Quoted Off topic post deleted by Mod
There is a great deal that is comparable in the way bicycles and cars are marketed today. This was not so 25 or 30 years ago.
I noticed a small change when the MTB boom happened. Some 'consumers' were getting more obsessed than they might have been with the latest Kona, Marin or GF frames. It all got a little 'branded'. The gradual introduction of fancier parts and the impact of those on the residuals (and desirability) of the old stuff also offers some comparison with the motor industry.
Now (last 8-10 years maybe) some very clear comparisons have developed.
Look at bicycle and equipment ads in the posher cycling magazines. Look at the frequent mention in the trade, in the press and by riders themselves of the model year. Where did that come from? The car industry. "I love my '65 Chevy".
Listen to leisure riders stopping on a longer run... "I'm gonna get a new this" "I'm loving this year's Cubes" "Time to replace my wheels with something lighter". Not racers, not even fast club riders, just people who enjoy spending their hard-earned on something that makes them smile and have been sucked up into a consumer vortex in the same way that they were when they thought a Golf GT would get them to granny's house faster than the GL.... And on a 61 plate.
The auto and bicycle markets have a great deal in common. Brands, brand identities and brand values are being developed, paid for and evolved in much the way VW tries to convince us that a SEAT, a VW, and Audi and a Skoda are entirely different machines.
Look at the way ranges are huge and the price increment to the 'next one up' seems tiny.. But once you've made the jump the next increment seems tiny too. Pure 1970s Ford.
My fixie would be a 1971 Austin 1300 GT or a BMW 2002tii. Better than it looks, faster than it looks and just fun to be around.
My geared road bike would be a 2006 Alfa 166. Not very pretty and nobody knows what it is, but it's Italian and it does what it does very well.
My Pace hardtail MTB would be a Lada Niva. Nobody who has driven a Niva off-road says bad things about it.
Most of the big brands today (Specialized, Trek, Pinarello, Felt etc) would be arms of VW or FIAT. Whatever the perceived quality, they are just production numbers being pumpd out to fulfill a turnover and income requirement. I have two Treks and a Pinarello, but that doesn't stop it being so.
As ever, I am right and everyone who disagrees with me is wrong.
and start to just be at the races helping the sport along. All the upside, no suffering (well, maybe a bit when I hit the hills nowadays).
