Easy to get confused by expert cyclists.

[CanucksTraveller]

I reckon that about 1000 or so very roughly was (up until recently anyway) the sweet spot where you were pretty much guaranteed to get a really good quality bike. Of course there are performance returns when you pay more, but they're smaller, and for increasingly bigger sums.

I've said this before but what ticks me off in the last year is the corner cutting by the big manufacturers. Spend 1000-1200 two to four years ago and you were getting at least Tiagra, maybe 105, plus premium tyres like Schwalbe. Tourers usually came with rack, cages etc. Now you're seeing bikes for 1500 notes with a Claris drivetrain (not even Sora), cheap generic tyres, and no "extras" at all. It's rather naughty.

 

[Solocle]

I reckon that about 1000 or so very roughly was (up until recently anyway) the sweet spot where you were pretty much guaranteed to get a really good quality bike. Of course there are performance returns when you pay more, but they're smaller, and for increasingly bigger sums.

I've said this before but what ticks me off in the last year is the corner cutting by the big manufacturers. Spend 1000-1200 two to four years ago and you were getting at least Tiagra, maybe 105, plus premium tyres like Schwalbe. Tourers usually came with rack, cages etc. Now you're seeing bikes for 1500 notes with a Claris drivetrain (not even Sora), cheap generic tyres, and no "extras" at all. It's rather naughty.

My cannondale came with mid-range Vittoria tyres.

By my reckoning that front one lasted 4000 km, so can't really complain. The replacement there has already been retired (albeit reserved for races, 32mm 4 seasons are more suited to my normal riding).

I guess they're striking a balance between providing reasonable stock equipment, and not costing the earth when you swap for your own prefferred brand of uber-premium tyres, of course.

 

[Kingfisher101]

I reckon that about 1000 or so very roughly was (up until recently anyway) the sweet spot where you were pretty much guaranteed to get a really good quality bike. Of course there are performance returns when you pay more, but they're smaller, and for increasingly bigger sums.

I've said this before but what ticks me off in the last year is the corner cutting by the big manufacturers. Spend 1000-1200 two to four years ago and you were getting at least Tiagra, maybe 105, plus premium tyres like Schwalbe. Tourers usually came with rack, cages etc. Now you're seeing bikes for 1500 notes with a Claris drivetrain (not even Sora), cheap generic tyres, and no "extras" at all. It's rather naughty.

Yes its a right swizz, I've bought a MTB 2 years ago, Sram Eagle on it and it was £700 in the sales, its now £1200.
I've got a steel bike which was a 1K in 2013 its now £1500 without rack etc.
And I've got the Triban RC 520 which was £729 and its now £849.( That's the spare really). Its Brexit, the cost of containers has risen massively and supply issues due to the pandemic.

 

[davidphilips]

>>but my own test for a really great bike is cycle on it

I take it you weren't allowed to test ride this "donard" ?(must admit they mean nothing to me in my ignorance)

Lol, Guy that owns it is taller than me plus his pedals are look and i use SPDs plus i own 2 stainless volare bikes (both built up buying used frames for a lot less than half the price of 1 Donard frameset) so not really interested in trying it. Donard seem a great bike they are made only a few miles from my home perhaps thats why theres quite a few on club runs etc?

Heres a picture taken during a stop on a club run 3 club members with stainless Donard bikes. Great bikes and should out live the owner by many life times.

Forgot to say, dont even look for a used Donard on Ebay etc as they are as rare as freshly laid Dinosaur eggs.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

A cyclist moan about the cost of things thread and how you could get a complete bike with dura ace for £5 just a few months ago 😁

 

[Cathryn]

I never buy cycling magazines but Mrs D got me a copy 'Cyclist' for my birthday. The monthly product review consisted of a £10k bike, £3.5k wheel set, £300 shoes, £200 shorts.
I can see how easily someone new to cycling could get the impression that's the type of money you need to spend.

I got the women's copy of Rouleur, which was fantastic...but I was appalled at how expensive the stuff they were reviewing was. Bonkers.

 

[mickle]

Years ago I worked for a very small bike distributor in the Scottish borders. We imported a few examples of a really light full sus XC mountain bike with URT rear end, I think it was the first hydroformed bike frame in the UK. I arranged to have it reviewed by the then technical editor of a certain Cycling Pus magazine. I threw a full XT group-set on it. Assembled it from the boxes myself, did a full pro job of setting it up and I delivered it personally. They used to make a big song and dance about taking the bikes apart to weigh them. So they took it apart to weigh it. Put it back together wrong and then completely slagged it off in the article because it didn't work properly. Even the pictures of it were so bad that you couldn't have recognised the bike from the pics. And that was that. We cancelled our order from the Taiwanese factory, lost our deposit.

farking 'experts'. He had REALLY terrible BO as well.

 

[Dave Davenport]

We have so many of these threads ... Bellyaching about the existence of expensive bikes

My take on the thread is that the complaint is more along the lines of the cycling press etc. giving the impression that everyday leisure cyclists need to spend thousands on a bike and kit rather than the existence of it.

 

[Oldhippy]

Essentially a cycle is a cycle. As with most things these days they invent things that mostly don't need inventing for stuff that did it's job perfectly well beforehand. People old and young have cycled the world on shoppers, unicycle, 50 quid bikes and mega expensive tourers. The experts job is to get you to buy stuff. I buy stuff I consider value for money and does what it says on the box. I wouldn't consider spending 100 quid plus on a waterproof jacket for example when I can get one from army surplus for a tenner that will last years. I will spend 80 quid on two tyres as they will last years but no cheap stuff that I know I will destroy in months.

 

[Blue Hills]

My take on the thread is that the complaint is more along the lines of the cycling press etc. giving the impression that everyday leisure cyclists need to spend thousands on a bike and kit rather than the existence of it.

yep - and of course there is the major split between serious racing/time trialling and other cycling - almost anything goes in the former - the rest of us have a far simpler life unless we are determined to be seduced.
there are of course amateur experts - i know someone who fancied getting into touring - a club mate went on and on at him and persuaded him to get a lightweight mercian racer. Beautiful bike but beyond inappropriate for the planned use. In fact bloody useless. The amateur expert had clearly just been following his own ego. This clubmate is now considered a complete twat (actual words I think) by the owner of this beauty. He ended up adapting a Halfords subway I think.

 

[Blue Hills]

Essentially a cycle is a cycle.

a crude statement but a lot of truth in it.
In short for all but specialist needs I think you just need a decent frame in appropriate material with decent appropriate bits screwed to it with some grease in between. FFS even I can do that. (the screwing in and greasing)
I do sometimes wonder why car companies haven't moved into the cycle business in a neat bit of reverse history (for of course a fair few car companies started out making bikes) - the margins in the car business often seem to be terrifyingly narrow but some companies are clearly enjoying big mark-ups on bikes and bike bits.
And seem to have rather more leeway in their publicity claims.
Maybe some have in a disguised sort of way?

 

[HLaB]

A wee bit OT but similar. The giro was won the other day on Hunt 50mm wheels, ok they are still dear at £879 but compared to others what the so called experts would recommend you'd be talking £3-4k. Putting that aside for a moment, IMO compared to a £50-100 set of wheels there's a good performance gain to a £300-500 set of wheels, a little bit more in a circa £800-1k but after you go much dearer there very little gain and if the giro example is considered again there's none. Its the same with bikes spend a bit more and there is performance to be gained (I'd class £1-1.5k to be in that territory) but beyond that the gains are debateable (and perhaps even non existent).

 

[Johnno260]

If it makes you smile does it matter what anyone else thinks, my bike was RRP of £1000 yet I paid less as it was last season colours!

Sure I have made some changes but I the frame is solid and as long as the frame is solid I will keep it.

I do have my eye on a Ribble Ti, I love Ribbles and find them comfortable, but I won’t be reading any reviews if it puts a smile on my face and is comfortable I don’t care.

 

[proletaratOne]

As usual the rule applies

If your bike cost more than mine then you have All The Gear And No Idea
If your bike cost less than mine it is probably Made From Cheese
My bike, and my bike alone represents Value For Money

I feel similar when I’m driving on the highway

anyone driving slow is a grandma who should get off the road

a person passes me.... crazy maniac,danger to society

 

[proletaratOne]

This thing about entry-level bikes is a favourite topic of mine and I have to stop myself from trolling these boards....

It's ALL MARKETING. The bike brands show these bikes that cost ten or twenty thousand pounds. The bike media, not knowing what else to talk about, promote these stories of super expensive bikes. The youtube channels also need clickbait so they talk about it too. As do magazine reviewers and so on. And before you know it, that 10k bike has become the standard by which other bikes must be judged. The bike brands do not care whether they sell these "halo" bikes; alll they want to do is get htier brand being talked about and increase prices through-out the range, thus increasing the average price at which a bike is sold. Bingo! And have you ever noticed there are so many "bike brands"? Why's that then? Because it's relatively easy to make a bike frame. But there are far less groupset manufacturers right? Only Shimano/Campagnolo/SRAM; there's a high barrier to entry. Making a frame is far easier - not saying it's totally simple, but the barrier to making/selling one is easy: if you're an independent and cannot make carbon frames due to setup costs, then make a steel frame and everyone will think you are cool. Are you a big company? Great, so make carbon frames and try and convince everyone that your frame is better than the next guy's frame. If you haev a big marketing budget, then you get more brand recognition and sell more frames. Bingo!

There is a caveat though. Generrally speaking, the more expensive frames are better than the cheaper ones. I have a cheapo bike, current list price is £300. I also have a pricier bike and the difference is huge. But then there is the law of diminishing returns. Comparing a £300 bike with a £600 bike leads to large improvements in the dearer bike. Comparing £1000 bike with a £1500 bike, the differences are there but not as noticeable.

So I'm just gonna give a quick answer here which pretty much alludes to what the others have said (that you shouldn't worry about what experts think. Well, except for me of course, as I am an expert.

Today, in 2021, if you spend £800-1000 on a bike, you're doing a-ok. You'll have strong wheels, a lower end (but stronger and sturdier and longer lasting perhaps) groupset from Japan (those guys sure are a reliable bunch). Then spend £2-.300 on a few tools/clothes/shoes. Ride your bike for a few months, you may have a couple of problems, learn to fix them. Then once this covid goes away, spend the reaminder of your money on a little cycling holiday. So for your £1.5k, you get a great bike, some tools that will last years, some bike clothes to make you comfortable, and a holiday whose memory will last a lifetime.

Now then, how about "entry-level" golf clubs, hifi systems, cushions. (Ok, just joking about the cushions ).

Yeah was gonna post long diatribe... but this covers about half of it

a non cycling analogy
Some of us are old enough to remember when a cup of coffee ( yeah I’m an American... no tea) was cheap. The Starbucks and other boutique stores start selling a 9 dollar coffee. Soon cheap coffee was 2 and 3 bucks