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

[bpsmith]

The perverse thing is, the more expensive something is relative to your income, the more you value it and the more you look after it. The more you look after it, the longer it usually lasts, discounting accidents. The longer it lasts, the cheaper it becomes over the duration of ownership.

I bought my iMac in 2006. It was £1,199 then and a lot of money to me at the time. I still use it and all that has been replaced is the hard drive for an SSD drive. That was a fun task btw! I know for certain that I would have had half a dozen different PC's in that time and tweaked components on top of that. The iMac has saved me a considerable amount of money and I still love the design today.

This translates directly to bikes or any other object you desire. I think the key is to find something you really love looking at and using and then keep doing the same. As long as it doesn't leave you seriously in debt, I say go for it!

If it's a Donhou frame then so be it. If you can't understand why someone would buy one, then clearly it's not the right one for you?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

If it's a Donhou frame then so be it. If you can't understand why someone would buy one, then clearly it's not the right one for you?

Well said.

The only thing that would worry me is a five year warranty on a frame built by someone who may not be in business in five years time.

And one other thing I'd chip in with... The Signature Steel frames are only available to order. Sounds like they are standardised hand-built frames without gazzilions of custom options as per Donhou bespoke bikes. Not the average OTS frame at all then.

 

[bpsmith]

Well said.

The only thing that would worry me is a five year warranty on a frame built by someone who may not be in business in five years time.

And one other thing I'd chip in with... The Signature Steel frames are only available to order. Sounds like they are standardised hand-built frames without gazzilions of custom options as per Donhou bespoke bikes. Not the average OTS frame at all then.

I am fairly sure that Cyclist Mag tested this one earlier in the year. Maybe January? Very well reviewed too.

The warranty wouldn't worry me that much. I am sure that Donhou Bikes will be around for quite some time, even if built by somebody else eventually.

Found this snippet online:

“Its got ample spring in its step and a level of comfort that will save you winces if you encounter, as I did, the occasional pothole disguised as a puddle.”

“Over several weeks of testing, with a handful of other highly desirable, top-end carbon bikes sat by its side in the garage, I found myself repeatedly picking the Donhou for a ride.”

“Donhou has sincerely delivered on the promise of something ‘for all roads, all day’. Its a charming bike”

 

[biggs682]

Aren't they all in @biggs682 's garden shed, loft, garage?

Or is it cos every one got seduced into spending the big bucks on that new tangled plastic and alooominum stuff?

@vickster the loft only has 1 frame in at the moment and that is a late 70's or early 80's Carlton Pro am and 4 wheelsets , but the garage is full with my 2 Ian Mays , 2 x Soens , a Carlton Corsair , an Olmo , a Motobecane , Ollard single speeder , Marin mtb , Raleigh Tandem and a single speeder for son in law .... oh and an Mtb for my daughter and then the Trek town bike on the turbo .
Loft will be full again soon just waiting for next shipment from Italy

 

[GrumpyGregry]

and a Montblanc Meisterstück is just a ballpoint pen!

 

[biggs682]

@vickster according to @DonSchwann i will be selling my own brand of bike https://biggs682.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/my-dream-bike-shop/

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Why is it more "For life" than any other material? Steel frames were produced in their hundreds of millions up to the millennium yet very few seem to have survived.

Really, your going to be that pedantic? Look it up on the Reynolds website - and you'll see why it'll outlast lower quality.

 

[Citius]

Really, your going to be that pedantic? Look it up on the Reynolds website - and you'll see why it'll outlast lower quality.

853 is not a particularly special tubeset. There are several tubesets above it in the Reynolds catalogue. Like Smokin Joe says, I don't see it as being any more 'for life' than any other steel tubeset.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

853 pro and so you saying it's not more for life than pompino? Or charge plug for example....get a grip and stop being a plonker.

 

[Citius]

853 pro and so you saying it's not more for life than pompino? Or charge plug for example....get a grip and stop being a plonker.

Go on then, Einstein - you tell me why an 853 frame should be 'for life' and not a Charge Plug??

 

[Smokin Joe]

Really, your going to be that pedantic? Look it up on the Reynolds website - and you'll see why it'll outlast lower quality.

Why will it outlast carbon fibre?

 

[screenman]

I would not want it to last forever, I like changes. That said the only thing I want to last forever is my wife.

 

[Citius]

I would not want it to last forever, I like changes. That said the only thing I want to last forever is my wife.

Let's hope she's not made out of an inferior tubeset then...

 

[jowwy]

Let's hope she's not made out of an inferior tubeset then...

What do you ride citius? Steel?carbon?alloy?Ti?

And is it worth what you paid for it?

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Let's hope she's not made out of an inferior tubeset then...

You could always send her away for a respray and a new groupset