A top end bike is too expensive nowadays...

[JTE83]

High end bikes are just too expensive! I saw a Trek Madone 5.5 at the bike shop and for $4000 it only had Race Lite wheels. I thought that was bad but then when I looked at a $4200 Giant TCR (?) it had only Ksyrium Elite wheels.

And now components are so expensive too! I'm glad I'm not in the market for a high end bike anymore!

 

[ovalbackmarker]

It's all relative. I am a Porsche mechanic and recently a customer was noticing the Felt bike that I rode to work.His first question was"how much does a bike like that cost?" I told him about $2500 dollars and his shocked reply was"you spent $2500 for a bike?" I quickly replied" you spent $100,000 for a car?"

 

[ohgodnooo!]

I think they are too damned expensive too, but if you pay that much you plan on putting a lot of miles on it, and keeping it for a long time. I would hope that those higher prices reflect quality and durability. I would rather pay high and get a good bike that I'll actually like than go through 2 or 3 of which I grow tired.

Speeking of quality what's with those kiddy swirl paintjobs on Specialized bikes this year?

 

[alienator]

On a an objective basis, your observation is very far from the truth. Bikes today are a much greater value than they were in the past, if you compare on an equivalent dollar basis, which is the correct way to compare. This goes, too, for "high end" bikes. Just because you don't like the component packages doesn't mean that there isn't great value. Aren't you the guy that champions buying from eBay? Well guess what: if you buy a complete bike and you don't like the wheels, you can eBay them and get wheels you like. The simple fact is that Bontrager Race Lite wheels and Ksyrium Elite wheels are perfectly serviceable and suitable wheels for a majority of the people buying complete $4000 bikes. And as a point of fact, $4000 is far from the "high end." Very far. I'd hazard a guess that most people buying "high end" bikes are spec'ing their frames and components on their own, which can be a lot more expensive than buying a complete bike.

 

[saintsfan342000]

It's all relative. I am a Porsche mechanic and recently a customer was noticing the Felt bike that I rode to work.His first question was"how much does a bike like that cost?" I told him about $2500 dollars and his shocked reply was"you spent $2500 for a bike?" I quickly replied" you spent $100,000 for a car?"

Hahaha good one.

Yes, bikes are expensive. But high-end equipment in every sport is extremely expensive. How much do Tiger Woods' golf clubs cost? How about Roger Federer's raquet? That's just the nature of the beast. At the upper-echelon, people will drop huge bucks to gain even the most miniscule advantage.

 

[alienator]

Hahaha good one.

Yes, bikes are expensive. But high-end equipment in every sport is extremely expensive. How much do Tiger Woods' golf clubs cost? How about Roger Federer's raquet? That's just the nature of the beast. At the upper-echelon, people will drop huge bucks to gain even the most miniscule advantage.

Exactly. Christ, compared to other hobbies, bicycling is dirt cheap. Cycling costs aren't even a pimple on the face of what I used to spend when racing motorycles on travel, tires, entry fees, motorcycle maintenance, motorcycle upgrades, dead cow skin, helmets. For what I spent on destroyed motorcycle helmets, I could have bought a damned nice bicycle.

 

[tt1106]

You can find plenty of good deals too. I probably won't spend 3 or 4 grand on a bicycle. But then again I don't race. I did spend 1000 on a generic bike with Ultegra components and it ries great. At 250, a couple of gams here or there really won't make a difference to me.
I had a Peugeot Aspin (had Shimano 105Sc Groupo. Bought it in 1987 for 570 dollars in Germany. Rode it until
1998. Sold it for 350.
If you get quality stuff, it wil definitely hold it's value.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

In 1974 I ordered a made-to-measure Schwinn Paramount model P-13-9 road racing bicycle. Full Campagnolo record, Unicanitor buffalo hide saddle, Clemente Criterium Seta Extra silk sew-ups, matching Silca Impero frame pump. It came with a Campagnolo tool set and all that set me back $660.

In 1974 I made $11 and change on the hour. That top-of-the-line machine cost me about a week and a half wages, give or take.

A 'near' top end, off the rack road racer might put a $4k dent in my wallet. A full-blown custom to match that built-to-order Paramount might just as easily kill the better part of $6k. Or more.

That $4k machine, if bought on 60 hours worth of my time works out to about $67/hour.

That $6k custom killer on a 60 hour scale is an even $100/hour.

Price be damned, a 2007 vintage $1000 machine will out-perform the Paramount in almost every respect.

 

[pistole]

- wah , you so old ah ?

 

[DrunkenBiker]

High end bikes are just too expensive!

Theory:
Just seems to me that the people with the money to buy the best are the ones least likely to take advantage of the best.

Practice:
That's how it all works. If you have the money and want a 6k bike then go for it. Or that 23k custom job that Bicycling mag had a few months ago. Damn that thing was sweet. Is it worth it ?? I don't know. But if I had the money to burn....I'd get it.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

- wah , you so old ah ?

Let's put it this way...I still have that Paramount and it's in a damn sight better shape than I!

 

[JTE83]

Hey Alienator I buy both from bikes shops or ebay. My latest purchase - a Trek 2.1 spa was bought from a bike shop for $1515 after tax instead of the $1003 the same bike sold for on ebay. Bought from the store mainly because of the warranty.

I think back in 2004 you could have bought the top of the line Giant TCR with Dura Ace & Ksyrium SLs for $3500. Nowadays I think it's $5500?

And a Madone with Race Lites in 2005 cost about $2750.

Yeah, rich people walk into bikes shops and just buy the most expensive bike there is. Saw it happen at Kozy's where a guy told his girlfriend to buy that decked out CF Specialized Tarmac.

Gee, a Madone with Race X lite will cost you $5829.99 according to Trek -
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2008/road/madone/madone65/

I'd rather just buy the F & F and build up a bike myself at that price!

But for a $5800 bike I'd only look at a Cervelo!

I wouldn't have been able to afford my $9K CF Cervelo ergomo pro Zipp 404 if it wasn't for ebay. Probably spent $5700 on it...

 

[Phill P]

Over the past 3 years since buying my bike I have spent about $3000 on the bike, parts, and servicing. I've done in excess of 10,000km (I'm a rec rider, not training for races etc).

So per km my bike has cost me 30c/km. I go out for a 100km bike ride and effectively that costs me $30.

(yes I understand the longer I keep my bike the cheaper it gets, but I'm about to have to service the BB and right brifter soon).

I think $30 is a lot for an enjoyable 3-4 hour bit of exercise. When I was single and renting is was loose change to buy the bike. Now I have a mortage buying a new bike of the same standard is a huge hurdle .

In many motor sport grades they have looked at ways to make things cheaper so more people could afford to particapate, but I can't see this working in cycling. You can buy a bike and put 10,000km on it for less than I paid. OK the bike isn't as nice but it will still do the job.

Cycling has a huge snob factor to it. The better you get the bigger the snobs you tend to end up riding with. We are also greedy and want those lovely expensive bikes (human nature).

The fact is the bikes we on this website (all bike snobs to some degree) consider junk are better bikes than won the TdF back in the 80s.

Will a 105/veloce equiped bike, with Al frame and carbon fork do 10,000km (with servicing)? YES! Will it be more cost effective than a bike 3 times its price? YES! Will it be 3 times slower or 3 times less reliable? NO!

The fact is to get a certian level of "performance" you have to pay a certian price. But the bikes performa at a much higher standard these days as well.

If you have the money and want to spend it, go for it...........if you don't then learn to live with what you can afford, stop complaining, and ride the wheels off it and enjoy passing middle aged men on thier over priced bikes!

BTW maybe bikes are costing so much more in the states because the bottom has fallen out of the USD

 

[ohgodnooo!]

Yes, our sad little dollar doesn't pedal very far these days. I think the increase in bike cost has alot to do with the timely convergence of new ten speed groups and the increased popularity of expensive carbon frames, of which they have been making for twenty years yet increase in cost-to us-everday. It doesn't help that manufacturers seem to be bastardizing their cheaper frames (alu) with parts consumers don't really want. hell maybe they charge thatmuch cause they can.

 

[capwater]

Ya gotta know how to shop for deals. You can get last year's TCR Comp left overs for 1300 - 1800. I have never and will never walk into a bike shop and pay the list price.

 

[dhk2]

Hey Alienator I buy both from bikes shops or ebay. My latest purchase - a Trek 2.1 spa was bought from a bike shop for $1515 after tax instead of the $1003 the same bike sold for on ebay. Bought from the store mainly because of the warranty.

I think back in 2004 you could have bought the top of the line Giant TCR with Dura Ace & Ksyrium SLs for $3500. Nowadays I think it's $5500?

And a Madone with Race Lites in 2005 cost about $2750.

Yeah, rich people walk into bikes shops and just buy the most expensive bike there is. Saw it happen at Kozy's where a guy told his girlfriend to buy that decked out CF Specialized Tarmac.

Gee, a Madone with Race X lite will cost you $5829.99 according to Trek -
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2008/road/madone/madone65/

I'd rather just buy the F & F and build up a bike myself at that price!

But for a $5800 bike I'd only look at a Cervelo!

I wouldn't have been able to afford my $9K CF Cervelo ergomo pro Zipp 404 if it wasn't for ebay. Probably spent $5700 on it...

The high end bikes only cost this much because there are people willing to pay for them. IMO, any "$9K" bike is overpriced in terms of value for money. At this price point, it's way beyond function and all about the bling. Lot's of great bikes are available for $3K or less.

And how about the price of sport cars? I just looked at a Porsche Carrera this morning with a sticker of $96K. Can you believe they cost so much now? I remember when a 911 was $6K.....and I still thought it was overpriced

 

[dbackmtg]

Exactly. Christ, compared to other hobbies, bicycling is dirt cheap. Cycling costs aren't even a pimple on the face of what I used to spend when racing motorycles on travel, tires, entry fees, motorcycle maintenance, motorcycle upgrades, dead cow skin, helmets. For what I spent on destroyed motorcycle helmets, I could have bought a damned nice bicycle.

You've got that right. I had 4 grand in a good helmet, suit, gloves, boots, and givi setup on my old bike. All I did was tour around the country, not race.

 

[Powerful Pete]

Don't look at list price. No one pays that. Or at least, no one should.

 

[bobbyOCR]

Remember, a TCR advanced is a much better frame than anything else Giant offers. A good component spec low price generally means **** frame. If you want to race, find a frame that is built in Taiwan, Is made by a reputable name (Giant, BMC, Bianchi, etc.) with a medium level component spec for the price. This'll usually give you a better 'race' machine, and gives you a nice set of training/race wheels. A company that excels in doing this is Orbea. They put lower end parts (they do give options of higher end stuff) on a superb frame. Their Alma Cup uses the same Julien Absalon WC winning Alma carbon hardtail frame, but retails for less than $3000 (mind you, it is an ordinary component spec).

I'd rather spend $3500 on an SL01 with 105/Ultegra, than a generic POC with Dura Ace.

 

[alienator]

I'd rather spend $3500 on an SL01 with 105/Ultegra, than a generic POC with Dura Ace.

Always with the BMC with you. You know, I hope you realize that it's ok to love your bike, but you shouldn't love your bike.