An 11,000 pound bike

[Pale Rider]

Cyclechat guide to pricing cliches.

If the bike (or other product) costs more than you paid for your bike (or similar product): "A fool and their money are easily parted"
or
If the the bike (or other product) costs less than you paid for your bike (or similar product): "Buy cheap, buy twice".

If the bike (or other product) costs about the same as you paid for your bike (or similar product), then it's fantastic value for money.

This applies to lots of things.

Take domestic cleanliness.

Anyone whose house is much cleaner than mine is far too precious, houses are for living in, don't you know?

But anyone whose house is grubbier and untidier than mine needs to get a grip and brush up on their cleaning routine.

Needless to say, anyone who keeps their house as I do has struck the correct balance.

 

[Pale Rider]

Or even spend £11,000 on a bike and nothing on a car.

We have just got rid of our(or more accurately the other halfs') and to a certain extent it's like having some shackles removed;no 'oh let's just pop in the car' and such like anymore,yes there will be times when it would be handy but realistically we don't need one so why have it for the sake of it.

There are plenty of people on our estate who have more than one car(and it's not an affluent estate) including Mercs,Audis and big 4X4's;bit more than £11,000 spent there.

As for the Alchemy,;it's a lovely thing and I would imagine the main cost of that frame would be tooling costs and having the frame made in the US rather than China.

Just as a comparison here's a di2 equipped (Chinese made frame) Dogma;

https://www.thebikerooms.com/pinare...rbon-red-689?gclid=CITk_qL78s8CFUSeGwod7xYG1w

So you are paying about £2,000 for the frame and some better wheels.

Would I get one if I had the cash? Probably not but that's my decision,wouldn't stop me bitching about anybody who did though.

Oh and who cares if the buyer isn't 'that' fit;lot's of people buy Ferraris,Porches etc and can't drive them as well as they can go.

Same for motorcycles,I had a Yamaha R1 for a while,enjoyed riding it but I didn't get anywere near it's capabilities on track or road();although 170mph down the main straight at Snetterton was a blast.

Nicely thought through.

I couldn't possibly do without my car, I need it for work and all sorts of other things.

But that's only because I've arranged my work and home life based on the assumption I have a car.

 

[Cycleops]

And whether or not they can afford to buy those cars is a moot point since they're buying them on credit.

A high percentage of cars bought in the UK are company car purchases.

If you go to dealer the sticker price might be 20k plus but under that there is one that's says £199 a.month on a finance, PCP or similar. This accounts for nearly half of all new car sales. Who has the cash sitting around to pay outright for a car.

 

[jarlrmai]

People outraged by aspirational product review, well I never.

 

[.stu]

Don't judge people by what car they have on their drive or bike between their legs. Our neighbours on the left have 2 brand new cars, but they are provided through some sort of tax break. 2-3 years time they will have 2 new ones. From what I gather, it doesn't cost them any more to have new cars, and it doesn't save them anything to have old ones.

The neighbours on the other side have a swimming pool...

 

[smutchin]

People outraged by aspirational product review, well I never.

There have always been overpriced luxury products that are available only to the few (or "the one per cent", if you like). Their price bears absolutely no relation to their quality or material value but they have an exclusive status that transcends such notions. As @Dogtrousers observed upthread, there's some vicarious enjoyment to be had from reading about such products in our nice middle class newspapers. And as this thread shows, there is also enjoyment to be had from the inverted snobbery of making snotty comments about these products on internet forums.

What's really outrageous is that we live in a society where for some people spending £11k on a bike is really no big deal while at the same time there are so many others whose kids would starve if it weren't for food banks. It's not the existence of such bikes per se that's outrageous, it's all the cultural baggage that goes with them.

 

[oldroadman]

Or even spend £11,000 on a bike and nothing on a car.

We have just got rid of our(or more accurately the other halfs') and to a certain extent it's like having some shackles removed;no 'oh let's just pop in the car' and such like anymore,yes there will be times when it would be handy but realistically we don't need one so why have it for the sake of it.

There are plenty of people on our estate who have more than one car(and it's not an affluent estate) including Mercs,Audis and big 4X4's;bit more than £11,000 spent there.

As for the Alchemy,;it's a lovely thing and I would imagine the main cost of that frame would be tooling costs and having the frame made in the US rather than China.

Just as a comparison here's a di2 equipped (Chinese made frame) Dogma;

https://www.thebikerooms.com/pinare...rbon-red-689?gclid=CITk_qL78s8CFUSeGwod7xYG1w

So you are paying about £2,000 for the frame and some better wheels.

Would I get one if I had the cash? Probably not but that's my decision,wouldn't stop me bitching about anybody who did though.

Oh and who cares if the buyer isn't 'that' fit;lot's of people buy Ferraris,Porches etc and can't drive them as well as they can go.

Same for motorcycles,I had a Yamaha R1 for a while,enjoyed riding it but I didn't get anywere near it's capabilities on track or road();although 170mph down the main straight at Snetterton was a blast.

Throttle sticking a bit then????

 

[oldroadman]

A high percentage of cars bought in the UK are company car purchases.

If you go to dealer the sticker price might be 20k plus but under that there is one that's says £199 a.month on a finance, PCP or similar. This accounts for nearly half of all new car sales. Who has the cash sitting around to pay outright for a car.

Me. Provided the new car is under £8000! And who would want an £8000 cheapie when I can get a 4 year old Skoda estate with all the toys for the same money?

 

[srw]

A high percentage of cars bought in the UK are company car purchases.

If you go to dealer the sticker price might be 20k plus but under that there is one that's says £199 a.month on a finance, PCP or similar. This accounts for nearly half of all new car sales. Who has the cash sitting around to pay outright for a car.

I dare say it's possible to buy a bike with a loan, too....

 

[TheJDog]

It's all ridiculous, isn't it. No one _really_ needs anything better than 105. I bet I could do an almost identical average speed on a semi-decent Giant as I could on this eleven grand thing. But did I buy 'just' a semi-decent Giant. No I did not.

 

[smutchin]

It's all ridiculous, isn't it. No one _really_ needs anything better than 105. I bet I could do an almost identical average speed on a semi-decent Giant as I could on this eleven grand thing. But did I buy 'just' a semi-decent Giant. No I did not.

Indeed. For most people in the world, the idea of spending £1,000 on a bike would seem pretty outrageous, never mind £11,000.

 

[jarlrmai]

There have always been overpriced luxury products that are available only to the few (or "the one per cent", if you like). Their price bears absolutely no relation to their quality or material value but they have an exclusive status that transcends such notions. As @Dogtrousers observed upthread, there's some vicarious enjoyment to be had from reading about such products in our nice middle class newspapers. And as this thread shows, there is also enjoyment to be had from the inverted snobbery of making snotty comments about these products on internet forums.

What's really outrageous is that we live in a society where for some people spending £11k on a bike is really no big deal while at the same time there are so many others whose kids would starve if it weren't for food banks. It's not the existence of such bikes per se that's outrageous, it's all the cultural baggage that goes with them.

Yeah it's true I suspect that a lot of people that are outraged are living extravagantly luxurious lives compared to billions of people.

The Guardian well know's that a review of an 11 grand bike is going to attract debate and more importantly ad views.

 

[russellchapman]

These are fair points.

Spend, say, £2000 on an old car that lasts for three to five years, and people will look back fondly and say what a great car it was.

Spend £2000 on a bike that you could still be riding in thirty or forty years, or even more, and people think you're a chump.

I shot a fair sized wad, for me, on a bike last year. I hope the bike will last me for years. So if you are still riding your £2000 bike in 30 or 40 years, I definitely won't think you are a chump. Might have to replace the wheels, saddle, bearings and most of the groupset in that time though

 

[Elybazza61]

Throttle sticking a bit then????

Nah just the onrushing chicane