mustang1
Legendary Member
- Location
- London, UK
Over the years, I've grumbled about high bike prices and how they are just a bunch of tubes with a couple of wheels stuck on. Nothing really fancy going on here compared to a motorbike. On and on I bleated. Well, now I have finally got accustomed to the high prices. No more will you need to read my droning (well, I might have the odd one here and there).
Many people justify the high prices due to the research and development, the tube shapes, the wind tunnels that are not cheap, the high grade of carbon fibre, the tech that goes into wireless shifting and so on.
So comparing that to some cars: do you want the black 21 inch wheels with your Brand X car instead of silver 21 inch? That's £3000. For what, to get a different colour wheel and a different design? "Yes" the dealer says... "it's the wind tunnel testing, checking the wheels new design is aerodynamic and so on, those wind tunnels are not cheap you know." And what's this now, £6k for special paint? "Yes yes" the dealer says, "we have to test it in arizona and other hot places, also the south pole, to ensure consistent paint quality across all weather conditions".
Yesssir, £5k for a road bike (or the same price for an full sus mtb which ironically has a lot more going on with it) is peanuts and we are lucky to be living in an age where you can get so much technology (suspension in the front, suspension at the back, who'd thunk it?) at such an "affordable" price. Right then, I'm putting in an order for one of those Turbo Levos. Oh wait, you can get an SL model too, which is lightweight. So they reduce the battery Wh and the motor size (to make it lighter you see) and charge how much because it's "lightweight"?
Less is more and all that.
As you were.
Many people justify the high prices due to the research and development, the tube shapes, the wind tunnels that are not cheap, the high grade of carbon fibre, the tech that goes into wireless shifting and so on.
So comparing that to some cars: do you want the black 21 inch wheels with your Brand X car instead of silver 21 inch? That's £3000. For what, to get a different colour wheel and a different design? "Yes" the dealer says... "it's the wind tunnel testing, checking the wheels new design is aerodynamic and so on, those wind tunnels are not cheap you know." And what's this now, £6k for special paint? "Yes yes" the dealer says, "we have to test it in arizona and other hot places, also the south pole, to ensure consistent paint quality across all weather conditions".
Yesssir, £5k for a road bike (or the same price for an full sus mtb which ironically has a lot more going on with it) is peanuts and we are lucky to be living in an age where you can get so much technology (suspension in the front, suspension at the back, who'd thunk it?) at such an "affordable" price. Right then, I'm putting in an order for one of those Turbo Levos. Oh wait, you can get an SL model too, which is lightweight. So they reduce the battery Wh and the motor size (to make it lighter you see) and charge how much because it's "lightweight"?
Less is more and all that.
As you were.
