got this sad note from ted durant of heron bicycles this morning
I'm afraid this is not happy New Years News. It is with a great deal of personal anguish that I announce that I will not have any more Heron frames made for the foreseeable future. Waterford's price-hike means a retail price over $1000, which seems too high for this kind of bike. As it is, we sold only 100 frames last year. I'm afraid the price hike is going to bring that number down. Even 100 frames a year isn't enough to pay the bills, so I'm going to have to pull the plug.
There are around 26 frames in stock, after accounting for current open orders. The only size/model that is absolutely out is 55cm touring frames. There's at least one of everything else, and there's usually a color choice because many of them are unpainted.
For now, prices stay where they've been. If we get to the end and have a surplus of a particular size/color, I might have a closeout.
Willow Chainrings are still plentiful and ought to be available for a good long time.
If you have any ideas of how to keep Herons flying, by all means let me know.
td