Things about Bike Equipment that annoy you.

[Feltski]

What bugs me the most is knowing that my 2 bikes wheels cost more than my 4 car wheels.

And to add to what was previously posted about R&D, the reason bike stuff costs so much is bc there is lots of R&D that goes into the bikes/parts, but a relatively small population of customers. Ford spends more time in the wind tunnel designing a car than cervelo (or any company), but their costs of this development is spread out over a much larger population, hense decreasing the cost per item. does a cervelo P4 cost 4500 to make the frame? absolutely not, Im willing to bet their bottom of the line aluminum frame costs less to produce, but not only are you paying for the frame and labor to make it, you are paying for everyone that did work on the design for the 5 years before it came out as well as the marketing and the fact that it has the giant P4 printed on the frame.

Simply put, if you dont like the price of the parts, stop spending $200 to save 50 grams. the only reason companies charge so much is becasue idoits (myself included) will pay for it

 

[Dietmar]

And to add to what was previously posted about R&D, the reason bike stuff costs so much is bc there is lots of R&D that goes into the bikes/parts, but a relatively small population of customers.

No, the reason that stuff costs what it costs is that that is what people are willing to pay for it.

Does a cervelo P4 cost 4500 to make the frame?

Nope, cost of making these is probably 300 bucks or so.

Im willing to bet their bottom of the line aluminum frame costs less to produce, but not only are you paying for the frame and labor to make it, you are paying for everyone that did work on the design for the 5 years before it came out as well as the marketing and the fact that it has the giant P4 printed on the frame.

Ah, see, there you go! The "P4", that's the ticket.

Simply put, if you dont like the price of the parts, stop spending $200 to save 50 grams. the only reason companies charge so much is becasue idoits (myself included) will pay for it

We see things eye-to-eye on this. I am one of these idiots, too...

Same goes for component groups, too, and handlebars, stems, seatposts, sadlles, etc., etc.

Component groups: The cost of a Dura Ace over a 105 group, to Shimano, must be of the order of 50 bucks, yet people happily shell out another grand to get the high-end group over the low-end one.

And don't even try to stop and think about why it is that people pay a hundred bucks or more for an alloy stem. It's completely ridiculous. That stem cost the manufacturer a few bucks!

 

[64Paramount]

I bet the original poster has probably graduated and is back living in in his parent's basement.

After all, 3 years have passed since he started this thread.

 

[alienator]

Whether something costs too much compared to its cost of production is something I am not concerned with. I know how the market works. I know how expensive R&D can be. I know how expensive CF molds can be. I know the manufacturer needs to make money. I mean, making money is a company's raison d'être, ain't it?

I do hate when others tell people what riding should be about, what kit is necessary, what shouldn't exist, what's "bling", and how things were better and cheaper in the old days. I hate that people think they need to tell others that adding another gear is a waste of money. I think it's a waste of breath and energy to go on about there being no necessity for CF, about the expense of Ti, about how aluminum, according to the wive's tales, rides like a buckboard, and how steel is real. I think 98% of the people commenting on frame or kit materials have zero technical knowledge and are talking out their asses.

As for equipment hates. I hate it that I don't own an olive drab Speedvagen road bike. I hate it that I don't yet have a 12-27 cassette for Campy 10s. I hate it that I don't have more Giordana Forma Red bibs. I hate it that I don't own a set of the new Zipp 303's, with the wider tire bed. I hate it that I don't have my own workshop in the house. I really hate it that I don't have the newest Cycling Passion calendar. Otherwise, I'm pretty damned chuffed.

 

[alienator]

I bet the original poster has probably graduated and is back living in in his parent's basement.

After all, 3 years have passed since he started this thread.

Yup, it's a recurring topic on every bike forum on the internet. It's prolly better to keep adding to one thread instead of opening a new thread every time someone's panties get all twisted up because of the cost of some bike bit(s). This single thread can serve as the "History of Kvetching" and be used to instruct children.

 

[PeterF]

Carbon composite frames, yes. Carbon fork spacers, get outta hear!

Carbon stems. They cost a fortune, don't offer any real perfromance advantage over alloy and they usually weigh more. My Record groups have some silly extra carbon bling as well. I suppose it's pretty, but what purpose does a carbon front derailleur cage really serve?

 

[catlike]

I think 98% of the people commenting on frame or kit materials have zero technical knowledge and are talking out their asses.

See nothink wrong here. 98% of people do make comments on politics without knowledges, 98% of people do make comments about national teams performance on World Cup without knowledges.
And how deep technical knowledge do i need to decide and maybe tell others my opinion (if someone wants to know) about do i like or dislike my Al frame, Sora components or Santini bibs?

 

[alienator]

Why are you being so combative?

Wow. You are a truly blessed with scythe like skills of insight.

 

[Peter@vecchios]

See nothink wrong here. 98% of people do make comments on politics without knowledges, 98% of people do make comments about national teams performance on World Cup without knowledges.
And how deep technical knowledge do i need to decide and maybe tell others my opinion (if someone wants to know) about do i like or dislike my Al frame, Sora components or Santini bibs?

I don't like tomatoes.

 

[dhk2]

My gripe is obsolesence, that is, lack of support from the manufacturer for stuff made more than a few years ago. Case in point: FSA no longer sells the BB bearings for the "Megatech OS BB" (for ISIS) which they promoted back in 2002-04. The answer from tech support recently was a terse "FSA no longer supports this design". So, those of us who jumped on the bandwagon for their OS integrated design with our custom frames are now left to search the world for replacement bearings. Without the 27x43x8 bearings, suppose I can try to "restore" the gritty bearings we've got, or perhaps modify the BB shell with some kind of bonded insert to accept another design.

I suspect Shimano and Campagnolo spare parts are much easier to obtain as bikes age. For people like me who keep their bikes forever, availability of spare parts into the future is an important issue.

 

[alienator]

See nothink wrong here. 98% of people do make comments on politics without knowledges, 98% of people do make comments about national teams performance on World Cup without knowledges.
And how deep technical knowledge do i need to decide and maybe tell others my opinion (if someone wants to know) about do i like or dislike my Al frame, Sora components or Santini bibs?

Ease up, princess. I was just stating what I hated.

Kisses

 

[64Paramount]

My gripe is obsolesence, that is, lack of support from the manufacturer for stuff made more than a few years ago. Case in point: FSA no longer sells the BB bearings for the "Megatech OS BB" (for ISIS) which they promoted back in 2002-04. The answer from tech support recently was a terse "FSA no longer supports this design". So, those of us who jumped on the bandwagon for their OS integrated design with our custom frames are now left to search the world for replacement bearings. Without the 27x43x8 bearings, suppose I can try to "restore" the gritty bearings we've got, or perhaps modify the BB shell with some kind of bonded insert to accept another design.

I suspect Shimano and Campagnolo spare parts are much easier to obtain as bikes age. For people like me who keep their bikes forever, availability of spare parts into the future is an important issue.

Yeah, that does suck when you have equipment that is less than 10 years old and the company no longer makes replacement parts or provides support.

That would not be a company I would consider when making purchases in the future.