oldfatfool
Guru
I'm now waiting for someone to say how £200 is good value for a pair of shoes, because it's a lot cheaper than the £800 they might otherwise have spent on a bike
Bike prices
- Thread starter PJ79LIZARD
- Start date
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MacB
Lover of things that come in 3's
- Location
- Farnborough, Hampshire
Interesting, I suppose you could recreate a bike from back then and stick a pro on it and see how they do
snailracer
Über Member
If it was up to the UCI alone, they'd still be racing on 'em.
No. They have staff for that
Seriously though, I agree with Mickle that it is a good thing that there is enough interest in high end products. The degree of hhigh tech engineering that goes into these machines easily matches other industries, and it is a measure of recognition of cycling as a sport that there is a market for that.
Most people that I know that race bikes on the other hand spend a lot less, if they are funding bikes out of their own pocket that is. Partly because they typically need more than one race bike, plus multiple wheelsets, and partly because there is the inevitable attrition and breakage. Often they plump for lesser groupsets too, as replacing 105 or Ultegra on a regular basis works out a lot more reasonable than replacing Dura-Ace. It's about finding the sweet spot between what is good enough for the job, and your pocket can allow. Plus there's always the temptation of being able to buy improved performance.
You could have ten £5 watches ! £50, seems a lot.
good thread this one, i would say when i got into cycling about 2yrs ago now on a mtb bike at £400 and loved it and was the
most expensive bike i had bought then i watched some road cycling and thought i wouldnt mind a go at that so saved and bought
my first wilier at £1000 and wow what a bike it was and made me feel odd riding a bike of that cost but it felt good.
then in april this year i was made redundant but lucky enought to have a job lined up so treated my self to a new wilier that cost me
£2050 inc new pedals the difference was huge and instantly felt better, the gears smoother the ride was better etc.
i have since swapped the wheels over to some fulcrum 1's that i saved for and again the difference in climbing was obvious and it felt quicker
as the wheels were 500grams lighter.
so the idea that the average joe cant tell the difference is not true and if you try it you will see the difference.
when it comes to bike prices then 8000 is a lot of money for a bike but if you have the money to spare it doesnt seem a lot
i work in a top end hifi shop and in our shop window we have a pair of speakers for £150 and in our demo room we have some for
£27,500 and we have sold a few pairs of them so it doesnt matter the cost some one will buy it.
most expensive bike i had bought then i watched some road cycling and thought i wouldnt mind a go at that so saved and bought
my first wilier at £1000 and wow what a bike it was and made me feel odd riding a bike of that cost but it felt good.
then in april this year i was made redundant but lucky enought to have a job lined up so treated my self to a new wilier that cost me
£2050 inc new pedals the difference was huge and instantly felt better, the gears smoother the ride was better etc.
i have since swapped the wheels over to some fulcrum 1's that i saved for and again the difference in climbing was obvious and it felt quicker
as the wheels were 500grams lighter.
so the idea that the average joe cant tell the difference is not true and if you try it you will see the difference.
when it comes to bike prices then 8000 is a lot of money for a bike but if you have the money to spare it doesnt seem a lot
i work in a top end hifi shop and in our shop window we have a pair of speakers for £150 and in our demo room we have some for
£27,500 and we have sold a few pairs of them so it doesnt matter the cost some one will buy it.
peelywally
Active Member
its a sellers market ,
the expensive the equipment the better it must be or so some think , ive gone past suited and booted full carbon spec bikes and riders like they were going backwards at the same time ive been passed with the guy wearing a t shirt and bermuda shorts on a fixie he either built himself or rescued from a skip
manufacturing costs surely are the main reason for cost if not then why ,
plasma tvs cost about £2000 as manufacturing improved due to sales etc prices came down to around £500 today ?
apply that to bikes and theres something not happening
the expensive the equipment the better it must be or so some think , ive gone past suited and booted full carbon spec bikes and riders like they were going backwards at the same time ive been passed with the guy wearing a t shirt and bermuda shorts on a fixie he either built himself or rescued from a skip
manufacturing costs surely are the main reason for cost if not then why ,
plasma tvs cost about £2000 as manufacturing improved due to sales etc prices came down to around £500 today ?
apply that to bikes and theres something not happening
the snail
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham
manufacturing costs surely are the main reason for cost if not then why ,
plasma tvs cost about £2000 as manufacturing improved due to sales etc prices came down to around £500 today ?
apply that to bikes and theres something not happening
there are other factors than manufacturing costs, for instance cheaper bikes will be easier to shift for the shop, compared to the top-end bikes which might sit in the shop longer, plus there's more competition and buyers are more price sensitive at the lower end. There's a lot of marketing ploys too. Is it really necessary for Shimano to produce so many types of groupset? Probably not, but by having so many options, it allows them to extract the maximum profit through a range of price points. Reminds me of the first electronic calculator I got at school, mine was £12.50 I think, my friend had the snazzier £25 version. After a bit of experimentation, I discovered that mine had exactly the same functions as his, the only difference was that mine didn't have the extra ones marked on the case. Sneaky bastards!
manufacturing costs surely are the main reason for cost if not then why ,
plasma tvs cost about £2000 as manufacturing improved due to sales etc prices came down to around £500 today ?
apply that to bikes and theres something not happening
At the "high end" of any mainstream desirable product range (Rolex, Mercedes, Harley etc) I doubt very much that manufacturing costs are the main reason for the high purchase costs, and why would they be? They are aspirational products, marketing at that level costs a bomb, intrinsic and percieved values go out the window, in a nutshell, they make the owner feel "good", what price can you put on that?
Owning a high end £5k+ Rolex was an ambition realised for me, but, it was the same price as a 4 year old Ford Focus, not something I'd have gazed at lovingly and taken pleasure from, wouldn't have got my money back from it either.
I can't, and never will, be able to afford an £8k bike but it's great that such a thing could exist and that people can purchase them, how must they feel wheeling it out of the garage?
david k
Hi
- Location
- North West
£50 on a watch, you must be minted
cycleruk
Active Member
- Location
- Peterborough
you would be gutted if you crashed it!At the "high end" of any mainstream desirable product range (Rolex, Mercedes, Harley etc) I doubt very much that manufacturing costs are the main reason for the high purchase costs, and why would they be? They are aspirational products, marketing at that level costs a bomb, intrinsic and percieved values go out the window, in a nutshell, they make the owner feel "good", what price can you put on that?
Owning a high end £5k+ Rolex was an ambition realised for me, but, it was the same price as a 4 year old Ford Focus, not something I'd have gazed at lovingly and taken pleasure from, wouldn't have got my money back from it either.
I can't, and never will, be able to afford an £8k bike but it's great that such a thing could exist and that people can purchase them, how must they feel wheeling it out of the garage?
, 8 k on a push bike, it makes the £300 i spent on my new bike make me look like a cheap scape 
zigzag
Veteran
spending £8k on a bike is more about perceived status and satisfaction it would give to the owner, rather than measurable performance gains. when i suggested to my mrs that she could have a very good custom made bike for about £2k, she said it would be stupid to spend such money on a bike. but then she thinks i need a wrist watch for the same amount of money and asked me to help her to choose one as an anniversary gift.. the thing is i don't need one as i already have a very nice (to me) watch that i don't wear very often as it's a bit heavy on the wrist when riding a bike.
jdtate101
Ex-Fatman
- Location
- Boring Birmingham
As with all things...a fool and his money are easily parted.
Now I believe in you get what you pay for, and sometime quality does cost, but there is a point at which the quality cannot get any better. Wine is a good example...just because a bottle costs £1000 (it's rare and old) doesn't mean it's better than a £50 bottle. In fact it may taste worse due to age, but still costs way more due to it's rareness. Designer clothes are a really good example. Paying £60-£80 for a tee shirt....ridiculous. It physically might be no different than the £10 tee shirt next door.
As for bikes, I think there is a point at which carbon frames become "fashion labels" and the extra benefit is lost. This would seem to be between £2K and £3K. Most cost difference at this price comes down to groupset (ultegra vs DuraAce vs Di2) and the holy grail of weight loss.
For professional athletes they may want a £8k bike, not because it cost 8K in the shop, but because it cost 8K to tailor to their exact shape and needs.
Now I believe in you get what you pay for, and sometime quality does cost, but there is a point at which the quality cannot get any better. Wine is a good example...just because a bottle costs £1000 (it's rare and old) doesn't mean it's better than a £50 bottle. In fact it may taste worse due to age, but still costs way more due to it's rareness. Designer clothes are a really good example. Paying £60-£80 for a tee shirt....ridiculous. It physically might be no different than the £10 tee shirt next door.
As for bikes, I think there is a point at which carbon frames become "fashion labels" and the extra benefit is lost. This would seem to be between £2K and £3K. Most cost difference at this price comes down to groupset (ultegra vs DuraAce vs Di2) and the holy grail of weight loss.
For professional athletes they may want a £8k bike, not because it cost 8K in the shop, but because it cost 8K to tailor to their exact shape and needs.
"As with all things...a fool and his money are easily parted." Quoted from above, seeing as most of the replies on here are from people who cannot afford an £8,000 bike how come the fool can. Maybe it would be better for people with no money to become fools so that they have some.
