new bike ordered in march is delayed again (October!)

Shifting sands of delivery dates..I'd say you're within your rights to get your money back (depending on how bespoke it is).. although the bespoke part has proved irrelevant to the delays. 

As you've paid via paypal you'll have 'extra protection' for a limited time at least, paypal are very good at getting your money back. 

 would say first thing is to explore the options with the UK shop, how they dealt with you at that point would influence 'my' thoughts on what to do next. 

Also a point, it's heading into winter now, so a delay to Feb 'might' not have that much real worl impact on you (depending on how you wanted to ride this bike). 

Conti tyres have been in short supply all year, but £120 in consumable tyres is not a reasonable response to why a £000's bike is delayed. They 'could' discount the order by £120 as it's their supply problem and you can source your own tyres.

Hi Dave

Could you email me on info [at] road.cc about this for an off-the-record chat?

Cheers.

When you say a "european brand via a non-local bike shop", the important question (in terms of your customer rights) is was it still a UK-based bike shop, and so the sale would be subject to UK consumer rights laws? (To be fair anywhere in the EU has pretty good consumer rights, but I am less familiar with the details).

Assuming you are covered by UK laws, then the Consumer Contracts Regulations (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/30/made) are probably the most straightforward route to a cancellation, as (for orders covered under the regulations) you can cancel the order at any point from the point you enter into the contract until two weeks after delivery.

There are some orders that are not covered by the CCR (particularly relevant may be "goods that are made to the consumer’s specifications or are clearly personalised"); however, even in those cases you can fall back on the Consumer Rights Act (2015), specifically S28 which deals with delivery (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/28/enacted). If you intend to rely on the CRA, I would say your best bet is to follow subsection (7) now and inform the retailer of "a period that is appropriate in the circumstances and require the trader to deliver the goods before the end of that period."

The legislation doesn't provide much detail of what is "appropriate" but I would be inclined to say informing the retailer that you require the goods to be delivered within two weeks of 15th October (to give them a chance to build and ship the bike once receiving it from their supplier) is reasonable. 

How bespoke is the bike?

There are still shortages of parts on a global scale, I think UCI has just changed the rules for U23 races and equipments choices due to the shortage. It might be a question of sucking it up or changing spec to suit your new financial position.

I would have a word with the bike shop. If the whole order has been undertaken via internet, won't you have the 14 days after delivery to reject (and the time from order up to 14 days after is the period for cancelling)? if so, you should be able to reject and cancel unless bespoke. The shop might have the upper hand here if you have deviated froma standard spec. What does the small print on the contract say about cancelling?

I would do some reading up on consumer law so you can talk to the bike shop with facts and reason. don't go with all guns blazing, nor would I advise cancelling or lookingfor clawing back cash. Pissing off the shop might not be the greatest plan at this stage.

With any luck someone with a far greater understanding of contract and consumer law than I will be along with all the details.

How did you pay and is it Ribble?