What is going on with new bike pricing!!
- Thread starter gzoom
- Start date
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I have to say I'm normally not adverse to paying over the odds for stuff. But for bikes am really struggling to see what how a £5k road bike will better my cycling experience over my current road bike let alone a £10k one.
My hands will be firmly staying in my pocket, maybe a Boardman with integrated front end (I do like the clean look), but nothing from the major brands look worth anything close to their asking prices.
Grant Fondo
Guru
- Location
- Cheshire
I used to think the 'diminishing returns' point was around £2k, maybe its more like £3k now?
Synapse Ultegra territory, now £3100.
Synapse Ultegra territory, now £3100.
CentralCommuter
Well-Known Member
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
The price of big ticket items that are often not bought for cash tends to rise to whatever level is sustainable by the availability of finance. Housing is the prime example. It isn't expensive because there's a "shortage" of it. the reason prices are high is because interest rates are low and large size loans are readily available. If you reverted to 1960's strict lending criteria with small multiples, big deposits, and a proper grilling from your local Bank Manager before any credit was granted, housing would still overall be at 1960's multiples of wages.
C2W is effectively a finance scheme, with the government chipping in 32% or more of the cost. The problem is many buyers will spend the same amount under C2W net, that they would have had to earn gross ordinarily. instead of the bikes getting cheaper, the bikes are getting dearer, the cost to the C2W buyer is the same as it would have been pre-C2W, and the government is bankrolling the bike price inflation element. Artificially leveraged affordability leads to higher prices.
C2W is effectively a finance scheme, with the government chipping in 32% or more of the cost. The problem is many buyers will spend the same amount under C2W net, that they would have had to earn gross ordinarily. instead of the bikes getting cheaper, the bikes are getting dearer, the cost to the C2W buyer is the same as it would have been pre-C2W, and the government is bankrolling the bike price inflation element. Artificially leveraged affordability leads to higher prices.
CentralCommuter
Well-Known Member
except when you get a puncture they’re impossible to fix!!
DCLane
Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
- Location
- Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
True - my Dad spent £10k on hi-fi kit. In the 1980's.
He had a cheap car, grew his own veg and brewed his own beer but this was a huge expense. However ... it's lasted him until now with the tuner going recently.
On that basis it's decent value as the rest of the kit's still going strong.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
True - my Dad spent £10k on hi-fi kit. In the 1980's.
He had a cheap car, grew his own veg and brewed his own beer but this was a huge expense. However ... it's lasted him until now with the tuner going recently.
On that basis it's decent value as the rest of the kit's still going strong.
I agree if kit is going to last 40 years, but modern fancy carbon bikes aren't designed to and the manufacturers have no intention of supporting their product with spare parts for the next 40 or 50 years. I've got an old valve amp which has got to be at least 60 years old, but it's still maintainable because it uses standard electronic components.
If you break some proprietary carbon fibre part on a 15 year old bike, like a weirdly shaped seatpost and the manufacturer won't supply you a replacement, then it's basically rendered useless. Not like an old steel Raleigh with a standard 25.4 mm round job you can just harvest a replacement one from a scrapper or still buy new.
Expensive stuff is fine if it's infinitely maintainable, if it's consumerist bling with no long term future then it's not worth buying.
IanSmithCSE
Guru
- Location
- Worcester, Worcestershire
Good afternoon
Halfords and Decathlon prices still look reasonable.
I am having some problems with my steel bike, every so often it shimmies like an overloaded touring bike so I have been riding my plastic bike, which has Di2, quite a lot......
......And I am slowly going over to the darkside and I am starting to see Di2 as essential.
It took a while because initially I treated Di2 as just a motorised change and used the 10 gears in pretty much the same way as I used the 8, but now I will often change gear for maybe 12 rotations of the crank. Yes, I have counted them occasionally.
Given that I would be quite happy with the current model 105, Ultegra Di2 is about £1K up from mechanical 105 or £600-£700 from mechanical Ultegra at the moment and with no hints of 105 Di2 that is a big financial hit for "a couple of motors".
Once you've accepted that you have spent 1K without a frame, wheels or other bits, then an extra £100 on the handle bars or £200 on the wheels starts to seem not so bad, so hitting £3.5k becomes very easy.
At the moment many prices seem to be being set with safety in mind, Ribble are quoting August delivery on an Endurance SL with Ultegra Di2. So it makes sense for them to list bikes at the full RRP of the parts to cover themselves, which gives a £2.8k price tag for a pretty basic spec, Aksiums and own brand finishing kit.
So until shipping and manufacturing catch-up, yes prices will seem high as what is left to buy is what a lot of people find too expensive, but not state-of-the-art enough for those who want the best.
Bye
Ian
I had a quick look at Tredz and the £1599 bike has a 105 drivetrain/brakes except a Shimano RS series chainset, so yes the entry price has doubled but only because most Claris/Sora bikes have been snapped up.
Halfords and Decathlon prices still look reasonable.
I am having some problems with my steel bike, every so often it shimmies like an overloaded touring bike so I have been riding my plastic bike, which has Di2, quite a lot......
......And I am slowly going over to the darkside and I am starting to see Di2 as essential.
It took a while because initially I treated Di2 as just a motorised change and used the 10 gears in pretty much the same way as I used the 8, but now I will often change gear for maybe 12 rotations of the crank. Yes, I have counted them occasionally.
Given that I would be quite happy with the current model 105, Ultegra Di2 is about £1K up from mechanical 105 or £600-£700 from mechanical Ultegra at the moment and with no hints of 105 Di2 that is a big financial hit for "a couple of motors".
Once you've accepted that you have spent 1K without a frame, wheels or other bits, then an extra £100 on the handle bars or £200 on the wheels starts to seem not so bad, so hitting £3.5k becomes very easy.
At the moment many prices seem to be being set with safety in mind, Ribble are quoting August delivery on an Endurance SL with Ultegra Di2. So it makes sense for them to list bikes at the full RRP of the parts to cover themselves, which gives a £2.8k price tag for a pretty basic spec, Aksiums and own brand finishing kit.
So until shipping and manufacturing catch-up, yes prices will seem high as what is left to buy is what a lot of people find too expensive, but not state-of-the-art enough for those who want the best.
Bye
Ian
bikingdad90
Guru
Cycling plus has a good explanation in this month from Cotic of why bike prices have rocketed up by 27%; it’s because of the 4.7% import tariff and the new VAT rules and the country of origin rules and because 55% of the bike price has to be within the UK to be tariff free, then there is the increased demand and Covid costs to deal with.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
My tourer is almost only ever used as a toy for weekends, because riding it for utility hack duties is too high a theft risk for a quality steel frame. I've got worthless beaters available for those mundane jobs, which I'm not going to worry about getting stolen.
roubaixtuesday
self serving virtue signaller
The cost of cycling has nothing on the cost of scuba diving. You can cycle fairly cheaply (and as discussed, you can spend an absolute fortune on it). All you need to start cycling is a roadworthy bike. Diving is just an endless money pit. First there is the cost of your initial training, then further training. Then there is the cost of kit, which you either need to own or hire. Boat costs or site entry fees (unless shore diving), gas costs (which can be anything from £3 to £300+ depending on depth), petrol/diesel for your car to travel, and potentially accommodation costs if you're away for at least one night. A weekend away diving on the south coast generally cost me around £300, a bit more if we were going below 40m. I don't dive much these days due to the cost, and certainly keep to recreational ranges as the cost of trimix has gone through the roof, and I can't justify spunking over £100 just for the gas cost.
Even with 4 mid range to low high end bikes, I have spent less on cycling than I have in just my training and kit costs for diving (nevermind the cost to actually do a bit of diving). The cost for me to go out on my bike for the day is at most the cost of lunch at a country pub.
Even with 4 mid range to low high end bikes, I have spent less on cycling than I have in just my training and kit costs for diving (nevermind the cost to actually do a bit of diving). The cost for me to go out on my bike for the day is at most the cost of lunch at a country pub.
Not likely as prices around Europe have seen similar increases...
6 years ago I bought 105 road bike from Dec for 650£
Similar bike costs now 850£...
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