Is the Shirogorov market getting soft?

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Grapeshot

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I've been following Shirogrovs for awhile and it seems like the prices are starting to come down. I wonder if supply is catching up with demand and we'll start to see what we saw with Hinderers. I used to see XM-18s regularly sell for $750 and now they're easy to find for like $375. Maybe our improving relations with Russia is going to make it easier for them to import. Anyway, has anyone else noticed this?
 
A crap ton of neons just hit the market and have dropped prices. Others seemed to have stayed up there.
 
In my experience, the inflated prices are very uncertain and do not seem to follow a trend. The Hinderer bubble popped when they ramped up production, however, Shirogorov maintains a bit of mistique since they are produced overseas and cannot be bought directly or through many reputable dealers.
 
Maybe soon all those manufacturers asking silly inflated prices will realize it's ridiculous to ask such silly money for a machine made knife. Hand made/custom/maker = no worries, because that's focused man hours and effort/attention to detail. But to ask prices like that just for that little extra bit of fit and finish from assembly line knives - get real. Other manufacturers using the exact same materials offer prices a fraction of the cost and the fit/finish/build will still last longer than you're alive. Knives have somehow started to become just like art, it can be worth whatever a fool is willing to pay for it.
 
I've been wondering, what makes a Shiro considered a "Custom Division"? I often see them with the same machining marks that the production models have:confused:

Can anyone clarify???
 
The whole market is soft in general at the moment.

I doubt you will see the Shiro prices drop as much as the Hinderer market though.

Hinderer prices were driven by an inflated secondary market.

I believe Shiro has upped their prices to pretty much match the secondary prices. The early days of $500 Shiros is probably gone.

I'm not a buyer simply because I don't know enough about their production processes. I would prefer a company be open and honest about their production practices than to be intentionally vague. Begg, Brous, Shiro, CKF are all companies I feel have been cagey about their practices for whatever reason.
 
Blues Bender said:
I've been wondering, what makes a Shiro considered a "Custom Division"? I often see them with the same machining marks that the production models have:confused:

Can anyone clarify???
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Hey BB, yes it is a bit confusing.

As far as I know, there's the regular productions, and after that it's the custom division (think mid-tech/special run) and finally full on customs. So three levels but also there's a "bears" rating system 1-3 bears, 1 being the base and 3 being the highest quality manufactured line. And the bear system is for productions.

This is the best I can do.. I may be off on some details.
 
Have you tried Shirogorov before? How can you compare "can't open 18" to the much better fit&finish, great flipping action, superior bearing shirogorov?
The price will never drop for shirogorov. Because for the price range, there's no competitor for shirogorov
 
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main difference is the bearing,
custom division now only has SRRBS (single roller bearing), but in 2014, they produced few DRRBS (double roller), I have one Custom Division DRRBS Hati, and it's great.
And all custom division has skeleton structure inside the handle to reduce the weight, the fit&finish is better than production line. Shirogrov has official explanation for the differences of production line, CD line and Sergey line in USN. Take a look.
Blues Bender said:
I've been wondering, what makes a Shiro considered a "Custom Division"? I often see them with the same machining marks that the production models have:confused:

Can anyone clarify???
Click to expand...
 
soccerman said:
Have you tried Shirogorov before? How can you compare "can't open 18" to the much better fit&finish, great flipping action, superior bearing shirogorov?
The price will never drop for shirogorov. Because for the price range, there's no competitor for shirogorov
Click to expand...

The action on Shiros is definitely better, but the materials used are similar or identical in many cases. The prices likely will drop, as the market has already begun to sour on the prices that Shiros used to go for.
 
Of course materials are similar or same, the $100 ZT has the same material too, will someone wanna pay $800 for a ZT? what's your point? You wish the price will drop because the Russian rubles is going strong all the time this year.
Again, there's no competitor at this price ranger, so it's not possible for price drop. The "can't open 18" design is old, flipping action is a joke, and fit&finish is close to some Chinese makers like CKF and Reate now, for $300, it's a fair price.
 
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Scurvy092 said:
The whole market is soft in general at the moment.

I doubt you will see the Shiro prices drop as much as the Hinderer market though.

Hinderer prices were driven by an inflated secondary market.

I believe Shiro has upped their prices to pretty much match the secondary prices. The early days of $500 Shiros is probably gone.

I'm not a buyer simply because I don't know enough about their production processes. I would prefer a company be open and honest about their production practices than to be intentionally vague. Begg, Brous, Shiro, CKF are all companies I feel have been cagey about their practices for whatever reason.
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^^ This. The Shirogorov market will never fully deflate because they will just increase their direct prices to compensate for it, which is why very briefly maybe 8-12 months ago the price of a normal 95 was in the $600-700 range and now is back over $750. I don't think they would have raised their direct prices by ~30% if they didn't think the market could handle it.

As for their production processes, I'm pretty skeptical about those as well. On their USN subforum, they have a thread about their production processes from start to finish, where they say every blade is handground. That, I am skeptical of. I always hear shadowy rumors of Shirogorov's partially being made in China, but no substantial evidence has ever presented itself for that.
 
Sergey Shirogorov Line, which is the best flipper in the world imo, has used some unique materials( Timascus, zirconium), but the total price of the knives below can buy a brand new BMW. :)

image.png
 
Bottom
Line to me is every single shirogorov I have ever had (maybe 4-5) has been spot on perfect in fit and finish and I have almost never heard of anything other than that. They know how to make a knife and I say better than CRK as a reference point only. (which I have also had 5-6 of)
 
That's totally fake rumor, all the real shirogorv are made in Russia!

I know every knife production factory in China

I know their manufacture ability, they CAN'T even make a same production line knife, not to even mention CD line and Sergey line.

Actually there's not even a US maker can match the level of fit&finish, flipping action, manufacture complexity of Sergey Shirogorov. I've seen all the makers during Blade show and TKI, no maker can be close.

IF YOU OWN ONE SHIROGOROV, YOU WILL KNOW, IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO COPY BY OTHER MAKERS.
 
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soccerman said:
Sergey Shirogorov Line, which is the best flipper in the world imo, has used some unique materials( Timascus, zirconium), but the total price of the knives below can buy a brand new BMW. :)

image.png
Click to expand...
I want that F7 so freaking bad!!!!
 
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