Insanely expensive bikes

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alex_cycles

alex_cycles

Veteran
Location
Oxfordshire
PaulSB said:
I'm already feeling very hurt!! :laugh:

My Cervelo is simply a beautiful machine which helps me get more out of cycling. Pleasure, pure unadulterated pleasure........plus I never ride to Tesco.
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No. It's a bog-brush, albeit a very NICE bog-brush :laugh:
 
Twilkes

Twilkes

Guru
I can understand how people think bikes are expensive (I used to think a £300 hybrid was mid-range...) but a thousand pounds is about my personal sweet spot.

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But that gets me a bike that is easily good enough for what I need it for, and doesn't leave me feeling too guilty if it gets dirty and gritted up in the winter. Still feels a bit raw paying thirty quid for a cassette and twenty for a chain. If you have a nice bike I sincerely hope you look after it!
 
Dogtrousers

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
I dread to think how much my bike has cost me since I bought it 9 years ago. It still has the original frame, forks, seatpost and mudguards.
 
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mustang1

mustang1

Legendary Member
Location
London, UK
I am viciously against expensive bikes but the companies will keep selling them if people keep buying them.

The companies are seeing that ore people are getting vocal about expensive bike prices so they pay YouTube influencers to advertise to us with videos titled "are bikes really that expensive?" (Yes they blxxdy well are).

They come out with excuses such as bike tech (what friggin tech, hydraulic disks, aero tubes, chain that is narrow wide on alternatelive links? Having a laugh!). It is these "reasons" that I really object to. Then again, they can't say "we charge that amount because we can".

BUT I've come to accept the high prices. I don't blame the companies for the high prices because the market bares it. And there is the trickle down technology so I usually buy at the low end of the spectrum.
 
Twilkes

Twilkes

Guru
I believe there's a UCI rule that says any bikes/tech used in racing also must be available to the public via retail, which is a bit like Arnold Clark selling F1 racing cars. And the R&D that goes into high end bikes needs to be recouped so the prices will be high. There's enough competition in the bike market that I don't think a company would get away with selling a bike for £7k if their competitors same-spec bikes sold for £5k.
 
A

Alex321

Veteran
Location
South Wales
mustang1 said:
I am viciously against expensive bikes but the companies will keep selling them if people keep buying them.

The companies are seeing that ore people are getting vocal about expensive bike prices so they pay YouTube influencers to advertise to us with videos titled "are bikes really that expensive?" (Yes they blxxdy well are).

They come out with excuses such as bike tech (what friggin tech, hydraulic disks, aero tubes, chain that is narrow wide on alternatelive links? Having a laugh!). It is these "reasons" that I really object to. Then again, they can't say "we charge that amount because we can".
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You've clearly never worked on the development of such tech. It is very expensive to develop, and the development cost has to be amortised reasonably quickly to be worthwhile.

I've only watched one of those videos (produced by GCN) and while they explained why a bike could cost £10,000, they were also at pains to point out that for most cyclists, the benefits of a £10K bike over a £3K bike would be marginal at best, and unlikely to be worth it.
:blink:
mustang1 said:
BUT I've come to accept the high prices. I don't blame the companies for the high prices because the market bares it. And there is the trickle down technology so I usually buy at the low end of the spectrum.
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This is, of course, the important factor for most of us. The 105 groupset on my current road bike is as good or even better than the Dura-Ace groupset from 10 years ago.

I would be surpised if we don't see Di2 for 105 within the next 18 months or so, now that there are no mechanical versions of the latest Ultegra or Dura-Ace.
 
PaulSB

PaulSB

Legendary Member
Location
Chorley, Lancashire
One thing I find interesting about this subject, and it's one which pops up in other discussions, is the vitriol which gets aimed at high end bikes. When I think about cycling overall I recognise there are people who ride bikes for many different reasons; for transport, commuting, leisure, touring, gravel, MTB, hobby, racing and much more. I also know there are people who love to tinker, repair, build, restore bikes, etc. There are folk like me who ride for love, enjoyment, pleasure and use an LBS for everything. All seems good to me. Different folks. Different strokes.

Everyone I ride with does it for no reason other than relaxation, exercise, leisure. I've never heard anyone discuss the cost of their bike but I know many, many people who are interested in and compliment others on their purchase. I get a nice feeling when someone compliments my bike. I truly don't understand why those of us who choose to spend our cash in a particular way are viewed with apparent disdain for the choices we make. Almost dismissed as fools.

@bonzobanana can I suggest you try riding a Cervelo? I've ridden one for five years and it's never missed a beat and would argue my real life experience is every bit as valid as a Youtube presenter. No, I'm not feeling precious just a little baffled by some of the views expressed. I don't know much about Hambini other than people trot him out every now and again to prove how poor high end bikes are. Personally I take face to face advice from the LBS which clearly has ripped me off for 20+ years.
 
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Reynard

Reynard

Guru
Location
Cambridgeshire, UK
PaulSB said:
Everyone I ride with does it for no reason other than relaxation, exercise, leisure. I've never heard anyone discuss the cost of their bike but I know many, many people who are interested in and compliment others on their purchase. I get a nice feeling when someone compliments my bike. I truly don't understand why those of us who choose to spend our cash in a particular way are viewed with apparent disdain for the choices we make. Almost dismissed as fools.
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Mmmm, well compliments can come from all sorts of people and about all sorts of bikes.

My Wiggins roadie and hybrid always turn heads - people find it unusual to see "fully fledged bikes" in such small sizes. And my Raleigh Max build project does likewise - I get the "wow, did you build that" from MTB riders on the gravel trails out here.

And none of them are what people would call expensive in terms of bikes. So it's not just price, or aesthetics. It's about riding something which is unexpected. Well, in my experience, anyways...
 
A

alchurch

Active Member
I saw this lovely ex demo frame going cheap. It had a metallic finish and changes colour depending on which way the light bounces off it .It was a specialised tarmac but the frame was designed for di2.I reasoned that it would probably be my last change to try di2 as my cycling aspirations dropped with age, and so I went for it . I went expensive on the BB because I have had trouble with creaky specialised ones in the past, and so the bike ended up a once in a lifetime super bike (to me) purchase. Any other bike I buy will likely be strong reliable and steady rather than frisky and racy, but no regrets
 
Dogtrousers

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
PaulSB said:
One thing I find interesting about this subject, and it's one which pops up in other discussions, is the vitriol which gets aimed at high end bikes.
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Indeed, it's a recurrent theme on here. "How dare things that I can't afford exist! It's wrong!" Regardless of whether or not something that the offended one actually wants. "That TT bike costs £5k! It's outrageous!" "Do you want a TT bike?" "No, but it's the principle of the thing"

This being a cycling forum I think we can assume that everyone has a bike. So no one here needs to buy a bike. So no one really should care about how much bikes cost. And there's always Halfords and Decathlon if you want a reasonably priced bike.

I last bought a bike nearly 10 years ago. I doubt I'll buy another one for another 10 years, if ever (unless it gets nicked or the frame breaks). Wheels - yes. Drivetrains - yes. Chains, tyres, cables, brake blocks - definitely. Handlebars - maybe, that's crash dependent. Pedals - yes. A whole bike ... probably not.

Does the existence of super expensive bikes, or indeed cars, shoes, watches, hi-fis, cameras etc. bother me? Not a jot.
 
iluvmybike

iluvmybike

Über Member
Dogtrousers said:
Indeed, it's a recurrent theme on here. "How dare things that I can't afford exist! It's wrong!" Regardless of whether or not something that the offended one actually wants. "That TT bike costs £5k! It's outrageous!" "Do you want a TT bike?" "No, but it's the principle of the thing"

This being a cycling forum I think we can assume that everyone has a bike. So no one here needs to buy a bike. So no one really should care about how much bikes cost. And there's always Halfords and Decathlon if you want a reasonably priced bike.

I last bought a bik e nearly 10 years ago. I doubt I'll buy another one for another 10 years, if ever (unless it gets nicked or the frame breaks). Wheels - yes. Drivetrains - yes. Chains, tyres, cables, brake blocks - definitely. Handlebars - maybe, that's crash dependent. Pedals - yes. A whole bike ... probably not.

Does the existence of super expensive bikes, or indeed cars, shoes, watches, hi-fis, cameras etc. bother me? Not a jot.
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Have to agree with you there. It seems to be a form of inverse snobbery
 
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