What is the biggest rip-off

[totallyfixed]

Ha ha! Seriously - ha ha!

I tell you - even if I were a multi-millionaire, I would not pay £10k for a bicycle (sorry Dave, but I probably would pay £3-4k!) and I would not pay more than £10 for a pair of brake blocks! I also would not pay more than £30 for a tyre or £30 for a chain.

If I had money to burn, I'd rather spend it on taking me and a cheaper bike on more foreign cycling trips.

I'm in 100% agreement there. Unfortunately the boss as you know needs decent equipment to compete and it is not a level playing field, her TT bike is around 2.3k plus a disc wheel £800 which we had to save for. Many of the women she competes against turn up on 8k bikes with discs twice the price of ours.
Cycling can be cheap but it can also be damned expensive.

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

I'm in 100% agreement there. Unfortunately the boss as you know needs decent equipment to compete and it is not a level playing field, her TT bike is around 2.3k plus a disc wheel £800 which we had to save for. Many of the women she competes against turn up on 8k bikes with discs twice the price of ours.
Cycling can be cheap but it can also be damned expensive.

And it must be seriously disappointing when one lady on her £8k bike cannot out-pace someone on a bike 1/4 the value.
For what its worth i think all time trials should be on a level playing field ... all alloy bikes, no carbons allowed.

 

[youngoldbloke]

One reason I'm not rushing to go 11 speed Campag Chain Tool

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Perhaps what we should agree on is that a better wording for your post would have been: 'FOR ME, a cycle is something to get you from point A to point B, that's all it is (to me)'

I'd hazard a guess that the majority of people on here would feel differently My bikes have become much more to me now that just a method of transport!

No, when you boil it down to basics a bike is just a machine for getting from point A to point B, and as such they are over priced.

 

[zizou]

No, when you boil it down to basics a bike is just a machine for getting from point A to point B, and as such they are over priced.

That is like saying when you boil life down to the basics it is just about getting from the womb to the coffin. Some of us hope to enjoy the journey too.

 

[GrasB]

No, when you boil it down to basics a bike is just a machine for getting from point A to point B, and as such they are over priced.

When I'm not in the UK points A & B are fairly irrelevant. They're random landmarks which have little to no relevance beyond being the start & end points of the ride. No, it's how I'm getting from A to B which is important to me.

 

[youngoldbloke]

That is like saying when you boil life down to the basics it is just about getting from the womb to the coffin. Some of us hope to enjoy the journey too.

+1
I don't commute by bike, I don't shop by bike, I do not use it as a means of transport. I cycle around 5000 miles are year - all in the pursuit of fitness and pleasure.

 

[Gooner Mad Dog]

velcro ! biggest rip off

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

Modern BMW'S
And i say that having spent the last 17 years driving and maintaining the older ones.
E28 520i + 525e, E30 325ise, E32 730i, E32 740i.

If you look under the bonnet of, say, a five year old BMW 320 diesel, you find EXACTLY the same
make and model of fuel pump fitted on the humble zafira dti.
The dual mass flywheel and clutch ... ditto.
Electronics, again ... straight out of the bin marked "FOR ALL MAKES OF EURO CARS".

Long gone are the days when manufacturers had "their own parts", now you're just paying
for the badge.

 

[Linford]

Businesses are being squeezed hard nowadays. We make very little in the UK, and most of the raw materials which are used to make our own manufactured goods comes from abroad. On top of this, the businesses also have to pay a lot of money to get the stuff into to the shops due to the transport costs (and the bulk of that is the fuel duty and VAT).

If we restored our manufacturing capability, and reduced the tax burden on the fuel which affect every part of the trasportation business including the drivers wages (and associated cost of living) things would be a fraction of what they are now in the UK.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm in 100% agreement there. Unfortunately the boss as you know needs decent equipment to compete and it is not a level playing field, her TT bike is around 2.3k plus a disc wheel £800 which we had to save for. Many of the women she competes against turn up on 8k bikes with discs twice the price of ours.
Cycling can be cheap but it can also be damned expensive.

And it must be seriously disappointing when one lady on her £8k bike cannot out-pace someone on a bike 1/4 the value.
For what its worth i think all time trials should be on a level playing field ... all alloy bikes, no carbons allowed.

I like the idea of 'old skool'. There is a kind of ruthless logic to aerodynamics which I don't like - just look at Obree's original tuck position. It worked but it looked horrible. I don't know if it was comfortable or would be safe on the road, I suspect not.

They look great, Colin, thanks for posting this. If you have an account and you recommend two people you get a free baseball cap.

(If you want me to say you recommended, send me a PM).

Well, I'm ColinJ at DiscoBrakes too - thanks!

 

[GrasB]

And it must be seriously disappointing when one lady on her £8k bike cannot out-pace someone on a bike 1/4 the value.

An 8k bike doesn't make you a strong rider, it's makes you an equipment rich rider. The reality is that there's very little difference between a 2.5k & an 8k bike in terms of aerodynamics assuming people are running the same wheel set. But when 1w differences start being important then the extra money put into the 8k bike start to pay off. Also you have to train into your bike & get it setup properly to gain leverage from the minimal advantages found.

 

[fossyant]

One reason I'm not rushing to go 11 speed Campag Chain Tool

You get round that by using a KMC 11 speed chain with a quick link !

 

[fossyant]

Look Delta cleats are cheaper then Keo, phew !

SPD cleats are pricey too, considering you can get M520's for not much more with cleats !

Pads, I use Clarkes - perfect.

 

[ColinJ]

SPD cleats are pricey too, considering you can get M520's for not much more with cleats !

They would be if you had to buy them, but I've never worn out the cleats that came with my various SPD pedals!

Cheapskates ...! I've just been looking at some cheap M520s on eBay and they are being sold without the cleats, which no doubt are then being sold separately!