The price of bikes.

[Kingfisher101]

Even thinking of a grand and a half for Tiagra almost makes me sick in my mouth. I know the technology is meant to trickle down and all that but the spec of some of these 2 grand plus bikes brings a tear to my eye… modest, at best!

Its an absolute disgrace, I've had a bike with Tiagra in the past and it was shocking and it was £600 and I thought I'd been robbed then!. 2-3 years ago I bought a MTB for £700, they are now listed at £1200 for the same one!. The stock tyres on that one are rubbish as well.
I wont pay all these inflated prices, I have 3 bikes and will just ride them till they have either had it or get stolen. Even Ribbles have shot up in price and Halfords basic bikes.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

You'd have to be pretty stupid to sell your product for less than you can get for it.

That depends on your business model. Not everyone prices their products to the max for short term profiteering, they might consider gaining market share and customer loyalty as more important long term factors.
Wetherspoons sets its prices below the local market level, and attract a loyal following of customers. When the financial crash struck in 2008, they escaped relatively unscathed whereas a number of rival operators went bust. They suspended their dividend for a year in order to keep prices low, and the punters kept coming through the door during the crisis and as the economy was recovering afterwards. That thwarted any rivals from poaching their customer base and the revenues have flowed in ever since.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I wont pay all these inflated prices, I have 3 bikes and will just ride them till they have either had it or get stolen. Even Ribbles have shot up in price and Halfords basic bikes.

I'm not going to pay those prices either. I'll just keep riding my existing steel bikes indefinitely. I fully expect the cheapest frames to outlast me, even if they go through a couple more sets of running gear. I've made a deliberate decision to only run stuff that is not going to go obsolete anytime soon, because the low end hybrid/MTB market still demands affordable 6/7 speed running gear and basic square taper cranksets. Sturmey 3-speed AW hub gears will outlast the wheels they are built into and can be re-used practically indefinitely. Besides which I've raided enough skips and stripped enough 99p eBay specials as parts donors, that I have decades worth of 26" and 700c bits. Not generally high end stuff, but they'll keep me on the road for as long as I will need bike running gear. The industry can keep it's rip-off pricing and marketeer planned design obsolescence. I'm not playing their game, I'll just watch it from the sidelines.

 

[Milzy]

A grand got you a decent bike a few years ago. Now if it’s a half decent frame or not it will be draped in a 10 speed crap groupset with poor finishing kit & wheels.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Cycling is supposed to be an affordable and fun pass time, but its been gentrified and taken over by a lot of professionals who a couple of decades ago wouldn't have been seen dead on a bike. Combining that with the bike industries blatant profiteering and being downright greedy re the covid crisis has got us to where we are today.

 

[boydj]

Its an absolute disgrace, I've had a bike with Tiagra in the past and it was shocking and it was £600 and I thought I'd been robbed then!. 2-3 years ago I bought a MTB for £700, they are now listed at £1200 for the same one!. The stock tyres on that one are rubbish as well.
I wont pay all these inflated prices, I have 3 bikes and will just ride them till they have either had it or get stolen. Even Ribbles have shot up in price and Halfords basic bikes.

Age and infirmity brought me to buying an electric road bike this year. I could only afford the Tiagra version. It works just fine now it's properly adjusted - just as well as the 105 on another bike - and 10-speed makes no noticeable difference to 11-speed once you are moving.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

A grand got you a decent bike a few years ago. Now if it’s a half decent frame or not it will be draped in a 10 speed crap groupset with poor finishing kit & wheels.

My best bikes with 531 frames were the modern day equivalent of around £1,000 each when they were new 35 years ago. When I bought them secondhand I considered I was primarily buying a quality frame and any mechanicals with some life left in them were just a bonus. Even if I spent a few hundred quid replacing wheels and transmission parts, I'm still riding £1k+ quality bikes that will have cost me a lot less than £1k.
If you take the view that the lifespan of a bike is decades rather than just a few years, most of the parts apart from the frame can be considered to be consumables.

 

[cougie uk]

Cycling is supposed to be an affordable and fun pass time, but its been gentrified and taken over by a lot of professionals who a couple of decades ago wouldn't have been seen dead on a bike. Combining that with the bike industries blatant profiteering and being downright greedy re the covid crisis has got us to where we are today.

Nobody's forcing you to buy a Pinarello. Plenty of affordable bikes around. My custom steel bike of 30 years ago would have rings run round it by cheaper bikes these days.

 

[gavroche]

A grand got you a decent bike a few years ago. Now if it’s a half decent frame or not it will be draped in a 10 speed crap groupset with poor finishing kit & wheels.

I paid £5 short of a £1000 for my Trek, Domane AL3 and I am very pleased with it. The wheels are round , group set is Sora and the gears change smoothly.
I don't intend to enter or win any races and ride for pleasure only. I think it is a decent bike and I am very pleased with it.
When I hear some cyclists saying you have to spend at least £2500 to get a decent bike, I think they are just a bunch of snobs.

 

[Grant Fondo]

I paid £5 short of a £1000 for my Trek, Domane AL3 and I am very pleased with it. The wheels are round , group set is Sora and the gears change smoothly.
I don't intend to enter or win any races and ride for pleasure only. I think it is a decent bike and I am very pleased with it.
When I hear some cyclists saying you have to spend at least £2500 to get a decent bike, I think they are just a bunch of snobs.

bunch of working class oiks those lot who only spend £2.5k

 

[Kingfisher101]

Nobody's forcing you to buy a Pinarello. Plenty of affordable bikes around. My custom steel bike of 30 years ago would have rings run round it by cheaper bikes these days.

I think you're missing the point. What I'm saying is that bikes have shot up in price the last few years, the last couple in particular and that we are being ripped off basically. If some people don't mind then that's fair enough. Other people think hang on a minute.... Obviously no one is forcing anyone to buy anything.
There's very low stock or non in a lot of retailers and you often have to go on a waiting list if you want a new bike. Theres not plenty of affordable bikes around at all. Unless you fall lucky and get a secondhand one.

 

[Arrowfoot]

I think you're missing the point. What I'm saying is that bikes have shot up in price the last few years, the last couple in particular and that we are being ripped off basically. If some people don't mind then that's fair enough. Other people think hang on a minute.... Obviously no one is forcing anyone to buy anything.

Even without Covid, price have been heading north as more people are prepared to pay for colours, designs and gadgets. There is also the need to keep up with the cycling Joneses.

What struck me were the number of young custom steel bike builders that have come up in London recently and the price they charge £3.5k starting. There is custom steel bike builder in Italy that has a 1 year waiting list. Signs of affluence. And we all know the geometry is universal as it will withstand any lawsuit.

Latest fad is gravel bikes and if look at the componentry, it is clearly overpriced because people want the latest. The Gravel bike is the new SUV. I have been watching Katie Kookaburra Youtube and its telling. She works for Ribble and has a Ribble gravel bike and she goes into absolutely unridable mud filled terrain to prove a point about Gravel bikes. Look at the custom colours. Why would I venture into mud unless I am into cyclocross.

The industry is going to milk the demand.

 

[rogerzilla]

Boardman Team Carbon with 11-speed 105 is £1,250 according to Google Shopping, which generally means it's in stock. The Boardman webshite doesn't work on a phone, though.

You pay a huge markup for a more prestigious brand name.

 

[Blue Hills]

I wont pay all these inflated prices, I have 3 bikes and will just ride them till they have either had it or get stolen.

No reason why a decent bike decently maintained (some new consumable bits now and again) shouldn't last a lifetime barring impacts. Of course this means you will be riding around on a perfectly running bike that might look second hand. Which can be the answer if you need another - buy a barely ridden or well maintained second-hand one.

 

[Blue Hills]

A grand got you a decent bike a few years ago. Now if it’s a half decent frame or not it will be draped in a 10 speed crap groupset with poor finishing kit & wheels.

won't Spa still sell you a decent bike for a grand?
With a more than half decent frame?