‘Good’ bikes are now just too expensive!
Discussion
Nice bikes are now crazy money that makes upgrading the bike unjustifiable to me and surely a lot of us?
If you want a new bike for whatever reason that is not essential......
Either you keep your budget tight and probably get such marginal gains it’s not worth it
Or, you get a much better bike by paying A LOT more. Which is very difficult to justify when money probably should be put in to something else. It’s not as if many of us NEED a faster bike. I’m not actually competing!
It’s a shame because I love modifying and improving things, always did the same with cars. Stopped spending money on cars when I picked up cycling but the price of bikes and bike bits is now more on a par with car stuff. It seems to me anyway?
I started by getting a road bike on the C2W scheme. I then treated myself to a 2nd hand Titanium frame last year and kitted out with some nice components and mechanical Sram red groupset.
To get a noticeable better, faster, aero, lighter bike, will cost thousands.
And even then, do they make riding that much more enjoyable?
Will (relative) costs ever come down?
How do people justify it in their mind if they’re not competing?
How many people spend more on a bike than their car is worth?
Do I just need a better job? Don’t answer that one.....
If you want a new bike for whatever reason that is not essential......
Either you keep your budget tight and probably get such marginal gains it’s not worth it
Or, you get a much better bike by paying A LOT more. Which is very difficult to justify when money probably should be put in to something else. It’s not as if many of us NEED a faster bike. I’m not actually competing!
It’s a shame because I love modifying and improving things, always did the same with cars. Stopped spending money on cars when I picked up cycling but the price of bikes and bike bits is now more on a par with car stuff. It seems to me anyway?
I started by getting a road bike on the C2W scheme. I then treated myself to a 2nd hand Titanium frame last year and kitted out with some nice components and mechanical Sram red groupset.
To get a noticeable better, faster, aero, lighter bike, will cost thousands.
And even then, do they make riding that much more enjoyable?
Will (relative) costs ever come down?
How do people justify it in their mind if they’re not competing?
How many people spend more on a bike than their car is worth?
Do I just need a better job? Don’t answer that one.....
Expensive bicycles are just an exercise in emptying peoples wallets. Nothing more than that.
When you can buy an incredibly well designed and flawlessly engineered brand new Honda motorcycle from £2500, you know there is seriously something wrong when you pay more than that for a bicycle that we all know didn’t cost anywhere near the same amount to design, test, and manufacture.
When you can buy an incredibly well designed and flawlessly engineered brand new Honda motorcycle from £2500, you know there is seriously something wrong when you pay more than that for a bicycle that we all know didn’t cost anywhere near the same amount to design, test, and manufacture.
High bikes have always been expensive, I really struggled reconciling the bespoke Reynolds frame cost in the early 90’s first time around. Bespoke and lightness costs, and always will. The £ being devalued against the other major currencies over the past few years hasn’t helped.
Two wheels have always been disproportionately more expensive than 4, as more bits are on show. My last exhaust on the motorcycle cost around £1500, saved around 12kg and looked so pretty.
Unless you’re racing, where overall package weight makes a difference. Personally I’d take a reasonable bike weight, with some nice hubs and comfort any day.
Two wheels have always been disproportionately more expensive than 4, as more bits are on show. My last exhaust on the motorcycle cost around £1500, saved around 12kg and looked so pretty.
Unless you’re racing, where overall package weight makes a difference. Personally I’d take a reasonable bike weight, with some nice hubs and comfort any day.
Nice anything costs a lot.
A custom shop Fender Stratocaster is north of £3000 whilst its budget Squire Affinity is £160 - exactly the same number of parts, same materials (to a degree) and in the hands of a half decent player both sound great so why bother with the Fender? This applies to cars, cookers, clothes and everything else you can think of, there's always a more expensive version (which normally functions a bit better, looks a nicer design and lasts a bit longer)
My view is if you can afford it go for it, you're a long time dead and I see no point lying on your death bed thinking a least the kids will get a big pot of cash when you're gone.
A custom shop Fender Stratocaster is north of £3000 whilst its budget Squire Affinity is £160 - exactly the same number of parts, same materials (to a degree) and in the hands of a half decent player both sound great so why bother with the Fender? This applies to cars, cookers, clothes and everything else you can think of, there's always a more expensive version (which normally functions a bit better, looks a nicer design and lasts a bit longer)
My view is if you can afford it go for it, you're a long time dead and I see no point lying on your death bed thinking a least the kids will get a big pot of cash when you're gone.
Edited by oddball1313 on Saturday 28th December 15:34
Simes205 said:
My bikes have cost me quite a lot of money but I ride them a lot and the cost per ride over time has reduced . That’s one way to look at it!
When you ride a bike for the second time, its cost per ride is halved. When you ride it for the thoudsandth time, the cost per ride barely changes.You need to ride a bike twice, and then swap it for a new one, otherwise you're wasting your time, financially-speaking.
Brads67 said:
egor110 said:
It's always good when you get a decent cyclist/triathlete enter a race on a modest bike .
Especially when they hand the cheque book cyclists there ass .
Why? why is that good. Does it make jealous people feel better ? Is it because decent athletes are bitter?.Especially when they hand the cheque book cyclists there ass .
And what's a cheque book cyclist when it's at home - if it's someone who has more money than you then you're going to go through life pretty depressed with that outlook.
Another thing by the way it's 'THEIR'
Coming from cars, road bikes seem good value.
As has been said before the cost per mile reduces over time and you don't have such big running costs as a car (tax, insurance and petrol).
Still hard to justify a £10k bike over a £5k bike. Especially when current was £2k reduced to £1.4k.
The more you ride and enjoy them the easier they are to justify plus you get the added health benefits.
As has been said before the cost per mile reduces over time and you don't have such big running costs as a car (tax, insurance and petrol).
Still hard to justify a £10k bike over a £5k bike. Especially when current was £2k reduced to £1.4k.
The more you ride and enjoy them the easier they are to justify plus you get the added health benefits.
egor110 said:
It's always good when you get a decent cyclist/triathlete enter a race on a modest bike .
Especially when they hand the cheque book cyclists there ass .
Chances are those 'cheque book cyclists' spent a smaller percentage of their disposable income than the 'decent cyclist/triathlete' did Especially when they hand the cheque book cyclists there ass .
This 'bikes are so expensive now' question comes along every few months.
Top end bikes always have been expensive, and always will be. Trickle down means lower end bikes are FAR better than they used to be. In fact a week ago I picked up a Liv Langma for my sister as her first bike - admittedly on sale but 6.5kg carbon aero bike with full Ultegra for a grand? Thats incredible value.
Aside from that - why not indulge a hobby?
"what's the point in having an expensive fast bike" is exactly the same question as "what's the point in having a car that can go over the speed limit" and it's usually asked by people who put more effort into being bitter about what they haven't got than enjoying what they have.
I'm very fortunate - this year I've bought two dream bikes. I don't need either of them over bikes costing 1/4 the amount, but I wanted them - and don't have to justify that to anybody
The fact is, it's OK to buy something just because you want it. There will always always be someone else who has a more expensive / newer / better spec version of whatever you have in life - don't waste your life wondering / begrudging how and why other people have the things that they have - enjoy what you do.
Top end bikes always have been expensive, and always will be. Trickle down means lower end bikes are FAR better than they used to be. In fact a week ago I picked up a Liv Langma for my sister as her first bike - admittedly on sale but 6.5kg carbon aero bike with full Ultegra for a grand? Thats incredible value.
Aside from that - why not indulge a hobby?
"what's the point in having an expensive fast bike" is exactly the same question as "what's the point in having a car that can go over the speed limit" and it's usually asked by people who put more effort into being bitter about what they haven't got than enjoying what they have.
I'm very fortunate - this year I've bought two dream bikes. I don't need either of them over bikes costing 1/4 the amount, but I wanted them - and don't have to justify that to anybody
The fact is, it's OK to buy something just because you want it. There will always always be someone else who has a more expensive / newer / better spec version of whatever you have in life - don't waste your life wondering / begrudging how and why other people have the things that they have - enjoy what you do.
Edited by keith2.2 on Saturday 28th December 17:20
Coming from mountain bikes and getting more and more into the roadie stuff I actually think road bikes are very good value for money.
You can pick up a 105 equipped aluminium frame, carbon fork, tubeless ready road bike for about £800 brand new if you’re open to last years model or shop around. That road bike will comfortably do all of what most riders need. Stick some decent tyres on and it’ll be spot on.
An £800 mountain bike on the other hand will by and large be trash, with budget suspension, heavy wheels, QR axles rather than bolt through etc particularly when it comes to the rougher or more downhill orientated aspects.
Second hand road bikes are also a bargain compared to mountain bikes.
You can pick up a 105 equipped aluminium frame, carbon fork, tubeless ready road bike for about £800 brand new if you’re open to last years model or shop around. That road bike will comfortably do all of what most riders need. Stick some decent tyres on and it’ll be spot on.
An £800 mountain bike on the other hand will by and large be trash, with budget suspension, heavy wheels, QR axles rather than bolt through etc particularly when it comes to the rougher or more downhill orientated aspects.
Second hand road bikes are also a bargain compared to mountain bikes.
Brads67 said:
egor110 said:
It's always good when you get a decent cyclist/triathlete enter a race on a modest bike .
Especially when they hand the cheque book cyclists there ass .
Why? why is that good. Does it make jealous people feel better ? Is it because decent athletes are bitter?.Especially when they hand the cheque book cyclists there ass .
I spend the bare minimum on my daily driver which only really gets used on the odd evening an weekend. My 83 Series Land Rover is just a money pit and I don't even track how much I have spent on that yet it still isn't on the road!!
I have Five bikes in the stable including one 20 year old MTB, a Brompton, posh road bike and my first road bike which is now 11 years old and far from standard. Shouldn't have bothered modifying the first road bike.
The Brompton and the posh road bike were both CTW bikes so have only cost me £600 each. Brompton has paid for its self four times over now since I bought it.
If buying an expensive carbon race replica gets you out in the fresh air along with weight loss and associated health benefits, then that is nothing but a good thing IMO.
However you don't need an expensive bike to get out and ride. No one in my regular group in the club rides anything over £1700. In fact my Fuji with it's Cosine wheels and carbon bits is probably the best spec bike there and I do run at the front of the pack, but I'm a few from the front when it comes to the climbs.
I have Five bikes in the stable including one 20 year old MTB, a Brompton, posh road bike and my first road bike which is now 11 years old and far from standard. Shouldn't have bothered modifying the first road bike.
The Brompton and the posh road bike were both CTW bikes so have only cost me £600 each. Brompton has paid for its self four times over now since I bought it.
If buying an expensive carbon race replica gets you out in the fresh air along with weight loss and associated health benefits, then that is nothing but a good thing IMO.
However you don't need an expensive bike to get out and ride. No one in my regular group in the club rides anything over £1700. In fact my Fuji with it's Cosine wheels and carbon bits is probably the best spec bike there and I do run at the front of the pack, but I'm a few from the front when it comes to the climbs.
Ive always stuck to the sub £1k mark for my bikes, be it mountain or road. My hobby has always been tinkering with bikes and rescuing some early 90's mountain bikes and restoring them was my thing.
However i now utilise the c2w scheme at work, got my Kona Hei Hei 2 years ago, my Boardman gravel bike last year and then in a few months will use it to buy parts to upgrade both.
Cycling is only as expensive as you want it to be...you can be competitive on a bike thats a few years old easily if you have the talent.
However i now utilise the c2w scheme at work, got my Kona Hei Hei 2 years ago, my Boardman gravel bike last year and then in a few months will use it to buy parts to upgrade both.
Cycling is only as expensive as you want it to be...you can be competitive on a bike thats a few years old easily if you have the talent.
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