I finally got accustomed to high prices

[Alex321]

A lot of bike prices are a total rip off and they have shot up in price as well.
One I bought 2 years or so ago for £700 is now £1250 for the exact same bike.

Yeah. Supply and demand.

Demand for bikes shot up during the first lockdown, as it was one form of "approved" outdoor exercise, while at the same time, supply plummeted due to issues with both manufacturing and transport caused by the pandemic.

Can't really bame the retailers, as they have the same fixed costs, but are shifting fewer bikes (because they can't get hold of them). Hopefully, demand has reached the peak, and as supply is increasing, competition should pull prices down again.

 

[mustang1]

If you were old enough to be aware of such things in the 70's and 80's, you wouldn't think prices have been shooting up recently.

Since 2000 there have only been two years when inflation has hit 3%, with quite a few years when it has been under 2%.

Yeah I recall mortgage interest rates at 15% in the 80s. I was quite young then (or just naive?) so didn't know enough.

 

[Blue Hills]

What kind of cyclist doesn't want to buy a new bike ? 😁

I have no great wish to.
Mind you I have getting on for ten.
A fair few, including several of my favourites, were bought second-hand - or even second-hand in a poor state and built up.
If I buy another bike it will be a near certainty that it will be second-hand for various reasons.

 

[Low Gear Guy]

I've come across a few respectable looking hotels that do - or for afternoon slots of 2 to 3 hours. Being a curious soul I once asked reception what these were for. I was told it was for business people having "meetings". Mind you, as recent events have reminded us, "meeting" can encompass rather a lot.

In pre covid times some of the hotels near Heathrow offered this. They were used by business people that had a meeting in the morning and a late departing flight with nowhere to go in the afternoon.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Are bikes actually expensive? I can recall that new bikes were very expensive back in the 70s/80s, but I had no money then. Someone with a bit of time on their hands could dig out some old catalogues and do some inflation adjustment calculations.

Go to Decathlon or Halfords. You can get a new bike for what seems quite reasonable to me.

 

[Brandane]

Are bikes actually expensive? I can recall that new bikes were very expensive back in the 70s/80s, but I had no money then. Someone with a bit of time on their hands could dig out some old catalogues and do some inflation adjustment calculations.

Go to Decathlon or Halfords. You can get a new bike for what seems quite reasonable to me.

You prompted me to use an online inflation calculator!
My 1976 Puch Alpine 5 speed "racer" cost £45. It was in my mind then, a good bike, but was probably the equivalent of todays basic Carrera road bike from Halfords.
£45 in 1976 is now worth £293.

 

[matticus]

You prompted me to use an online inflation calculator!
My 1976 Puch Alpine 5 speed "racer" cost £45. It was in my mind then, a good bike, but was probably the equivalent of todays basic Carrera road bike from Halfords.
£45 in 1976 is now worth £293.

Halfords mens Bikes "in stock now" start at £140. (6 speed !!! )

(Decathlon are generally cheaper/better-value, but I haven't looked today.)

 

[raleighnut]

I always wondered who the folks were who pay for hotel rooms by the hour ...

i always wanted to scrub myself clean fter sleeping in those 'hotels' I'd have sooner kipped in the back of the van.

 

[Jody]

Tyre prices for bikes are insane for what you get. MTB tyres, about £60 each. Can get a tyre for the Aygo for £40 fitted.

They're certainly a crazy price but well worth it given the performance. Even less rubber in premium road bike tyres and they're almost as expensive. But have to agree given the weight/construction and what you get.

 

[matticus]

I wasn't aware that people think HEAVIER bike components should cost more than light ones! :P

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Using https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator
£45 in 1976 was worth £121 in 1988 and I paid around £250 for a Raleigh Record Sprint at that time, that £250 is now £685.

The Record Sprint was 501 and lots of alloy components so double a Puch Alpine seems about right.

Currently a Specialized Allez with Claris is £799 or £100 more than a Record Sprint.

The Record Sprint would have had a made in the UK frame with some other parts from similar high cost countries and some from lower cost countries. Isn't the Allez entirely built in locations where costs are carefully monitored?

In terms of spec, the Allez is aluminium alloy quite intensively shaped compared to a "commodity premium" steel tube hand welded, I am pretty sure that my Record Sprint was hand made in Britain,,,,, it broke after a few thousand miles. The rest of the components seem similar excluding STI/down tube shifters, but the price difference when new is a lot less than as retail packaged spare parts.

The Decathlon\Halford Carrera range do seem to have some parts that I would put as slightly lower spec than the Record Sprint but many now have disc brakes, plus of the course a discount for not being a premium bike brand.

A Carrera Vanquish at around £450 has mechanical discs and Alloy frame with CF forks, are these improvement or just changes and weighs about 3lbs less than the Record Sprint, on the other hand a lot of the minor parts do seem to be lower spec.

So it seems that prices don't seem to have changed that much if you try and compare like to like spec wise, as far as that is possible.

Bye

Ian

 

[cougie uk]

They're certainly a crazy price but well worth it given the performance. Even less rubber in premium road bike tyres and they're almost as expensive. But have to agree given the weight/construction and what you get.

Bike tyres are far superior to the 80s when I first started. Far fewer p*nctures.

 

[Brandane]

Tyre prices for bikes are insane for what you get. MTB tyres, about £60 each. Can get a tyre for the Aygo for £40 fitted.

That makes motorbike tyres seem like a bargain. The last rear tyre I bought for my (motor)bike cost £140, not including fitting. Will be lucky to get 4000 miles out of it, puncture fairy permitting.
Considering they are a fairly critical component on a motorbike, I tend to go for the better quality tyres. Currently running on Michelin Road Pilot 4...

 

[Brandane]

Good morning,

Using https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator
£45 in 1976 was worth £121 in 1988 and I paid around £250 for a Raleigh Record Sprint at that time, that £250 is now £685.

The Record Sprint was 501 and lots of alloy components so double a Puch Alpine seems about right.

Currently a Specialized Allez with Claris is £799 or £100 more than a Record Sprint.

The Record Sprint would have had a made in the UK frame with some other parts from similar high cost countries and some from lower cost countries. Isn't the Allez entirely built in locations where costs are carefully monitored?

In terms of spec, the Allez is aluminium alloy quite intensively shaped compared to a "commodity premium" steel tube hand welded, I am pretty sure that my Record Sprint was hand made in Britain,,,,, it broke after a few thousand miles. The rest of the components seem similar excluding STI/down tube shifters, but the price difference when new is a lot less than as retail packaged spare parts.

The Decathlon\Halford Carrera range do seem to have some parts that I would put as slightly lower spec than the Record Sprint but many now have disc brakes, plus of the course a discount for not being a premium bike brand.

A Carrera Vanquish at around £450 has mechanical discs and Alloy frame with CF forks, are these improvement or just changes and weighs about 3lbs less than the Record Sprint, on the other hand a lot of the minor parts do seem to be lower spec.

So it seems that prices don't seem to have changed that much if you try and compare like to like spec wise, as far as that is possible.

Bye

Ian

Good morning.

Nice to see that your trademark greeting and sign off are back after yesterday's sloppiness, Ian.

Bye.

Brandane.

 

[Alex321]

Tyre prices for bikes are insane for what you get. MTB tyres, about £60 each. Can get a tyre for the Aygo for £40 fitted.

The £60 MTB tyre is a high range tyre (not the most expensive, but far from the cheapest). The £40 Aygo tyre is a low range tyre.