The cost of bikes

[iandriver]

So the Aldi bike: garbage hubs, brakes, bottom bracket, headset. All the stuff you cannot see but that's a total pain on reliability.
I'd buy the Specialized every time.

You are also comparing retail prices in Australia with the UK, despite different delivery distances from China (where that Aldi bike is in all probability made) and above all totally different taxation: VAT is 10% in Australia for starters.

The Aldi bike is made in Indonesia.

I live in Indonesia, I have a slightly higher end version of the bike, cost £300 at retail from bike shops (I suspect much less at wholesale, the Aldi cost in Australia is cheaper than retail in Indonesia for example, as Indonesia doesn't have an Aldi concept), there are Shimano hubs, threadless headset, Shimano hydraulic brakes, Deore derailleur/shifters/cranks, Octalink bottom bracket, Optislick cables/Shimano OP41 lubricated outers, all good stuff.

Most of the cost in the UK is just markup upon markup.

Can you link to some Indonesian websites showing that kind of spec for £300.00 please.

[thelawnet]

So the Aldi bike: garbage hubs, brakes, bottom bracket, headset. All the stuff you cannot see but that's a total pain on reliability.
I'd buy the Specialized every time.

You are also comparing retail prices in Australia with the UK, despite different delivery distances from China (where that Aldi bike is in all probability made) and above all totally different taxation: VAT is 10% in Australia for starters.

The Aldi bike is made in Indonesia.

I live in Indonesia, I have a slightly higher end version of the bike, cost £300 at retail from bike shops (I suspect much less at wholesale, the Aldi cost in Australia is cheaper than retail in Indonesia for example, as Indonesia doesn't have an Aldi concept), there are Shimano hubs, threadless headset, Shimano hydraulic brakes, Deore derailleur/shifters/cranks, Octalink bottom bracket, Optislick cables/Shimano OP41 lubricated outers, all good stuff.

Most of the cost in the UK is just markup upon markup.

Can you link to some Indonesian websites showing that kind of spec for £300.00 please.

https://www.bukalapak.com/p/sepeda/full ... a-6-0-2016

Cheaper brand here around £250
https://fjb.kaskus.co.id/product/5a7c54 ... lite-2018/

Spec: Shimano centerlock hub/Shimano hydraulic brakes/rotors, Deore RD/front/rear shifter, Sunrace FD, Suntour XCM fork, Prowheel Octalink bb/crank

[iandriver]

The Aldi bike is made in Indonesia.

I live in Indonesia, I have a slightly higher end version of the bike, cost £300 at retail from bike shops (I suspect much less at wholesale, the Aldi cost in Australia is cheaper than retail in Indonesia for example, as Indonesia doesn't have an Aldi concept), there are Shimano hubs, threadless headset, Shimano hydraulic brakes, Deore derailleur/shifters/cranks, Octalink bottom bracket, Optislick cables/Shimano OP41 lubricated outers, all good stuff.

Most of the cost in the UK is just markup upon markup.

Can you link to some Indonesian websites showing that kind of spec for £300.00 please.

https://www.bukalapak.com/p/sepeda/full ... a-6-0-2016

Cheaper brand here around £250
https://fjb.kaskus.co.id/product/5a7c54 ... lite-2018/

Spec: Shimano centerlock hub/Shimano hydraulic brakes/rotors, Deore RD/front/rear shifter, Sunrace FD, Suntour XCM fork, Prowheel Octalink bb/crank

So basically back street sellers in ultra low cost areas selling on forums. How long would a company selling in the UK last with those markups with UK rents, bills and wages? Bike shops aren't getting rich quick over here, they are going out of business at an alarming rate. Sorry to be cynical, but I really don't see how the comparison stacks up.

[thelawnet]

Can you link to some Indonesian websites showing that kind of spec for £300.00 please.

https://www.bukalapak.com/p/sepeda/full ... a-6-0-2016

Cheaper brand here around £250
https://fjb.kaskus.co.id/product/5a7c54 ... lite-2018/

Spec: Shimano centerlock hub/Shimano hydraulic brakes/rotors, Deore RD/front/rear shifter, Sunrace FD, Suntour XCM fork, Prowheel Octalink bb/crank

So basically back street sellers in ultra low cost areas selling on forums. How long would a company selling in the UK last with those markups with UK rents, bills and wages? Bike shops aren't getting rich quick over here, they are going out of business at an alarming rate. Sorry to be cynical, but I really don't see how the comparison stacks up.

Well I started off with Aldi in Australia, to be fair. I was just pointing out that I use the same bike brand that Aldi sell. As to how they sell it, I believe it is because there is a fairly long-standing importer. https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/ Aldi sells them a fair bit cheaper.

As for how much it costs to run a bike shop in the UK, that was never my point, clearly the 'markup' disappears to various parts, my point was more that to some extent 'a bicycle' does not cost nearly as much to build as people might assume. You can get, for example, a Chinese smartphone into the UK at a very reasonable cost, but the same is not true of bikes.

My current position is that there is no useful bike shop where I am so it's all DIY for me.

PS. For what it's relevant, the manufacturer also owns a chain of bike shops in city-centre locations in Indonesia, however they sell at full RRP for obvious reasons. They also do direct sale. Forum/internet sale isn't really very big yet in Indonesia and you get the best price by walking into an independent retailer and asking for their best price, the best prices aren't even published online, shopping is quite different here...

[hamster]

A friend of mine did 6 months as a management trainee at Aldi. They paid him for half a day, the rest he was expected to work for nothing as (quote) 'overtime'. As a result it was below the minimum wage. What nice people.

That's one of the ways they are so cheap. It that's OK for you, fair do. I assume you also don't mind wearing clothes stitched by children, illegally logged furniture etc.

[thelawnet]

A friend of mine did 6 months as a management trainee at Aldi. They paid him for half a day, the rest he was expected to work for nothing as (quote) 'overtime'. As a result it was below the minimum wage. What nice people.

That's one of the ways they are so cheap. It that's OK for you, fair do. I assume you also don't mind wearing clothes stitched by children, illegally logged furniture etc.

Well that all sounds a bit libellous frankly. And rather beside the point in that on some level most of the components on even very expensive bicycles are made by a poorly paid person working in sub-UK labour conditions in a developing country, it is impossible to take the high ground in that respect.

I can't offer too too much sympathy for a UK-resident management trainee claiming to have been short-changed on the NMW. Take them to small claims court if that's really true. Unpleasant overtime is a far cry from child labour and illegal logging (and I see both where I live, and the comparison is rather trite).

[reohn2]

Going off what I've been told about Shimano it's the importer who's to blaim for ripoff prices.
Story alert,
Some years ago my LBS used to sell Colnago either frameset or he'd build it up to whatever spec you liked Campag or Shimano.
I was in one day and noticed he only had one Colnago in the shop and asked why,thinking he could get enough of them.
He told me he'd been given an ultimatum by the importer,there'd been complaints he'd been selling them too cheaply so either charge full price or they'd stop his tap,he chose the later.
I know this chap to be an honest hard working salt of the earth kind of man,and will not make a killing on his customers.

BTW see the story on this thread about UK service and caravan prices:- viewtopic.php?f=18&t=125793