer with our bikes (quality of assembly, fit
expertise, and a continuing obligation to keep that bike on the road *and*
the rider comfortable, which often means further adjustments and changes of
stems many months after purchase, typically at no charge) is either worth it
or it's not, and it's not really for us to decide that, it's for the
customer. That's just the way we do business, and it's worked great for us
for 24 years, but that doesn't mean it's the only reasonable way to do
business (which is why people have a choice of many places to get a bike, or
anything else for that matter). If customers decide we're not worth it,
then we go out of business... so the incentive is very much for us to be
worth it!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

I don't know if I buy that they can't come up with a 2003 in your size.
They have little incentive to if they can get you to pay a few hundred
bucks
more for a 2004. I was ordering a new Trek 5500 towards the end of last
year and got caught in this little game for a while, too. I made it clear
I
was also looking at other bikes at other dealers and that it made little
difference to me if I had to take a walk to the other store and get the
other bike. And the bike I wanted magically materialized from somewhere.

Might have been the case with your 5500, but '03 5200s most assuredly do not
exist in any of the TREK warehouses, in any size. TREK made the model year
transition very early this year on the 5200, so they were shipping '04s in
mid-June, and had already run out of most '03 sizes at that time (and
completely ran out within a couple weeks after that, without *ever* putting
them on sale to the dealer... in other words, any lower pricing you saw at a
dealer on an '03 was the dealer eating it, not the manufacturer).

In our case, if a customer is looking at bikes at other dealers, that makes
little difference in what price we'd sell the bike for. The combination of
goods & services we offer with our bikes (quality of assembly, fit
expertise, and a continuing obligation to keep that bike on the road *and*
the rider comfortable, which often means further adjustments and changes of
stems many months after purchase, typically at no charge) is either worth it
or it's not, and it's not really for us to decide that, it's for the
customer. That's just the way we do business, and it's worked great for us
for 24 years, but that doesn't mean it's the only reasonable way to do
business (which is why people have a choice of many places to get a bike, or
anything else for that matter). If customers decide we're not worth it,
then we go out of business... so the incentive is very much for us to be
worth it!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Robert Chambers wrote:

I don't know if I buy that they can't come up with a 2003 in your size.
They have little incentive to if they can get you to pay a few hundred
bucks
more for a 2004. I was ordering a new Trek 5500 towards the end of last
year and got caught in this little game for a while, too. I made it clear
I was also looking at other bikes at other dealers and that it made little
difference to me if I had to take a walk to the other store and get the
other bike. And the bike I wanted magically materialized from somewhere.

I don't normally like to deal with my LBS that way, but they've been a
revolving door for personnel lately and my years of loyalty have come to
mean nothing to the bubble-headed kids they try to run the place with now.

Bob C.


They checked with their computer and they had no 2003 5200's left. They did
have a 2003 5900 on display that I took for a test ride, but it was too
small for me and even with an end of the season discount it would've been
out of my price range. So my only option was to order a 2004 5200 if I
wanted a Trek in my size.

The Trek web site lists the 2004 5200 as having a suggested retail price of
$2749.99 US. Which comes out to about $3735.42 Cdn. Do dealers follow the
suggested retail prices all that much, or do they tend to price items
lower?



J. Spaceman