Looking around a nice shop today.

[GrumpyGregry]

Mercian with fancy fandango groupset and wheels

Or titanium...

For me Ti is for the last bike you'll ever buy

More likely an Enigma in 953 for me.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

This kind of inverted snobbery gets up my nose. Like many others on CC I expect, I work damned hard and suffer a fair amount of stress, risk to my health and even danger in my job. I'm paid well for it and all the necessary fixed expenses like feeding, clothing and sheltering my family are sorted out. My aspirations are modest, I am prudent and conservative with my money so why the hell shouldn't I reward myself by buying an expensive bike that rides like a dream and gives me a great deal of pleasure, as well as keeping me fit and slim into my sixties? It's not just the joy I derive from riding the bike, it's the pleasure of owning something that's beautifully engineered and represents the pinnacle of carbon bike design. In over 1000 miles of riding this bike I have had to do NOTHING to it apart from adjust the brakes to compensate for wear and keep it clean and lubricated.

Yeahbut are you a 'serious cyclist'?

 

[Globalti]

I've pointed this out before, but there is a sweet spot of pricing. Below this price, bikes are terrible clunkers and BSOs. Above this price they are purchased only by fools, who are easily parted from their money.

I disagree. I reckon that the cheapest you would want to pay for a reasonable bike is £200 and even at that level you'll be getting some compromises like heavy wheels. For a decent carbon road bike equipped to Ultegra level you'd need to go to £2500 although few people will ever actually pay the full list price. That gets you a nice, reliable bike with good equipment weighing about 8.5 kgs that will give years of good service and I'd be willing to bet most bikes owned by born-again cyclists are in that price area. However if you've never ridden a superbike and experienced it, it's insulting to mock those who have. Admittedly in terms of weight you get diminishing returns per pound spent but a superbike such as a Colnago C60 or a Specialized Venge or a Bianchi Specialissima will blow you away with its ride and performance and will certainly make you faster, if that's what you want.

You missed the opportunity to test-ride some expensive bikes yesterday at the York track, courtesy of Cyclist magazine.

 

[vickster]

For me Ti is for the last bike you'll ever buy

Oh I'm sure it won;t be for me...

 

[Dogtrousers]

I disagree. I reckon that the cheapest you would want to pay for a reasonable bike is £200 [...]

I wasn't being serious. I was making a sarky "joke" about people who sneer at the owners of bikes that cost more than they paid for theirs. You edited out the punchline.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I wasn't being serious. I was making a sarky "joke" about people who sneer at the owners of bikes that cost more than they paid for theirs. You edited out the punchline.

Well I got it, and I even gave you a like for it.

 

[Cuchilo]

I always thought £500 was about the price point for a good bike . Then i thought £2500 was the price point for a good bike but you would need better wheels . Then i thought ..................

 

[nickyboy]

I disagree. I reckon that the cheapest you would want to pay for a reasonable bike is £200 and even at that level you'll be getting some compromises like heavy wheels. For a decent carbon road bike equipped to Ultegra level you'd need to go to £2500 although few people will ever actually pay the full list price. That gets you a nice, reliable bike with good equipment weighing about 8.5 kgs that will give years of good service and I'd be willing to bet most bikes owned by born-again cyclists are in that price area. However if you've never ridden a superbike and experienced it, it's insulting to mock those who have. Admittedly in terms of weight you get diminishing returns per pound spent but a superbike such as a Colnago C60 or a Specialized Venge or a Bianchi Specialissima will blow you away with its ride and performance and will certainly make you faster, if that's what you want.

You missed the opportunity to test-ride some expensive bikes yesterday at the York track, courtesy of Cyclist magazine.

Maybe you and I cycle in different circles but most of the bikes I see being ridden by middle-aged, lycra-clad, born again cyclists (ie like me) are most definitely not £2,500 list. Here in the Peak District (where bike weight matters and most cyclists are "serious" cyclists) the bikes I see tend to me in the £500-£1500 price range

 

[Salar]

I'm quite happy plodding along on my low to mid range bikes, mostly rebuilt steel frame retro bikes and a couple of newer bikes.

The good thing with these bikes is nobody takes much notice of you as you don't look like a serious cyclist,they don't expect to see you riding at 20mph and with me they won't.

A few nicks,a couple of scratches, a bit of rust you can't get rid of, so what, that's patina.

Just somebody on an old bike. Joe Public doesn't know you've spent hours getting that old bike back on the road.

I can go slow,take my time, get off, walk up the hills (quite a lot), nothing to prove.

I could I suppose afford more expensive bikes if I wanted to and I've nothing against people who spend thousands on bikes.
It's there money, don't knock them and if they enjoy it, so be it.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The existence of expensive bikes is also a regular talking point with non cyclists. "You ride a bike do you? Was it expensive? Have you got one of those expensive ones? Bloke at my work paid three grand for his bike! Three grand! For a bike!"

I dont mention that my relatively modest bike cost nearly two grand, and I've spent more than that again on bits and bobs.

 

[FishFright]

I have expensive bikes and inexpensive bikes and two trikes. I love riding them all and don't care what some **** on the internet thinks when they race me without telling me or judges me by making up an imaginary numbers when looking at I'm riding. I'm a serious and frivolous rider of whatever takes my fancy so screw you Daily Fail reading numbnuts !!

Rate my rant, does it need more swearing ?

 

[biggs682]

An expensive bike is £200 to me not because thats all i can afford but because i doubt very much any more would make my cycling any more enjoyable

 

[Nigeyy]

Everything is relative. For example, I work in software and when I told someone once how much I paid for a pc, they couldn't believe it. However, and here's the kicker, they didn't think twice about buying a brand new car, whereas I'm a used car kind of person, and will spend as little as possible on a car. Given their total cost of their car and computer versus mine, they'd spent thousands more. But... I certainly don't begrudge them if that's the way they want to spend their money.

The other thing in the equation for me is the level you are at. Clearly a professional cyclist who makes their money cycling isn't going to buy a bike that is 50 quid for good reason. But then again, even if you aren't a professional cyclist, who cares? If you have the money, why shouldn't you spend it on something you want? If you have the money why wouldn't you want the best if that's what you want?

And on the flip side, for me, an overweight middle aged man, I also know that spending more money on a bike than I currently do (which admittedly is still more than the average non-cyclist does and they wouldn't probably comprehend it as they sit in their new cars) is a waste of money for me as I'd not enjoy it any better, nor would I have any "performance" increases that would make it worth while as I don't race and don't mind if it takes me longer to complete a course.

You pays your money, you takes your choice. Nothing wrong in that.

 

[Dogtrousers]

An expensive bike is £200 to me not because thats all i can afford but because i doubt very much any more would make my cycling any more enjoyable

Yeah but a new bike to you is 25 years old.

 

[biggs682]

Yeah but a new bike to you is 25 years old.

too true , although at present there are more in the garage with sti's than tube shifters