Bike gear is expensive, what do you think?

I look at bike bits and have decided that they are massively overpriced for what you get, in
terms of component quality and in terms of actual functional use. Look for example, at stems, I
say no more.

What do you think?

Cheers, Tom

As anything you get what you pay for. Some components, like King headsets, are much higher priced,
but are far superior in quality. Look online and in magazine ads to save on components, wheels, etc.

eBay...

--
- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

"MTBScottie" <mtbscottie@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031026204055.18238.00000282@mb-m03.aol.com...
> As anything you get what you pay for. Some components, like King
headsets, are
> much higher priced, but are far superior in quality. Look online and in magazine ads to save on
> components, wheels, etc.

before you buy check reviews @ mtbr.com and look at pricepoint.com, nashbar.com, beyondbikes.com
or similar

"Zilla" <zilla62XSPAM@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:US_mb.14833$Lj6.6904@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
> eBay...
>
> --
> - Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)
>
>
> "MTBScottie" <mtbscottie@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:20031026204055.18238.00000282@mb-m03.aol.com...
> > As anything you get what you pay for. Some components, like King
> headsets, are
> > much higher priced, but are far superior in quality. Look online and in magazine ads to save on
> > components, wheels, etc.

I know what your saying. in the Scheme of things...Parts are expensive and your right. Generally
Bike parts are Very expensive. and I dont agree with Very hard to make...we arent talking hardcore
presicion. although yes some parts do have the presicion that rivals Military airship guidance
systems....many dont and are still expensive. i have been frustrated many a time with small non name
Tools or nick nacks that cost an arm an a leg.... Go overseas like these cats said, ebay.. and the
big online dealers, you will save a bunch especially when they have sales.

"comcast" <mpytl@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:Mh0nb.28082$275.49859@attbi_s53...
> before you buy check reviews @ mtbr.com and look at pricepoint.com, nashbar.com, beyondbikes.com
> or similar
>
>
> "Zilla" <zilla62XSPAM@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
> news:US_mb.14833$Lj6.6904@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
> > eBay...
> >
> > --
> > - Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)
> >
> >
> > "MTBScottie" <mtbscottie@aol.com> wrote in message
> > news:20031026204055.18238.00000282@mb-m03.aol.com...
> > > As anything you get what you pay for. Some components, like King
> > headsets, are
> > > much higher priced, but are far superior in quality. Look online and
in
> > > magazine ads to save on components, wheels, etc.
> >
>

"Tom" <tom@none.com> wrote in message news:3f9c5db7$0$15124$bed64819@pubnews.gradwell.net...
> I look at bike bits and have decided that they are massively overpriced
for
> what you get, in terms of component quality and in terms of actual functional use. Look for
> example, at stems, I say no more.
>
> What do you think?

Yep. They're expensive. But then so are motorcycles, a private pilot's licence, jets boats, sailing,
boating, horse riding, and motor racing of any form - even go-karts are expensive. Mountainbikes
aren't so bad when you look at it like that. My missus rides a horse. Competes then sells the horse
on after a season or two. Couldn't be considered much more than a serious amateur with the current
horse: Current horse $5000 Saddles and misc tack $ 4000, jodhpurs, boots, helmets, jackets $1200,
double horsefloat $12000, vehicle with enough grunt to tow double horsefloat $35000, feed &
supplements a week while competing $120, fuel cost per week while competing $60, stabling and
paddock rents $nil (we have our own land), vet costs per annum $1000 est., accommodation costs while
away, dining out........................

Does she complain when I buy a $300 bike widget? Ah,....no.

But Yes, bike bits do seem to be expensive for what you get.
--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)

Yeah, I agree. A few months ago I bought Fox front shocks, a helmet, repairs and I forget what
else. The bill was over $900. That's not cheap. Now, I'm looking to buy winter shoes and clothing,
armor and new lights. I can't afford to buy these things all at once. The shoes I looked at,
Northwave Grizzlies (? I think), cost $160 at the local bike shop. I most likely could get them
on-line forty dollars cheaper. I won't do that because the bike dealer spent time helping me out.
The armor and lights I may buy on-line because the dealer's prices are too high and I didn't try
them out at the store.

I know, you get what you pay for, but I believe the high mark-ups by manufacturers and bike shops
are due to the need to stay in business.

"Zilla" <zilla62XSPAM@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:US_mb.14833$Lj6.6904@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
> eBay...
>
> --
> - Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)
>
>
> "MTBScottie" <mtbscottie@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:20031026204055.18238.00000282@mb-m03.aol.com...
> > As anything you get what you pay for. Some components, like King
> headsets, are
> > much higher priced, but are far superior in quality. Look online and in magazine ads to save on
> > components, wheels, etc.

"Tom" <tom@none.com> wrote:
> I look at bike bits and have decided that they are massively overpriced for what you get, in terms
> of component quality and in terms of actual functional use. Look for example, at stems, I say no
> more. What do you think?

I think it kind of depends. On lots of things.

One of the biggest thing it depends on, according to me, has to do with a term used by economists:
utility. As used by economists, utility means roughly "use value".

If somebody buys a Litespeed with full XTR and rides it four times one year, three times the next
year, then sells it for 30% of what he paid; that's bloody expensive. It cost him maybe a couple
hundred clams for every single ride.

My parents think I need to have my head examined because I paid full retail for a Moots YBB. But I
bought it in 1999, and I ride it 325 days a year. To me, it's a bargain. I get a little slice of
pleasure out of it several times a week. The use value for me is plenty compared to the cash I
parted with to get it.

The King headset in my Moots may have seemed like a costly little trinket at the time, but it's
still perfect, and I have *never* needed to do anything to keep it that way. If I'd put a cheapy
headset into it, I'd probably have had to either replace it or fix it by now. So to *me*, it was
well worth the difference in cost.

To the guy who bought the Litespeed, a King headset would have been complete overkill, and therefore
terribly expensive. A no-name headset would have been just fine, and would have lasted for *years*.
Part of this is utility, part is "no higher quality than it needs to be". In other words, high
quality is a waste for some users.

You mention stems, and that's a good part to question IMO. I have a $40 Salsa stem on my Moots. How
much "better" is a $90 Thomson Elite MTB stem? Or a $200 Ti stem from Moots or Litespeed? To me,
it's just a pretty little trinket. Lighter maybe. Stiffer? Who could notice? (somebody who will
answer this post, no doubt) To me, the fancy stems of the world are Expensive, because I could care
less about what it is that the extra $$ buys. My $40 stem holds the bar out there 120mm in front of
the steerer, just like it did the day I bought it. For me, that's all it needs to do.

Regarding your bill from the bike shop: about 70% of it was for your Fox fork. Why did you get that
fork? There are other forks out there that are pretty darn good, and you could have gotten one on
clearance for less than $250. But you went for the $650 fork. Why? I have one of those, so I bet I
could answer--you think that the difference in quality will be worth it to you. Either that or you
didn't shop very carefully.

One of the reasons that stuff seems expensive is the weight thing. The market told the manufactorers
long ago that really light stuff is what we want. So they hired materials scientists and engineers
to help them squeeze grams out of their products. We all pay for that, to the extent that we choose
to buy the lighter weight alternatives out there in the market.

I'm going to stop now. I could probably blather on about this subject for another couple pages, but
I want to leave some time to ride my Moots later.
--
Tom "the more you ride it, the less expensive it seems" Purvis Salida, CO -
http://www.arkansasvalley.net/tpurvis/

"Westie" <RideWestieRide@invalid.co.nz> wrote in message news:<bniqj4$tip$1@lust.ihug.co.nz>...
> "Tom" <tom@none.com> wrote in message news:3f9c5db7$0$15124$bed64819@pubnews.gradwell.net...
> > I look at bike bits and have decided that they are massively overpriced
> for
> > what you get, in terms of component quality and in terms of actual functional use. Look for
> > example, at stems, I say no more.
> >
> > What do you think?
>
> Yep. They're expensive. But then so are motorcycles, a private pilot's licence, jets boats,
> sailing, boating, horse riding, and motor racing of any form - even go-karts are expensive.
> Mountainbikes aren't so bad when you look at it like that. My missus rides a horse. Competes then
> sells the horse on after a season or two. Couldn't be considered much more than a serious amateur
> with the current horse: Current horse $5000 Saddles and misc tack $ 4000, jodhpurs, boots,
> helmets, jackets $1200, double horsefloat $12000, vehicle with enough grunt to tow double
> horsefloat $35000, feed & supplements a week while competing $120, fuel cost per week while
> competing $60, stabling and paddock rents $nil (we have our own land), vet costs per annum $1000
> est., accommodation costs while away, dining out........................
>
> Does she complain when I buy a $300 bike widget? Ah,....no.
>
> But Yes, bike bits do seem to be expensive for what you get.

You rest your case. My riding buddy Adam said he wished his wife had gotten hooked on crack cocaine
rather than horses. At lease he could have afforded the drug habit. I think they're up to about 7
or 8 horses.

Paladin

team_bfd@yahoo.com (Tom Purvis) wrote:
> "Tom" <tom@none.com> wrote:
> > I look at bike bits and have decided that they are massively overpriced for what you get, in
> > terms of component quality and in terms of actual functional use. Look for example, at stems, I
> > say no more. What do you think?
>
> I think it kind of depends. On lots of things. ... Regarding your bill from the bike shop: about
> 70% of it was for your Fox fork. Why did you get that fork? There are other forks out there that
> are pretty darn good, and you could have gotten one on clearance for less than $250. But you went
> for the $650 fork. Why?

Scuse me there--I think I was replying to "stamkis" on that bike shop bill thingy.

Gesundheit.
--
Tom Purvis - http://www.arkansasvalley.net/tpurvis/ Salida, CO

"Tom Purvis" <team_bfd@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bd8fbcd1.0310271515.6a9a5169@posting.google.com...
> team_bfd@yahoo.com (Tom Purvis) wrote:
> > "Tom" <tom@none.com> wrote:
> > > I look at bike bits and have decided that they are massively overpriced for what you get, in
> > > terms of component quality and in terms of actual functional use. Look for example, at stems,
> > > I say no more. What do you think?
> >
> > I think it kind of depends. On lots of things. ... Regarding your bill from the bike shop: about
> > 70% of it was for your Fox fork. Why did you get that fork? There are other forks out there
that
> > are pretty darn good, and you could have gotten one on clearance for less than $250. But you
> > went for the $650 fork. Why?
>
> Scuse me there--I think I was replying to "stamkis" on that bike shop bill thingy.

No need to apologize. I looked up my bill. The fork came to $567 and $40 to install. Total labor was
$110. I thought it was more. I also bought special pedals for $100, the helmet, repairs to the
brake, etc. The whole bill was $875. Yes, the bike is a blast and worth the money. It's still a lot
of money compared to my road bike. I've had that for 25 years and never had a year that I paid
anything like that for upgrades, parts and repairs. And, like I said, I still need to buy more
gear... armor, lights and cold weather clothing. (The sad news is that I am thinking of buying a new
road bike. And, I just can't buy a comparible bike. It has to cost at least .... $1300 or more.)

The good thing is that I will be able to use the lights and clothing for my road bike too. I'll be
posting a query for the lights soon. I'm still reading over the Mt. Bike Review info. I have an
older Nite Hawk from NiteRider. The battery was damaged. I was never crazy about the light. Now, I
have to decide whether to buy a new battery or another lighting system. I leaning toward the latter.

I agree with your "utility concept." My road bike owes me nothing. I paid $239 twenty-five years
ago. That was relatively expensive back then, believe it or not. I've replaced the wheels a few
times and other components over the years. But, considering the time I've spent on it, the cost is
very low. This mountain bike, in comparison, was high cost and I haven't had the chance to use it as
much as I would like because of all the rain we've had over the past year. Still, it's been a fun
experience and in time the economy of scale will even out.

"Paladin" <cdbrown@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:b9df8744.0310270918.126b8d57@posting.google.com... <snip>
> You rest your case. My riding buddy Adam said he wished his wife had gotten hooked on crack
> cocaine rather than horses. At lease he could have afforded the drug habit. I think they're up to
> about 7 or 8 horses.

Hmmmm. Poor guy. I sympathise. Horses are an insideous disease. My sister knew she was out of
control and needed tough love when it got to 14 horses and several foals and yearlings. She was
optimistically on her way to have a shot at the Commonwealth/Olympic team though... Nowadays, after
years of trying to give up, she still has 4.
--
Westie ;-) (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)

On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 at 03:28 GMT, Westie penned:
> "Paladin" <cdbrown@qwest.net> wrote in message
> news:b9df8744.0310270918.126b8d57@posting.google.com... <snip>
>> You rest your case. My riding buddy Adam said he wished his wife had gotten hooked on crack
>> cocaine rather than horses. At lease he could have afforded the drug habit. I think they're up to
>> about 7 or 8 horses.
>
> Hmmmm. Poor guy. I sympathise. Horses are an insideous disease. My sister knew she was out of
> control and needed tough love when it got to 14 horses and several foals and yearlings. She was
> optimistically on her way to have a shot at the Commonwealth/Olympic team though... Nowadays,
> after years of trying to give up, she still has 4.

Wouldn't you have to become a crack dealer just to afford that habit?

--
monique PLEASE don't CC me. Please. Pretty please with sugar on top. Whatever it takes, just don't
CC me! I'm already subscribed!!

"Monique Y. Herman" <spam@bounceswoosh.org> wrote in message
news:slrnbpufd9.nl0.spam@home.bounceswoosh.org...
> On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 at 03:28 GMT, Westie penned:
> > "Paladin" <cdbrown@qwest.net> wrote in message
> > news:b9df8744.0310270918.126b8d57@posting.google.com... <snip>
> >> You rest your case. My riding buddy Adam said he wished his wife had gotten hooked on crack
> >> cocaine rather than horses. At lease he could have afforded the drug habit. I think they're up
> >> to about 7 or 8 horses.
> >
> > Hmmmm. Poor guy. I sympathise. Horses are an insideous disease. My sister knew she was out of
> > control and needed tough love when it got to 14 horses and several foals and yearlings. She was
> > optimistically on her way to have a shot at the Commonwealth/Olympic team though... Nowadays,
> > after years of trying to give up, she still has 4.
>
> Wouldn't you have to become a crack dealer just to afford that habit?

You'd think so, wouldn't you? Beg, steal or borrow, or (if lucky) sponsorship seems to be the
way most do
it. Like most sports I guess. The family car becomes a bloody great towing vehicle on HP(or borrow
Mum & Dad's wagon), borrow a horsefloat/s or buy a cheap one, acquire tack over years of riding
horses, maybe a saddle is on long-term loan, etc., etc. It's much easier if the husband is
loaded though :-)

It's funny how it can appear that someone has all the gear but actually owns very little of it.
Having said that, it's a hideously expensive sport if you want it to be. Prize money and
sponsorship is the only realistic option for people at the top of the game. Skill and ability count
for little in the end. You have to have ability of course, but in the end it's contacts and how
much money they have that dictates how far those with ability can go. Sometimes it's not the best
that win. C'est la vie!
--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)