What is going on with new bike pricing!!

[gzoom]

As we all know the itch to get a n+1 bike is never ending, and having just got around to the idea new bikes are expensive and new road bike in particular are multi £K+ machines, I just thought I have a look at how much proper motorbikes go for these days, and I nearly fell off my chair!!

£8K gets you a brand new and very very fast bike, from a top brand, that's the list price with no haggling, so you can probably pick up a new one for £7K and used one for much less...

A human powered Trek Emonda SLR that looks nearly identical to 2011 Madone on the other hand only £1K less, and you struggle to get hold of one anyways......These bike companies must be laughing their way to the bank!! The very latest superbikes cost even more, 5 figures is now increasing the 'norm'.

How/why have bike prices gone so mad??!

 

[Chris S]

You could get a car for that

 

[Archie_tect]

You could buy a whole street for that in Middlebrough a few years ago.

 

[gzoom]

I could understand it if there was massive improvements in tech and new innovations, but compared to a bike from 10 years ago, apart from disc brakes these things are basically the same. Carbon frame, wheels, gears, pedals.......My Madone was under £1K as a used demo I seem to remember.

Yes there has been inflation, but the prices of even 'mid range' bikes seem to have nuts. I don't mind paying for stuff, but what are we paying for? When a brand new motor bike which has ALOT more manufacturing/development costs involved costs less than many road bikes.

 

[T4tomo]

but what are we paying for?

one extra sprocket at the back? and a nice paint job spoilt by silly brakes......and a stem and seat post that make it hard to pas on 2nd hand to another rider who isn't exactly the same size....

 

[matticus]

How much motorbike can you get for £1000 new? [I genuinely don't know, have never looked!]

 

[Randomnerd]

I can hear a parishioner clambering out of a skip in someone else’s boots, just buffing up a well-used refrain for this perennial enquiry. Anyhow, market forces dear boy.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

The jump between a fairly capable, half decent road bike and the very top end is stark isn't it.
The Giant TCR I own was about 1K, (it was the last year's model, basic (Tiagra) kit); At the same time you could buy the TCR that the pro team were using for about 9K. I know it has lighter components, better wheels, supposedly a better grade of carbon etc but all said, it's still a bike that does largely the same thing at largely the same speed. I get the differences, I really do, but a jump from 1K to 9K is quite some jump when you think about it.

 

[mustang1]

There are a lot of improvements in bike design and technology which inevitably bumps up the price. Here are some features that bump up the price:
1. Internal cable routing. This improves aerodynamic and gives a cleaner look.*
2. Sloping top tube. This gives more seatpost thus giving compliance and a plush ride*
3. We now have wider tyres which means less rolling resistance and a more comfortable ride.*
4. We have Superformed and high tensile gubbins to give lateral stiffness and vertical comfort.*
5. The bikes are very aero now. They save a massive 5 Watts at 120mph.
6. Wind tunnel testing is not cheap you know.
7. Some bikes, like Canyon, give you two handle bars. And both of those bars are aerodynamic in profile. There are no bricks here.*
8. Disk brakes with hydraulic fluid gives enhanced braking power in all weather conditions.*
9. You now have seatposts disjoined from the rest of the frame for extra comfort (how long that'll last before it snaps is anyone's guess).*
10. Some bikes have those little flap things that come out from the headtube like on some Trek bikes. This is for better aerodynamics when you are going down a mountain at a mere 50mph - it really makes a difference compared to the large rider plonked on top of the bike. Honest.*

Key:
* This is a load of BS.

Yeah, bike prices are friggin' crazy. All that crap about low sales bumping up the prices is rubbish too, and the carbon layup costs, more BS). I have all the bikes i want and I'm done with N+1.

EDIT: oh yeah, here's a good one... light weight helmets are more expensive than heavier ones. Uhm, yeah coz they have _less_ material in them. So in effect, you really are getting less for more.

Di2 is cool though. A high perforamance, actually even a low peformance, motorcycle gear system still kicks any transmission on a bike and has to handle higher power, torque and revs than anything on the highest of high performance cycles.

 

[swee'pea99]

New bike pricing works on the same basis as any other pricing: supply, meet demand.

 

[Electric_Andy]

I'd guess it's because there's still a lot of R&D going into new bicycles. New technologies that people will pay for because it's 1g lighter or the efficiency is improved by 0.00005%. Also production; factories will already be set up to make older machines, but (I'm guessing) anything new will require much more time, equipment, training etc to build a new machine, be it a road bike or a motorbike.

Motorbikes like the CBR650 have been unchanged for years, apart from styling, so there's not much "new" tech involved. If you look at top of the range motorbikes then the new CBR1000 is £24k. Same principle applies.

For £1k you can nearly get a new 125cc built in China. Does the job but can't be compared to a new Fireblade. Same as a £100 Tesco bike will do the job, but won't be as fast, light, efficient or well made as a £6k Trek

 

[Milkfloat]

I get what you are saying - but the equivalent to the Trek is a £24K Fireblade, you could get a decent car for that.

 

[vickster]

Yebbut who on a cycling forum actually wants a motorbike instead of an expensive pushbike?

motorbike death trap forum is that away >>>

 

[Hicky]

They'll(bike mags) will try to convince you to buy N+1 because of the new snake oil bullshit when losing a few Lbs will probably make a much larger impact on your happiness....apart from having a shiny thing to look at.

 

[byegad]

You could buy a whole street for that in Middlebrough a few years ago.

Hailing, going back some 70 years ago.* from 'The Infant Hercules'. Why would you want to?



*And leaving more than 50 years ago.