Insanely expensive bikes

[ColinJ]

This being a cycling forum I think we can assume that everyone has a bike.

I think there are certainly a few who don't!

So no one here needs to buy a bike.

And some of ones who do have a bike, don't ride it, so they definitely don't need one!

 

[alex_cycles]

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"

I do giggle (to myself) at the fat middle-aged club members who want to shave a few seconds off their rather mediocre 10-mile TT time by buying a £3k bike and disc wheel instead of working hard to get fitter and faster. To me, it's not worth it for the 5-10 times a year it'd be used.
To them it is. It's all good if they have the spare money.

For me it's about value for money. No matter how much money I had, I wouldn't buy a new super-bike unless there was a specific reason it would benefit me (and not just "because I like it and I want it").

 

[Rusty Nails]

I love people buying insanely expensive bikes with all the latest technology.

It makes it so much more enjoyable when I overtake them on my old, heavy, 3-speed steel bike, fully loaded with shopping, while smoking a Woodbine.
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In my dreams.

 

[Oldhippy]

As above I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would spend that kind of money that you can only race about on when you could get proper multi function bikes for a lot lot less money. But why buy a Ferrari or any other bling stuff. Don't get it at all but it pleases some.

 

[Gunk]

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!

Me too, about £1000 is the most I’ll spend. But I’ve managed to buy some pretty special used bikes within that budget.

 

[Smokin Joe]

As above I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would spend that kind of money that you can only race about on when you could get proper multi function bikes for a lot lot less money.

Because not everyone is interested in riding "A proper multi function bike".

A great many cyclists ride either for competition or for long distance leisure challenges and never commute or shop on the bike. A hi-tech machine is entirely appropriate (Though not essential) in those cases, and if someone can afford it why not?

This "More money than sense" stuff only ever crops up on cycling forums. Spend ten grand on a Hi-Fi and it's "Wow, I bet that sounds great" even if the owner is half deaf and has nothing more than a pile of James Last records.

 

[tyred]

I love people buying insanely expensive bikes with all the latest technology.

It makes it so much more enjoyable when I overtake them on my old, heavy, 3-speed steel bike, fully loaded with shopping, while smoking a Woodbine.
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.
.
.
.
In my dreams.

Stub out that Woodbine. No performance enhancing drugs allowed. It is cheating.

 

[simongt]

Spend ten grand on a Hi-Fi and it's "Wow, I bet that sounds great"

Precisley the point. If someone spends a lot of money on something that brings them a lot of pleasure; be it a bike, guitar, sound system, car, construction kit, then what the hell - ? Everyone has their own parameters with money.

 

[ColinJ]

This "More money than sense" stuff only ever crops up on cycling forums. Spend ten grand on a Hi-Fi and it's "Wow, I bet that sounds great"...

Actually...

A friend invited me round to listen to his then recently upgraded hifi system which probably cost about ten grand. He told me to listen carefully...

He played a CD through the stereo system. It sounded absolutely fantastic. I congratulated him on the setup. No, no, no - that was through the crappy old speaker cables which 'only' cost £50/pair.

He pulled the amp out and replaced the cheapskate cables with his new aficionado ones, costing... £500/pair!!!!!!!!!

He played a CD through the stereo system. It sounded absolutely (identically!) fantastic. I congratulated him on the setup.

I backed slowly towards the door with a fixed smile on my face as he raved about how much 'air' the cables gave to the sound, and how his ears were finally freed from the distortions introduced by 'oxygen-contaminated' copper...

I'm sure that the system would have sounded equally good with £5 speaker cables and several thousand pounds saved on other parts here and there. Similar to buying a £5k bike instead of a £10k bike...

 

[Dogtrousers]

When I was a student 40 or so years ago I shared a room with a guy with a serious hi fi. I wasn't allowed to touch it.

For some reason he thought it was in some way "better" than my Binatone cassette player. Fool.

(We're still friends to this day. But I have a lifelong aversion to Frank Zappa)

 

[Milzy]

7 grand on a bike is hardly insanely expensive.
I mean it's way above the average but I'm sure most pro riders bikes are more than that.

I saw one of the Ineos bikes out the other week. It makes a hell of a flash winter bike.

A few club members ride dogma F12’s with super record on in the winter. They’re nuts.

 

[roadrash]

what people spend on bikes or anything else for that matter is no ones business but their own, they do not need to justify it to anyone else, i dont understand the need for criticism of someones spending habits as it doesnt affect me in any way.
having said that .....i hear that @SkipdiverJohn is in resus having read the thread.

 

[fossyant]

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.


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.

It's not, unfortunately. You'll get the extra gears and new STI etc, but the bearings, jockeys and finish aren't a patch on even the old 7400 series.

Even taking an early 90's 8 speed rear XT mech vs a newer 10 speed - the 10 speed is lighter, but it's not as tough.

 

[Reynard]

Having sat back and thought about it, it's more about having the right tool for the job, and since no two cyclists are the same...

My bikes do what I want them to do, and I'm happy with that. I enjoy riding them and tinkering with them and I don't see the need to have anything more spendy at the moment. In the future, who knows...

Mind, as a former pro snappy, my camera gear is the best. The amount of money I've sunk into gear (film & digital) might have some people on here crying into their beers. Having said that, my favourite lens is actually my 50mm 1.8, which is the cheapest lens that Canon produce. But because it is so simple from an optical perspective, it's right up there with my L-glass on image quality.

I did once borrow a Canon 300 2.8 plus converters from a colleague with a view to buying, but I didn't bite in the end. While it is an absolutely stonking piece of kit - with a price tag to match, it was just too big and heavy for me to use comfortably on a regular basis, especially when there's a lot of legwork involved and you're already carrying a mountain of other kit. In the end, I bought the Sigma version (used), which is smaller and lighter, albeit not as good. But it was a compromise I was willing to make.

The same applies to bikes, I think.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

.....i hear that @SkipdiverJohn is in resus having read the thread.

No, I'm just chuckling to myself at the knowledge the most I have ever spent in real terms on any bike, new or used, is about £250 in today's money.
That said, it's not like I don't have some half decent quality bikes that would be north of £1k a pop today. I just didn't buy them new and didn't pay much for them.
Nothing wrong with quality gear, so long as it's value for money quality gear. Mugging yourself off though, paying through the nose just so you can show off with a certain brand name, is asking for ridicule and when it comes it's well deserved.