Pro bikes.

[postman]

I have spent this week watching some tours on telly.My question is our bikes last us years,how many times does a pro ride their bikes before they change,and what happens to the discarded bikes,these things cost a fortune.

 

[postman]

It's ok i have found out,sold off in auctions.i never knew that.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

I have spent this week watching some tours on telly.My question is our bikes last us years,how many times does a pro ride their bikes before they change,and what happens to the discarded bikes,these things cost a fortune.

There was an interview with a pro rider in one of the mags about ten years back and he was praising his CF bike which was on it's second year. If you are one of the handful of elite riders you can have pretty much what you want when you want it, but all teams have budgets which have to be divided up into wages, equipment, vehicles, ancillary staff, travelling and hotel costs etc. They cannot afford to junk stuff that is not worn out, broken or outdated at the drop of a hat.

 

[DogmaStu]

Yep, in the case of the World Tour riders, their bikes are typically sold at the end of the season. They get new kit every year from their Sponsors, to test and to display for marketing.

The Continental Pro's will run bikes and kit for more than a season.

They also do wear their kit out a lot quicker than the average cyclist too, a Pro friend of mine does circa 40 000km per year on average.

 

[Dogtrousers]

You do sometimes see them on the second hand market. They seem to be appropriately expensive as you would expect. I mean, they might be cheap for all I know, but they still cost a lot of money - if you see what I mean.

 

[Big John]

One of the lads from the club I was with at the time bought an ex pro bike from our local, well respected, Shimano-focused bike shop. The owner said he went to trade auctions where it was possible to buy ex pro team bikes. Surprisingly the bike he bought for our lad was Campag equipped even though the shop owner wouldn't touch your bike if it was Campag. It was a work of art - beautiful. Cost our lad £3.5k (and this was some years ago) but no idea how much the shop owner paid at auction.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

Bloke I used to work with was a very frequent visitor to Manchester Velodrome when Team Sky were based there. He saw many of the team bikes being offered for sale. His thoughts, on seeing them, was that the frames had had a hard life and much of the very high end components had been replaced by lower cost items. They were a hard ‘pass’ for him.

 

[DogmaStu]

Want Wout van Aerts old bike?

https://bike-room.com/product/cerve...t-2-size-58-shimano-dura-ace-r9270-di2-2x12s/

 

[boydj]

I have spent this week watching some tours on telly.My question is our bikes last us years,how many times does a pro ride their bikes before they change,and what happens to the discarded bikes,these things cost a fortune.

The pro bikes are worth a fortune because of the equipment that's on them - top of the range components and wheels that cost thousands.

The heart of the bike, though is the frame. My good bike has a professional level frame - complete with UCI sticker. It's a Focus Cayo which I bought a good few years ago for £999 - it came equipped with Shimano 105 and crappy wheels, but the frame was the same frame used by the Focus factory team and sold by Focus on all the bikes in their Cayo range at the time - from base model to top of the range. It's still going strong after close to 20 years and thousands of miles, with multiple rebuilds and is now running Campag Chorus of similar vintage to the frame, with Campag wheels.

So it was possible to get close to professional level - maybe apart from the wheels - without spending a fortune and the frames will probably last even a professional life until they're crashed or damaged in some other way.

 

[ColinJ]

The pro bikes are worth a fortune because of the equipment that's on them - top of the range components and wheels that cost thousands.

The heart of the bike, though is the frame. My good bike has a professional level frame - complete with UCI sticker. It's a Focus Cayo which I bought a good few years ago for £999 - it came equipped with Shimano 105 and crappy wheels, but the frame was the same frame used by the Focus factory team and sold by Focus on all the bikes in their Cayo range at the time - from base model to top of the range. It's still going strong after close to 20 years and thousands of miles, with multiple rebuilds and is now running Campag Chorus of similar vintage to the frame, with Campag wheels.

So it was possible to get close to professional level - maybe apart from the wheels - without spending a fortune and the frames will probably last even a professional life until they're crashed or damaged in some other way.

The CAAD5 in my avatar picture is also still going strong after 20+ years. It was a top bike at the time, also equipped with Campag Chorus, rebadged from the previous year's Record. I think I spent about £2,000 on it at the time. I'd be surprised if it would sell for even £350 now?

 

[ColinJ]

The CAAD5 in my avatar picture is also still going strong after 20+ years. It was a top bike at the time, also equipped with Campag Chorus, rebadged from the previous year's Record. I think I spent about £2,000 on it at the time. I'd be surprised if it would sell for even £350 now?

I was just watching a review of the new Trek Emonda ALR. The reviewer said that it was pretty light at just over 9 kg. It didn't sound that light to me so I got my scales out and weighed my CAAD5. And the result was...

8.8 kg (19.4 lbs)! That is with a triple chainset, double-wrapped bar tape, relatively heavy mountain bike SPD pedals, chunky butyl inner tubes, cheap tyres, 2 bottle cages, 2 Garmin mounts, and a rearview mirror! I don't think it would take much effort to get that weight down by 1 kg, which would make it only 1 kg above the UCI limit.

 

[Willd]

Want Wout van Aerts old bike?

https://bike-room.com/product/cerve...t-2-size-58-shimano-dura-ace-r9270-di2-2x12s/

What could go wrong "Gears and breaks adjustment"

 

[johnblack]

I have spent this week watching some tours on telly.My question is our bikes last us years,how many times does a pro ride their bikes before they change,and what happens to the discarded bikes,these things cost a fortune.

I've got two, one was from a UK conti team and another from the World Tour, both were in great condition when I got them.

 

[Jameshow]

The pro bikes are worth a fortune because of the equipment that's on them - top of the range components and wheels that cost thousands.

The heart of the bike, though is the frame. My good bike has a professional level frame - complete with UCI sticker. It's a Focus Cayo which I bought a good few years ago for £999 - it came equipped with Shimano 105 and crappy wheels, but the frame was the same frame used by the Focus factory team and sold by Focus on all the bikes in their Cayo range at the time - from base model to top of the range. It's still going strong after close to 20 years and thousands of miles, with multiple rebuilds and is now running Campag Chorus of similar vintage to the frame, with Campag wheels.

So it was possible to get close to professional level - maybe apart from the wheels - without spending a fortune and the frames will probably last even a professional life until they're crashed or damaged in some other way.

I have a focus Izalco pro as used by katusha I believe.
However I'm a cheapskate and put 4700 tiagra on it. As I couldn't stretch to Durace! It has a fsa focus branded chainset too.
Reynolds wheels are pretty good at 1500gms.
Rudeis stuff as anything!

 

[johnblack]

The pro bikes are worth a fortune because of the equipment that's on them - top of the range components and wheels that cost thousands.

The heart of the bike, though is the frame. My good bike has a professional level frame - complete with UCI sticker. It's a Focus Cayo which I bought a good few years ago for £999 - it came equipped with Shimano 105 and crappy wheels, but the frame was the same frame used by the Focus factory team and sold by Focus on all the bikes in their Cayo range at the time - from base model to top of the range. It's still going strong after close to 20 years and thousands of miles, with multiple rebuilds and is now running Campag Chorus of similar vintage to the frame, with Campag wheels.

So it was possible to get close to professional level - maybe apart from the wheels - without spending a fortune and the frames will probably last even a professional life until they're crashed or damaged in some other way.

The first one I got was a deal on a 54 sized fully spec'd bike and a 58 frame so I was able to take all the kit off the 54 and stick it on the 58, sold the small frame for a bit of profit. The latest one was a fully loaded bike, the only thing I did was to take off the 3T tubs and put on some more forgiving wheels for the local roads, it is far too good for me but it has done a load of miles and is pretty bombproof.