Continental's Grand Prix 5000 has finally arrived in stock
after a long period of being out of stock, with shipments coming in sequentially from the end of March.
The reason why (probably)
there's a Japanese-language recommendation sticker
on the box is
(here).
The only distributor handling Continental in Japan
raised their prices last September.
This isn't a price hike by Continental itself, but rather
the distributor raised prices across all major overseas brands
they handle simultaneously,
so it's a price increase on the distributor's end
accounting for currency fluctuations.
I ordered the 23C Grand Prix 5000
back in mid-April last year, but
it didn't arrive at the distributor until the end of March this year,
so it was basically a one-year wait.
As for the 23C, even after it was delivered to our shop,
the distributor still has no stock left,
so it seems they didn't receive enough units
to fulfill all the backorders from across Japan.
Sorry for suspecting it might be discontinued.
And honestly, I still suspect this batch might be the last.
While not quite a year, other long-out-of-stock items include
28C tubeless tires,
and the distributor keeps track of our order dates,
so if our order was placed before the price increase,
they ship it to us at the pre-increase price.
Unlike a certain component manufacturer that pulls the crap move of
applying the post-increase price even if you ordered before the hike.
Why don't you just make outer chainrings for the previous generation crankset, you morons.
So right now at our shop, all of the 23C Grand Prix 5000
and some of the 28C tires are priced at the old retail price,
and we're displaying them up front, so please take a look.
If I wait a bit and the 23C doesn't sell out completely,
can I buy some for my personal use?
after a long period of being out of stock, with shipments coming in sequentially from the end of March.
The reason why (probably)
there's a Japanese-language recommendation sticker
on the box is
(here).
The only distributor handling Continental in Japan
raised their prices last September.
This isn't a price hike by Continental itself, but rather
the distributor raised prices across all major overseas brands
they handle simultaneously,
so it's a price increase on the distributor's end
accounting for currency fluctuations.
I ordered the 23C Grand Prix 5000
back in mid-April last year, but
it didn't arrive at the distributor until the end of March this year,
so it was basically a one-year wait.
As for the 23C, even after it was delivered to our shop,
the distributor still has no stock left,
so it seems they didn't receive enough units
to fulfill all the backorders from across Japan.
Sorry for suspecting it might be discontinued.
And honestly, I still suspect this batch might be the last.
While not quite a year, other long-out-of-stock items include
28C tubeless tires,
and the distributor keeps track of our order dates,
so if our order was placed before the price increase,
they ship it to us at the pre-increase price.
applying the post-increase price even if you ordered before the hike.
Why don't you just make outer chainrings for the previous generation crankset, you morons.
So right now at our shop, all of the 23C Grand Prix 5000
and some of the 28C tires are priced at the old retail price,
and we're displaying them up front, so please take a look.
can I buy some for my personal use?