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Does anyone else feel like they are being priced out of the game?
I've had nice, but not expensive kit since I started riding bikes back in the early 90s. Looking at the cost of things I can honestly imagine a time when I'll have to give it up.
Anyone else feel this way or is it just me being a tight arse?
The price of suspension forks is staggering.
It isn't compulsory to buy the most expensive stuff.
There is kit to cover most budgets for 'serious' riders.
Not just you .I would like a new hardtail but you look at the specs and its a good 1500 quid for something thats got goodish wheels and forks
Yep. So I go my own route. My latest carbon HT frame is direct from China. Most of the other bits are nearly new stuff off the classifieds on here. And my own ghetto xx1 type set up,, XT clutch mech and wolftooth chainring. A fraction of what Scott or Cannondale, SRAM, etc would charge me.
The price of suspension forks is staggering.
But almost no one buys them aftermarket.
[i] I can honestly imagine a time when I'll have to give it up.[/i]
And take up what?
Whenever I flick through a magazine I am staggered by the price of some stuff (forks and cassettes recently) but nobody I know buys that stuff. You can get a good full suss for a little over £1k and the last thing I bought was a dropper post for £57.
And take up what?
Dunno. Probably the road bike because components last longer.
1k full suss ,where please?
No, not just you.
I get upset at the rip off pricing these days and have said so on here regularly.
There'll be a bunch of smuggists on shortly bragging that they don't have a problem.
Get the impression that the manufacturers have realised that cycling is now an aspirational activity and are pricing stuff accordingly.
I'm close to jacking it in tbh.
I'm obviously not the target market anymore.
Motorcycling went the same way years ago.
Get the impression that the manufacturers have realised that cycling is now an aspirational activity and are pricing stuff accordingly.
True. I don't even look at the new bikes in the LBS anymore when I'm taking mine in to be patched up. Again. Yet I bet they sell a few £3k full sussers to people who get them just to be ornaments on the top of the BMW.
I did say a little over. This has X9 and Sektors for £10991k full suss ,where please?
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-92-mountain-bike-white-id_8208373.html
.. or X7 and Recons for a penny less than £800
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-91-2013-mountain-bike-black-id_8213074.html
I have found the trick is to have as few gears as possible, and no suspension.
Oh, and have a road bike. My Defy 2, before I sold it for what I paid for it secondhand, did 6/7000 miles on a couple of sets of tyres and only had the chainset/cassette/chain/jockey wheels replaced. Which cost £100-ish for new Tiagra.
...but, one can do quite nicely hoovering up all the cast offs from those who buy a spanky new bike because it fits their aspirational lifestyle....then get rid because they realise it needs to be pedalled.
They look good for the money !
1992 Ringle Seat anodised alloy QR skewer £35
To get something "as good" as a 90s part it's far cheaper. Yes, you could spend £800 on a pair of forks but to out perform my £300 Mag 20s you could buy a pair of £150 recon silvers. Half the price with 20 years inflation to further reduce the cost.
There are always deals on, you've just got to keep your eyes open 🙂
There're plenty of good bikes for around £500. The difference nowadays is that there are more bikes available for £1000s, and more people willing to pay for them compared to the 90s.
+ what johnny said.
Top end pricing has gone bonkers. What has changed is that the low end stuff is now often better than the top end stuff of old. Decent bikes can be built on the same sorts of budgets, they just won't have the top end branding.
But almost no one buys them [s]aftermarket[/s] at full retail price
FTFY
Good point. The best deals are with the likes of Decathlon and Halfords or old stock shifters like Pauls. Or go the second had route.
Where are the LBS going to be when all the rich kids are buying the next big thing?
[edit]They will go the way of other independent high street shops who get steam rollered by the supermarkets and moan when nobody buys from them anymore.[/edit]
The best stuff is not always the most expensive. You can still get good deals second hand. Tracking down the parts cheaply is part of the fun for me. Some of the old stuff is still better than the new stuff anyway. How much difference is there really between for example the old hope minis and the new hope tech. (I do have both by the way) you can still take old stuff and adapt/re-engineer it to make it lighter. When you have the experiance of knowing whats good and whats not then MTB can be a very cheap sport.
I have been buying bits and pieces from sales/deals for years. I reckon the best idea is to buy a good frame from last years stock for about £800. Then swap all the bits from the old frame over and replace when they wear out...then when the frame is knackered do the same again. I couldn't possibly buy a new 3k full suss but this seems to work for me.
Shop around, keep it simple, upgrade slowly, save up, buy second hand etc.
My el Mariachi cost me <£400 to build with swapping bits off old bike/selling old frame. It weighs ~20lb running crests/Thomson/magura/Chris king...
No fandangled suspension or gears but heaps of fun - I'm not leaving any time soon just riding harder
But as long as people are willing to pay for diminishing returns it will continue to be so
I don't remember the last time I bought anything at rrp, and my main bike has (I think) only 4 parts on it that were bought new... But someone's got to buy it so I can buy it off them 😉
I have been buying bits and pieces from sales/deals for years. I reckon the best idea is to buy a good frame from last years stock for about £800
I would struggle to spend 800 quid on the whole bike never mind the frame
Have you seen how good Deore is these days?
Some bonkers prices if you want 'the best' though.
My Deore brakes are 9 years old and work fine
Always use deore kit. Lasts longer than high end kit anyway.
I never bother with the most expensive forks and shocks either as I set them up once and that's it. I prefer to buy stuff that works and is easy to service. Rather spend my time riding than having to send stuff away for service
I think the cost is stupidly high...annoyingly, MTBing seems to be filled with a disproportionate amount of stupid people as they 'happily' pay the price...so manufacturers are happy to keep charging it!
I had a 'chat' on Twitter with STW when they posted up something about a bike that cost stupid amounts of money...it stopped pretty quickly after I asked them when the last time they paid full price for a piece of kit was...
It is expensive, it isn't a niche any more so the high cost isn't just covering R&D...it is expensive as we, the buying MTBers seem happy to keep paying the high prices. Saying that, they are costs that need covered so I don't think they are taking the complete Michael but it isn't far off.
Price of raw materials has dropped but hasn't been reflected in cost savings to punter, but then we are now 'used' to these prices.
Considering how good the equipment is these days I don't think it is that bad. e.g.
Set of Deore brakes for £90
Full SLX groupset for £350
RS 2013 Sektor RL £225
Set of Hope hoops for £250
Bikes like Boardman FS and Canyon Nerve for about a grand
Bikes like Boardman FS and Canyon Nerve for about a grand
One from a supermarket, one from an on line company.
Harry_the_Spider - Member
One from a supermarket, one from an on line company.
And? It's great kit at a great price.
The price of chain guides is pretty silly as well.
price of consumables is the killer, fork seals up from £14 to £24 low friction my arse!
You can get a 2014 10spd clutch mech-ed Deore groupset from [url= http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/mtb-parts/transmission-gears/groupsets-mtb/shimano-deore-m610-disc-brake-groupset.html ]Merlin[/url] including brakes and rotors for £275. That's nuts condsidering how good it is.
3% cashback too from topcashback.
And? It's great kit at a great price.
I have no problem with it, but see my comment about Tesco wiping out the high street.
If I ever buy a new bike it won't be from my LBS, it'll be from Pauls, or Canyon or Halfords and it makes me sad. I know that prices are fixed by the manufacturer/distributor, but when "Mr Must Have" has moved on who will the LBS sell to?
I know that prices are fixed by the manufacturer/distributor
You should hear the complaints distributors get from their customers get about [i]not[/i] controlling prices. Good products, product management and reliable distribution channels keep values and RRPs up but the market decides in the end, and there's plenty of grey import channels or EU sellers.
I don't see how £1000-1500 worth of MTB has significantly declined in VFM in 20 years of riding and I don't see much need to spend more. 2k maybe. What's changed is a bit of exchange rate decline and mainly that some are willing to spend daft sums on really top-end kit. Maybe that's changing perceptions of what 'good kit' is, but the top-end stuff's surely not needed by anyone but the committed racers or all weathers, 20hrs+ a week lot.
I'm thinking that my next bike will be rigid and 29er with second hand bits and bodging where necessary... Road bikes aren't necessarily cheaper tho they get hammered in the winter
You can have a shot on mine to see if you like it. 🙂
I do think it's about time that magazines took a look at the range of prices of items they review. With some exceptions, (the Isla Bike in this issue of Singletrack for example) the well known manufacturers send their high end stuff for review and the cheaper brands/own brands don't seem to, presumably because of their narrower margins. Or at least that's my perception as a reader.
I honestly think that the likes of DHB, Decathlon, Raleigh's components and clothes should included, even if it means the reviewers having to actually buy ( 😯 ) some of the stuff for test.
Nice things in 'costing money' shocker.
If you really want something to gripe about, check out the shifters on the £2600 Saracen ariel 142 (I think) Yep, Acera....
Deore...
Apologies its the 141 (£2250) that has Altus shifters 🙄
http://www.saracen.co.uk/bikes/all-mountain/ariel-141