Why are bikes so expensive…

[pete75]

pete75 your bike looks like my Dawes 1-Down now I have got it sorted

dawes 1-down.jpg

Yep and it looks like we both have longish legs......

[vjosullivan]

At what price does a bike become expensive?

'Affordable' or 'not affordable'. There is no 'expensive'.

[c53204]

It's all relative....

I would never spend £1000 on a shirt, some people do.

I buy stuff that I think will last a long time and be reliable. You can however pay way over the odds for something that is outdated very quickly and cost the Earth - Formula one cars, MotoGP bikes, oh and racing (pro) level bicycles.

[Phil Fouracre]

Disagree with OP, not expensive, you can buy bog standard from Halfords. Surely price is relative, spend whatever you want, it's all down to individual choice? Personally, bought a pedelec, thought it was something I would never do, for physio after a bad accident. We already have eight bikes between the two of us, it cost £1500, worth every penny!

[[XAP]Bob]

Bikes cost what you will pay.

Choose your spec, shop around, choose a label, pay your price.

My main bike (trike actually) would be ~£3.5k to replace as it's kitted out at the moment, but then it is my main form of transport - it's cheaper than most cars (given that it's now done nearly 4 years and retains the vast majority of it's value) and costs me ~£100-£150 a year on things like tyres/brakes/drive train maintenance/parts.

My upwrong cost me ~£100 second (third? fourth?) hand, with the few "extras" I've put on (including gearing changes) it will total under £200 including Carradice luggage front and rear. That does include some items out of stock (bars the came off a friends wrecked allez, old aero levers and brake cables).

[Sooper8]

And to put into perspective, the obsession with and economy built around petrol engines is literally costing us the earth.

[whoof]

Someone has said (I can't seem to work the quote thing) that "As a price comparison, in 1940, the Claude Butler Tour d'Angleterre full 531 race bike was £17.17.00"
A quick search and the pay for a labourer in 1940 was £2.43 for a 50 hour week. To buy the Claude Butler he would have to work 367 hours. Today 367 hours at minimum wage is £2387
These all look very good value in comparison
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/pu/road-t ... dition/1ra

[mjr]

Any bling draped Mamils here who have the answer? Or are CTC Forum members more pragmatic?

What would be your maximum sensible spend?

I agree with the early commenters: looking at the top end of the market is misleading. The maximum can be anything, the minimum is rarely below zero.

CTC Forum members probably are more pragmatic: if nothing else, the steady stream of second-hand adverts on here are informative.

I think my maximum sensible spend would be about £500, but there are some dribblingly gorgeous new bikes in the £500-900 bracket. For comparison, I've spent between £0 and £300 on bikes in the past but always kept some £ in reserve because they've never come with everything I wanted and new bikes often seem incompatible with the parts of the one replaced: 27x1¼ racer to 700c hybrid was the worst for that.

Things seem to be a bit odd in the £900-1000 range. Is it a consequence of compromising features to squeeze under the cycle to work scheme limit?

[geocycle]

I don't think they are expensive - on average. But, the lid has come off at the top end of the range. Even Cycling plus never used to have many bikes over £3k, now ones in the £5k band are not unusual and the £10k 'superbike' has emerged. So, I guess some folk are prepared to pay this kind of price

[al_yrpal]

Disagree with OP, not expensive, you can buy bog standard from Halfords. Surely price is relative, spend whatever you want, it's all down to individual choice? Personally, bought a pedelec, thought it was something I would never do, for physio after a bad accident. We already have eight bikes between the two of us, it cost £1500, worth every penny!

Dont misunderstand me, I just posted this because I think its a daft observation. I think that most people who post here are cycle tourists although in my direct experience most CTC members arent. And, most of us just buy bikes between £300 to £1500 although a few invest in a Rohlhoff equipped Thorn or similar for a bit more. It seems to be the roadies who go for expensive bling bikes. I speak to quite a few Mamils on my rides and they all seem very proud of their expensive machines which are only very slightly better than a £400 Decathlon road bike. Its all about the 'designer' syndrome IMO. ie style over substance

Al

[honesty]

I do think style over substance has a little to do with it, but in my view its actually the law of diminishing returns that has a greater impact. Its easier and cheaper to go from a bike design that is 12kg to 10kg, than it is to go from 10kg to 8kg, which in turn is easier than 8kg to 6kg, and so on.

[pete75]

Someone thinks bikes are so expensive obviously never see for sale adverts like this viewtopic.php?f=40&t=89954

[andrewk]

Bikes are generally overpriced for what they are. A cursory comparison of bike prices with motorbike prices or car prices bears this out, you get much less for your money when buying a bicycle. Are bike makers incredibly inefficient or are profit margins overly fat?

[Ayesha]

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/how-mu ... 280/012014

From the horse's mouth. 2011 vintage.

Have to wait for 2014 figures next year.

[Mick F]

Bikes are generally overpriced for what they are. A cursory comparison of bike prices with motorbike prices or car prices bears this out, you get much less for your money when buying a bicycle. Are bike makers incredibly inefficient or are profit margins overly fat?

I sort of agree with you, but there's something at the back of my mind that says I don't.

Bikes have an enormous amount of small highly-accurate bits. Accurate bearings for instance aren't cheap to manufacture especially in the smaller sizes that a bike requires. Also, there's economy of scale for the production line. Cars are built by robots by the million worldwide, no doubt bikes could be too, but I don't think many folk reading this would want a Model T Ford of a bicycle.