I mean with everything people wanna put on at some point anyway e.g.
-dropper seatpost
-front and rear lights
-front and rear mudguards
-tubeless tyres set up tubeless already
-pedals
It can’t be that hard to chuck all that into the box at the factory. A nominally higher RRP would be worth it for the convenience so why not?

Choice?!? Why would I pay extra for extra bits I don’t need?

Because:

I’d only want a reverb
I don’t need lights as I have them already (and I don’t need a rear for MTB)
I don’t ever use mudguards
There are multiple options for pedals, and probably hundreds of different styles, all very particular to the user
The tyre sealant would probably have dried up by the time the bike had been exported/imported, and sold.

As it is, I prefer to build a bike from scratch. Complete bikes always come with crap bars, tyres, stems, saddles, BBs, brakes and headsets. I quite like the idea of buying a rolling chassis though. Klein used to do them, and call it a fuselage.

Because alof of people won’t ride at night or in the mud!, what pedals do you ride? Clips oh heres some free flats (or vice versa)

Not everyone wants a dropper.

Not everyone rides at night.

I don’t like mudguards.

Some people may see tubeless as a faff

Flats, spds, what type… Etc.

I mean with everything people wanna put on at some point anyway e.g.
-dropper seatpost
-front and rear lights
-front and rear mudguards
-tubeless tyres set up tubeless already
-pedals
It can’t be that hard to chuck all that into the box at the factory. A nominally higher RRP would be worth it for the convenience so why not?

because its stuff alot of people either

-have
-don’t want
-doesn’t meet their requirements

Lights – personal choice and nor permanently stuck to the bike
Want a specific dropper
Don’t want or need mud guards
Will probably change the tyres as soon as it arrives for something decent
Want specific pedals

I’d prefer if they gave some options on build kits – see Santa Cruz vs specialized for example.
A good LBS should be able to sort you out with tubeless setups, the right pedals, lights etc for you for the extra RRP.

Also the trick with a build kit is to hit a price and a bling and weight point
XTR mech/Deore Cassette and the utterly useless paper thin tyres to make it feel light in the car park. The choice of drivetrain for most is down to who gave the better deal that year for most of the big boys. At the smaller end you might see things like SRAM Drivetrain and Shimano brakes for example.

A lot of the arguments above you could make for tyres, grips and saddles that come on bikes as standard – but at least they’re there to get you rolling. Everyone can ride flats IMO cos everyone has at least one pair of non-SPD shoes 😀

Wonderful arguments there, I just got a new bike the grips are gone, the tyres are changed already. There is too much on a complete bike these days…

The only bike that I ever bought where everything was included (and all I changed was the seat) was a Dutch utility bike. It’s awesome, hub dynamo, lights, ergonomic grips, retracting cable lock/wheel lock combo, mudguards, pannier rack, chainguard, puncture resist tyres, etc etc…

No mountain bike would hit all those sweet spots for me without costing a small fortune and an extensive alternative options list at purchase.

Ie I don’t use mudguards, I use lights but swap them around and am choosy as to what they are, I don’t need a dropper but require specific tyres and pedals, yada yada what other have said.

Lights? Pedals? Muuuuud guards?!

Hell no!

You don’t need a dropper, lights, mudguards or tubeless tyres to get you rolling. Personally it’s only very recently I’ve owned suitable riding shoes for flat pedals.

I very much like the model Rose Bikes use, offering multiple options on their website. Kind of a semi-custom build.

By the nature of people here who know exactly what they want on their bike they will build one up / heavily modify a bike anyway.
But not everyone is like that hence they buy standard bikes off the shelf. As an international playboy myself I simply don’t have the time to build up a bike.
That’s why I think it makes sense for bikes to come with everything. Think of all the people on cheapo bikes they’ve bought from Tesco cycling around at night without lights. That’s no good to anyone.

The Rose model is very good. German bike mfrs/shops generally lead the way IMO

A nominally higher RRP would be worth it for the convenience so why not?

To simplify….
Man walks into bike shop.
Asks to buy bike then adds – but can I have it with

-dropper seatpost
-front and rear lights
-front and rear mudguards
-tubeless tyres set up tubeless already
-pedals

for

A nominally higher RRP

Bike shop person says yes, and gets parts adds to bike and gives to customer in exchange for money. As most bikes need some sort of assembly on arrival it’s not hard.

it makes huge sense for everyday utility bike (i.e. about town) and its something european visitors to bike shops I’ve worked in have always expressed surprise about?

when you suddenly add £100+ to their quote / bill for mudguards, lock, lights, panier rack

from what I have read and heard over the years, many hybrids and utility bikes for the European market come ‘equipped’ whereas for the UK they are produced ‘naked’.

We do see some equipped bikes from time to time (Giant did some ‘city’ models and Ridgeback?), but the exception rather than the norm?

Because people want some choice over what they put on their bike?

I just go a new mountain bike and if it came with a load of guff extras I wouldn’t be happy paying for them

-dropper seatpost – I would only want a reverb stealth
-front and rear lights – already have them
-front and rear mudguards – would possible fit an ass saver but nothing more
-tubeless tyres set up tubeless already – mine was set up tubeless
-pedals some people want flats, some spd, time, etc.

from what I have read and heard over the years, many hybrids and utility bikes for the European market come ‘equipped’ whereas for the UK they are produced ‘naked’.

Trek did their Navigator range with an “Equipped” option for a while – exactly as you said, they came with mudguards, rack, etc etc. Definitely makes sense for that sort of bike. No chance at all for a ‘proper’ mountain bike.

What lights do you include on a £3000 bike? Some shitty £10 LED ones which are no use, or do you bump the price up by several hundred and include some Exposures? What if you already have a set? And so on.

Stupid idea.

Most Enduro/Trail bikes above the poverty spec models (well, £2k) come with droppers now.

Lights are a one off purchase appart form commuters where a degree of ‘built-in’ helps them not go walkies on the bike rack in town. If I was buying a £3k XC race bike would I want lights? Would I want proportionaly spec’d lights, when in reality it’ll mostly get summer use and the £500 singlespeed will more likley be used with the best lights.

Mudguards, maybe a mucky-nuts/neo-guard/ass-defender type thing, but for 90% of people anything else is a horrible clattery brittle POS off road.

Like droppers most mid-high end bikes are spec’d with tubeless rims and tyres, but they’d be a PITA full of dried sealent if they came from the factory like that.

Yea, I’m in the ‘bikes come with too much stuff already’ camp. I’d rather buy a frame and top of the range fork for the same price as the povery spec model and transfer accross old bits, as long as they work the drivetrain, brakes, finishing kit don’t actualy add much to the speed/enjoyment of the bike.

My wife’s bike came with pretty much everything bar the dropper post and tubelessed tyres;

In 2002, when UST was fairly new Spesh specced the S-Works bikes with Crossmax UST wheels and UST tyres. They went down regularly (as sealant hadn’t been considered yet), so you used to have to pump the tyres up on the shop floor every day. This was a ballache.

It also wasn’t much of a selling point!

I mean with everything people wanna put on at some point anyway

^There’s your problem. No one can second-guess what “everyone” wants to put on at some point anyway since people have different requirements. That’s the beauty of being able to cherry pick what you do and don’t want.

– I might want to add a child seat so I can take my kids for a ride; should all MTBs therefore come equipped with a child seat?
– I don’t like to ride with a rucksack; should every MTB come equipped with a frame or saddle bag?
– I’m buying a bike in winter; should every MTB sold in winter come with mud tyres?

etc

mikewsmith has it 🙂

Frankly, I think bikes should come with…

no seat post or saddle
no tyres
no stem/bars/grips
no pedals

these items are all personal prefrence, and likely to be changed..
let the shop spec these with the customer, and offer a lower price

I won’t buy MTB’s built as I never agree with the chosen spec.
I only ever buy a bare frame so I can choose the spec myself.

The bikes I have bought complete are my Kona Minute and the boys Zooom balance bike.

these items are all personal prefrence, and likely to be changed..
let the shop spec these with the customer, and offer a lower price

Why draw the line there?

What if people want to give a bike a spin round the block? Proper test rides precede a minority of purchases. A bike needs to be rideable. Most people won’t change grips, tyres etc, this forum is not representative of most bike buyers. If you’re that fussed about paying for all the stuff you don’t want then just build a bike up.

Personally the only things I kept from my last bike were the frame and fork. Changed everything else, headset, seat clamp, bottom bracket. The lot! Doesn’t mean I think ‘bikes’ should come without anything attached bar a fork!

When I bought my Spesh Enduro in 2003, I rode it initially as it came, with the addition of some bar end. As things wore out / I had the money I replaced things as and when.
As far as Im concerned owning a bike is very much an organic process and is a constantly evolving entity.
Thats part of the fun of owning a bike for me.
The bike is still ridden today and nothing bar the seat post clamp remains from the original bike.
Bikes are made to a price point, so there are compromises in specification etc. Otherwise every bike would be made with XTR and top of the range kit and a price tag to match.

I wish they came with a spare mech hanger though – I’d rather pay a couple of pounds extra at point of purchase than write one off and then think – yes that’s what I forgot to sort out