How much is too much?

[Rusty Rocket]

If you're on £100k pa and have a chunk of savings then £10k isn't a big deal to spend on a bike. If you're used to spending £50k on a car it sounds like a reasonable price point. There are enough people in that bracket to make the market work. Happily spending £10k on a family holiday, same on a bike. Last thing they want is a bike the same as all the others on the road and they will pay a premium for exclusivity. Same as if you drive a Bentley

However, if that isn't the world you live in, £10k sounds like too much money to spend.

I think it’s less about whether it’s a bonkers amount of cash to spend (it’s clearly not for some lucky folk), but what you get for your money.
I get it with cars - I can see why a Bentley costs more than a VW, I guess as a complete noobie to bikes I struggled to see why 1 road bike that looks basically the same as another (to the untrained eye at least!) is 10 x the price.
Fair to say it’s an absolute minefield out there if you have money to spend, quite easy on a tight-ish budget to limit choices!

 

[matticus]

The small ads do suggest a lot of riders upgrade after very few miles.
It's crazy - a 3K budget on equipment that you only race for a few hours in that year. I think very hard about a 3K bike that I plan to make last for years of weekend and all-day rides! :P Still, each to his own ...

 

[matticus]

I get it with cars - I can see why a Bentley costs more than a VW, I guess as a complete noobie to bikes I struggled to see why 1 road bike that looks basically the same as another (to the untrained eye at least!) is 10 x the price.

Much of the difference is down to visuals: your Bentley looks very different to a VW. But does Hamilton's Merc really look much different to the cars he is lapping? (apart from colour scheme!) There is a huge price difference there - and yet the cheaper car can still corner at 150mph.

(To a VERY untrained eye, Hamilton's car looks little different to a £10k 2nd-hand single-seater!)

 

[kingrollo]

Work how much you can afford to spend ...........then add £3k on.

 

[vickster]

I think it’s less about whether it’s a bonkers amount of cash to spend (it’s clearly not for some lucky folk), but what you get for your money.
I get it with cars - I can see why a Bentley costs more than a VW, I guess as a complete noobie to bikes I struggled to see why 1 road bike that looks basically the same as another (to the untrained eye at least!) is 10 x the price.
Fair to say it’s an absolute minefield out there if you have money to spend, quite easy on a tight-ish budget to limit choices!

Yes but VW vs Bentley you’re talking £100-150k difference not 5-10k. The Bentley isn’t 5k more

 

[nickyboy]

Yes but VW vs Bentley you’re talking £100-150k difference not 5-10k. The Bentley isn’t 5k more

Bentley is 10x price of a VW. Equivalent is £10k bike is 10x price of £1k bike

The difference between a £10k bike and a £1k bike is, put simply, weight. Getting lighter components with the same strength is an expensive business. The bikes look, broadly, the same. But one is lighter than the other. Whether you want to pay another £9k to reduce bike weight by maybe a couple of kgs is a personal matter

 

[cougie uk]

The small ads do suggest a lot of riders upgrade after very few miles.
It's crazy - a 3K budget on equipment that you only race for a few hours in that year. I think very hard about a 3K bike that I plan to make last for years of weekend and all-day rides! :P Still, each to his own ...

It'd be interesting to see just how accurate those mileages are.

Racing miles might not be high but training miles should be.

 

[Ian H]

It's a long time since I raced, so I don't have a race bike. I still have TT bike, but probably getting rid of that as I am a less serious competitor nowadays. What I do have is several bespoke bikes made-to-measure, two in Ti and two in steel. Both the Ti frames I built up myself. but the two (newer) steel ones (both Halletts) I let Richard finish them to mutually agreed specs. The newest one is a club machine in stainless steel, good enough for club-runs, club TTs, and just feels like a delightfully fast ride.

 

[CXRAndy]

My attitude is that above about £850, I 'd rather spend more money on the engine than the bike.

I agree, get a better Ebike

 

[Ridgeway]

I blame dentists

 

[vickster]

I blame dentists

Swiss bankers more like

 

[Gibbo9]

This is a very interesting thread, more so due to the fact I am currently looking for a new bike myself and am finding huge price ranges of similar spec but different brand name. I'd expected that of course.

I do think it's all relative though. I moved to Taiwan last year and brought my road bike out with me. This place is built for cyclists, some of the riverside cycle paths are as wide as the roads back home. This really got me back onto the bike and I have fallen in love with cycling again. I get out every day if I can (only rain prevents this).

For the new bike I am prepared to pay up to 6k but I want all the mod cons for that, Di2, disc brakes, tubeless tyres etc and I have found plenty of LBS that are happy to build bikes for me. Most important though is the fact that it needs to look good, naturally.

I see the new buy as a minimum 5 year bike (same as my current one) which is 1200 per year over that time period, I spend more on beer annually than that but I get much more enjoyment from being out on the bike.

Money well spent, for me at least.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Its only too much if you cant afford it or never really use it or both.
If its sat doing nothing you have wasted your money no matter how much it was really. If you use your bike a lot no matter what the cost then its money well spent because it gets you out and is good for your health, saving bus/train fare etc.
Obviously if you just want a bike for local errands its a bit silly paying thousands but upto a Grand is fine I think. The most I've spent is £1100 on a bike. I usually get them around the £600-£800 Mark then sell them on when I get bored and get another.
Life is for living and money is for spending, you cant take it with you when your dead.

 

[matticus]

Did anyone ever go to their death bed wishing they had cycled less?

 

[vickster]

Did anyone ever go to their death bed wishing they had cycled less?

or bought fewer bikes