Nice bicycles are stupid expensive.

[Scouzer]

I don't mean Walmart bikes. I mean if you want to get any sort of quality brand name, you're looking at the high hundreds or thousands of dollars.

This really struck me when I saw a classified ad for a bike that went along the lines "Bought new for $3000, selling for $1800. Will trade for a car or trailer"

...a bicycle... for a car. Crazy. What's there to a bike? Not much in terms of parts.

Glad I bought my bike used off a coworker for $25. The front wheel is bent to hell and rubs against the brakes, big deal.

I don't get it. These bikes must have markups that rival the fashion industry.

 

[Riceninja]

yeah, i know ppl making 40k a year that blow 2000 on a bike. i lol'd hard. like dude...you're barely paying the rent.

 

[Koing]

£600-£1000 gets you a solid bike.

You may not care that your front wheel is bent to f0ck and rubs against the brakes. But if you race are just in to bikes it's natural to want something 'nice' even if you don't use it to it's full potential.

See those cats and dogs you have? Some people don't care about animals and would never think of dropping £400 on bred pets etc.

Also riding a bike is much more environmentally friendly then a car and is a great form of exercise when your not road kill. And you don't pay any car parking fees

Koing

 

[EGGO]

I wanted an old-style cruiser bike. Turns out those things are high in demand and pretty expensive. I also want an old-style motorcycle like this: http://www.imz-ural.com/sahara/gallery.htm# but that's $13,000, as much as a new car for some people!

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Nicer bikes are buttery smooth to ride on, stay buttery smooth for quite some time, and are very easy to work on from a mechanic's perspective. You don't have to go for a $2000+ bike. A $700 used bike will be amazing and last practically forever.

 

[akshatp]

I just spent $230 each on entry level diamondback mtn bikes for me and the wife after sale / coupon. You dont have to spend $3000 on a "really good bike" you can get away with a decent one. Im not looking to take it to the x-games, just casual mtn biking.

 

[dman]

There are bikes for all price points. It's just like anything else really.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Just like everything else, you can buy a $150 bike or can buy a $3000 bike. There will be differences in quality and how long it lasts among other things.

 

[nerp]

I like my bike. I bought it used for $1,000 and new it was about $2,500. The advantage to buying a bike like this is it doesn't way a half ton. It's light and I don't have to worry about the rims bending when I hit a bump, etc. You get what you pay for.

 

[edro]

Safeway response in 3....2....

 

[Homerboy]

Can you believe people spend $100K on cars? Or $2.5M on a house? Or pay $30 for a pizza when a frozen one is $2.50? Hell I can get a hooker for $10 instead of those high-priced "escorts" too. People are so stupid.

 

[akshatp]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
Can you believe people spend $100K on cars? Or $2.5M on a house? Or pay $30 for a pizza when a frozen one is $2.50? Hell I can get a hooker for $10 instead of those high-priced "escorts" too. People are so stupid.

/thread

 

[squirrel dog]

Scouzer,a good bike shop can fix that front rim,most do it for little or nothing.

 

[StageLeft]

Markups on these are pretty high. The high-end bikes don't really surprise me as they move so few units that, for example, a carbon frame in a particular size with its cast and processes to create must cost a lot. I don't know how various parts like a derailleur can continue to cost so much even after so many units ship, though.

If you race you need a half-decent bike, but plenty of people overspend and under-train and no bike is going to make up for that. In a tri this past weekend I shot past a guy on the bike leg and my $1000 bike was worth less than his rear _wheel_ (carbon disc wheel).

I imagine it's like any sport. You can buy more expensive and it's a little better, but diminishing returns. Surely a pro cyclist could turn up on a $500 to any local criterium and destroy the competition, just as Tiger Woods would still play a great game on a set of clubs costing a few hundred bucks from Dicks.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
I don't mean Walmart bikes. I mean if you want to get any sort of quality brand name, you're looking at the high hundreds or thousands of dollars.

This really struck me when I saw a classified ad for a bike that went along the lines "Bought new for $3000, selling for $1800. Will trade for a car or trailer"

...a bicycle... for a car. Crazy. What's there to a bike? Not much in terms of parts.

Glad I bought my bike used off a coworker for $25. The front wheel is bent to hell and rubs against the brakes, big deal.

I don't get it. These bikes must have markups that rival the fashion industry.

How much titanium and carbon fiber do you think will be on that $1800 car?

When bikes start getting in the multiple thousands range, you start seeing those expensive materials used, along with flagship components. The bikes are designed for competition level performance. where shaving ounces off the weight becomes a big deal.

I do sometimes have to resist pimp slapping the trail slugs decked out like pro riders, on 6K+ MTBs though :evil:

 

[edro]

You underestimate the costs involved in engineering and fabricating a high end piece of equipment.

 

[MiniDoom]

your wheel may just be out of true. go have the spokes checked at the lbs.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I think everything pertinent about bike pricing has been covered here. A $3,000 bike will ride nicer, shift more smoothly, brake more evenly, last longer, etc. And you can get some of those same qualities in a $400.00 bike as well. Sorry about your rim, that can be fixed you know, right?

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: squirrel dog
Scouzer,a good bike shop can fix that front rim,most do it for little or nothing.

:thumbsup:
Paid $20 plus a dollar a spoke to fix a broken spoke and bent rim the other day.

 

[Gibson486]

I just paid $420 for my bike. Honestly, I never imagined that I'd spend that much on a bike, but decent ones cost that much now. If you spend more than 1k on a bike, you are a serious biker. You ar probably the type that does Pan Mass or something. What really gets me are people who spends over $600 on a commuter/hybrid or those single speed bikes....

 

[Kaido]

You can spend like $16,000 on a bike if you really wanted to. The top Trek Madone goes for around $8,000 by itself, no gear included. The tires retail for around $2,000 - I'd hate to have to replace them after a couple season :Q

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Markups on these are pretty high. The high-end bikes don't really surprise me as they move so few units that, for example, a carbon frame in a particular size with its cast and processes to create must cost a lot. I don't know how various parts like a derailleur can continue to cost so much even after so many units ship, though.

If you race you need a half-decent bike, but plenty of people overspend and under-train and no bike is going to make up for that. In a tri this past weekend I shot past a guy on the bike leg and my $1000 bike was worth less than his rear _wheel_ (carbon disc wheel).

I imagine it's like any sport. You can buy more expensive and it's a little better, but diminishing returns. Surely a pro cyclist could turn up on a $500 to any local criterium and destroy the competition, just as Tiger Woods would still play a great game on a set of clubs costing a few hundred bucks from Dicks.

mark ups are NOT that high on bikes no matter what price range. In fact the %age mark-up is pretty much the same across the board for the bike stores.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

A lot of people at my work have multi-thousand dollar bikes. We joke around because atleast one person paid as much as their bike as someone paid for their R6. (and the R6 doesn't need to be pedaled)

 

[MiniDoom]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
What really gets me are people who spends over $600 on a commuter/hybrid or those single speed bikes....

A nice track bike can cost well over $2k. I built my fixed track bike for about $1k.

 

[waggy]

i love my specilized expedition. it was around $400 and well worth the money.