How can Donhou charge £2300 for an off the shelf 853 frame?

[Citius]

They can charge whatever they think the market will support.

Indeed, they can charge whatever they think people will pay. Rapha and Donhou are both tapping firmly into the London 'fakenger' market.

 

[Eurostar]

So if everyone else scraping a living as you put it, shouldn't they charging more?

I'm sure they'd love to, but most cycling consumers are very price conscious. Donhou is aiming for the ones who aren't. And he's good at modern marketing methods. The others are in the dark ages.

 

[outlash]

I think you may have that slightly wrong, most cyclists buy the best they can afford. And if that means they can afford Donhou and the like then I'm not going to thumb my nose at them.
I'm sure 90% of the non-cycling population would think spending more than £300 on a bike is crazy, and having more than one!

Tony.

 

[Drago]

Not sure what you mean. What else would it be made from and why would that be relevant? Dave Yates charges half that price for an 853 frame.

your wording specifically stated that was a daft amount for a steel frame. The mention of one particular material suggested you might have views about other frame materials, but that's by the by.

Dave Yates could make his out not depleted uranium, but that matters not if this frame should a better one.

Ultimately, unless you've ridden one you're.in no position to make an authoritative judgement about its true value. It could be a joy, a beautifully made and finished item with buttery smooth riding characteristics and worth every penny, or a dog not worth a tenner. Until you've cocked a leg over it you have no means of judging its worth.

People would happily £3k on an older used ,drive it for 3 or 4 years until it expires of old age and claim it to be excellent value, yet you think a quality bicycle with a potential 50+ year life span is somehow unjustifiable? What a strange perspective.

 

[Citius]

I think you may have that slightly wrong, most cyclists buy the best they can afford. And if that means they can afford Donhou and the like then I'm not going to thumb my nose at them.

Buying the 'best' and buying the 'most expensive' are not necessarily the same thing.

 

[Drago]

Exactly! And because you've not ridden it you don't know if it up there with the best or not. You're speculating.

 

[Citius]

your wording specifically stated that was a daft amount for a steel frame. The mention of one particular material suggested you might have views about other frame materials, but that's by the by.

It is a daft amount for an OTS 853 frame. I think that's all I said.

Dave Yates could make his out not depleted uranium, but that matters not if this frame should a better one.

Ultimately, unless you've ridden one you're.in no position to make an authoritative judgement about its true value. It could be a joy, a beautifully made and finished item with buttery smooth riding characteristics and worth every penny, or a dog not worth a tenner. Until you've cocked a leg over it you have no means of judging its worth.

Ride quality is a combination of many things. From the frame's perspective, that usually means geometry, wall thickness and tube profile. If these are OTS frames, then I'm guessing they are not custom-drawn tubesets. I doubt if the ride will be anything particularly magical. Although for a customer who just spent £2.5k on an 853 frame, there will be a certain amount of placebo effect and post-purchase justification going on, I'm sure.

 

[Eurostar]

your wording specifically stated that was a daft amount for a steel frame. The mention of one particular material suggested you might have views about other frame materials, but that's by the by.

Dave Yates could make his out not depleted uranium, but that matters not if this frame should a better one.

Ultimately, unless you've ridden one you're.in no position to make an authoritative judgement about its true value. It could be a joy, a beautifully made and finished item with buttery smooth riding characteristics and worth every penny, or a dog not worth a tenner. Until you've cocked a leg over it you have no means of judging its worth.

I did the Dave Yates frame building course and I have to tell you that there's far less mystique about frame building than you imagine. All 853 Pro frames use the same tubes. Braze-ons and lugs and fillets are all bought in from the same manufacturers, all listed in the Ceeway catalogue http://www.framebuilding.com/. Frame geometry doesn't vary much. In Donhou's case he's using a bought in mass produced fork, so he's hardly bothering to provide distinctive feel/handling. So I can tell you for certain that his frames will ride like comparable ones from other builders. To give one of these frames a distinctive wow factor the important thing is to spend on fabulous wheels. And if you buy a frame from the old school British framebuilders you'll have an extra grand in your wheel budget.

As for the finish, if you look at his site you can see he hasn't tried for anything special - the lugs and joints are bog standard. If people love the paint job and they perceive it to be a mark of quality and worth £1000....they've been suckered.

 

[screenman]

Nobody's stopping them spending their money. £2.3k for a steel frame is still a mug's game though.

That is your opinion.

 

[screenman]

Buying the 'best' and buying the 'most expensive' are not necessarily the same thing.

My problem is that you see somebody who does not do as you do as a mug, or worse.

 

[screenman]

I don't have that sort of disposable income so maybe I'd feel different if I did. I just know I'll end up dropping any bike at some point no matter how careful I am. I'd be gutted scuffing up my entry-level Felt. I'd be so mortified I'd go into permanent shock if I scuffed up a £4,000 bike!

So you scuff it and then have it repaired, it is only a bike.

 

[outlash]

Buying the 'best' and buying the 'most expensive' are not necessarily the same thing.

And that's in the eye of the purchaser, 'best' is subjective. My brother in law spent more on his CF framed Wilier, and he'll swear blind it's better than my alu-framed Cannondale (mine's lighter too ).
FWIW, I wouldn't buy the Donhou frameset either because I could buy a Ti frame for the sort of money the Donhou frame is going for, and if I had the money I probably would but in the mean time I'll set my sights considerably lower and look at frames/bikes I can reasonably afford.

Tony

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

I'd sooner spend 2k on a beautiful steel frame than an ugly carbon one.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Just by doing the sums on components and framework, I am sure the paintwork cannot come up to that price. No idea how the ride will be but the are enough of this types of bikes to make a reasonable assumption. And I am sure the paintwork does not affect the ride.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Though to be honest I'd sooner go for one of these...
http://www.wheelbase.co.uk/colnago-master-x-light-pr82-frameset-2014.html

NB note the similar price bracket