[Closed] The rising cost of biking....

No.

Buy cheaper stuff.

Hope that helps.

Not really a direct comparison,

I don't think its that bad, I've got loads of "budget" kit recently that's loads better than it ever used to be.

Biking has gone up a lot in recent years, helmets are still available for £40 though. And plenty of wheel sets under £300 too.

It's not as cheap to get into as it was, it's up to the individual how expensive it gets though.

Is it getting ridiculous? Just looking as Fresh Goods Friday;

Helmet: £140
Winter Boots: £219
Wheels £912
Trail Bike £1399 frame only (most middle range bikes between £2.3 -£3.5k these days).

I look at my current kit, prices from new:

ASR5 Race £2300
Helmet £60
Lake winter boots £70
Wheels £210 pair

And all that was from as soon as 3 or so years ago....

There were still silly expensive components around 3 years ago, presumably you chose not to buy them then so you can make the same choice now and buy the cheaper alternatives?

Just because some kit is expensive doesn't mean all kit is expensive, or that the top end stuff is required.

your ASR is still 3 - 4x more than most people spend on their bikes

companies always send their top end kit in for reviews though
so when you buy the affordable lower spec version you can convince yourself its virtualy as a good as the 5star one you saw in the mag

The fact is, people think they need the Enve rims and the xtr group set to be able to actually ride, fueled by the videos churned out by bike companies showing lads doing stunts we want to do in places we want to go to on bikes we wished we owned. Carbon this and that is all unnecessary.

You don't need any of this - whether it be fashion led or just the latest and greatest. I don't need £000k's worth of bikes for me to enjoy riding, I'm happy enough on my old knacker riding in jeans and trainers. Let the idiots buy the expensive stuff...

Don't be a sheep,

The ceilings have certainly gotten higher that's for sure. Perhaps the manufacturers realised that some MTB'ers have money to burn and they can exploit them instead of maxing their prices out at a lower level. For everyone else, the middle of the road stuff is amazing.

I think if you've been riding long enough to remember what the 'top of the range' stuff was like in the 90's you'll be very thankful for the stuff that passes as 'average' these days.

Aspirational pastime innit dont have to spend much more than 500 quid to dick about in the woods effectively.

Is it this time of the year already?

[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/are-mountain-bikes-too-expensive ]2009[/url]
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/has-cycling-become-a-bit-of-a-rip-off-activity ]2010[/url]
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/is-mountain-biking-now-a-rich-manswomans-sport ]2011[/url]
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/why-are-bicycles-so-expensive ]2012[/url]
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-rising-cost-of-biking ]2013[/url]

Unfortunately STW only appear to like expensive gear and thats all they ever review.

Last time I bought the magazine they had an article on lights, in which it said you cant buy lights for less than £100, and if you do you are basically a moron.

The same magazine had wheelsets in starting at £500 !! FFS

Unfotunately cycling is very much the 'in thing' of the moment, and people do appear happy to chuck stupid amounts of money at it. Supply and demand isnt it. Theres enough idiots happy to spend £1000's on stuff currently, so they will keep producing it.

£60 for a helmet? You poseur !

A 20 helmet every ten years or so does me fine! (and thats only because Im fussy about how they look) £8 will buy you a perfectly good helmet made to pass the exact same safety standards

No one is forcing you to buy the latest gash fashionable accessories

The ceilings have certainly gotten higher that's for sure. Perhaps the manufacturers realised that some MTB'ers have money to burn and they can exploit them instead of maxing their prices out at a lower level. For everyone else, the middle of the road stuff is amazing.

^this

Unfortunately STW only appear to like expensive gear and thats all they ever review.

^some of this

It's not just STW though. A recent WMB article was comparing full sussers vs hardtails for climbing. 2 full sussers and one hard tail; 3 bikes "worth" the best part of £15,000 between them! Even the hardtail was over £3,000 worth! Daft.

On the flip side, my first helmet - a Spesh one - cost £40 nearly 25 years ago! There's loads of good value kit out there, it's just the top end stuff is getting ridiculous. Someone must have money to spend on these Santa Cruz carbon dream machines

some mag out there ought to do a review of bikes they purchased second hand for £500.

i cant afford new stuff and i`m not that badly paid!

It's just fashion! Some folk want nice blingy stuff but it has nothing to do with biking. It's like saying 'going out is really expensive' D&G jacket £1000 Y-3 trainers 250 etc. There is bikes, kit and clothing to suit almost any budget as in all aspects of life.

I feel sorry for [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-29er-wheels-enve-carbon-rims-on-chris-king-hubs ]this guy[/url], new wheels in January and they are seemingly already obsolete.

Now [b]that's[/b] how to make mountain biking expensive 😕

they should start doing Top Gear "Star on a reasonably priced bike" segments, where a top xc or downhill star gets to ride the equivalent lap on a mid price bike.
And other segments where 2 or 3 journos get £500 to build a bike from the classifieds then ride a famous 100miler or 12/24 hour race or a bikepacking adventure.
they could then set fire to them/ drop them off cliffs, block up trails etc in hilarious manner.
Would at least show that it is the riders more than the bikes that make cycling fun and that you can have that fun at a pretty reasonable price.

Thanks for that ian ,I could almost hear the collective sigh from all the lurkers ,as they clicked on that link 🙂

It's not the rising cost of biking ,it's the rise in some peoples thoughts of what they think they need/must have .

some mag out there ought to do a review of bikes they purchased second hand for £500.

MBR sort of did this a couple of years ago except they did the Top Gear Adventure thing of deliberately buying unsuitable or unsafe bikes and then, when they turned out to be useless, smugly informed readers that cheap bikes were useless and if you wanted to do "proper mountain biking" you needed to spend £££s...

Rising - yes

Disproportionately - no

Back when I started (arround 2000-2003) riding MX-comps were the minimum most people would considder a 'good' suspension fork (IMO they're still a great fork if a little flexy and heavy, but the damping is streats ahead of some modern forks). they were arround £170 from most online shops. I've just bought some Marzochi Corsa SL/RC forks new for £270, and there's plenty of Reba/Revs, etc in similar price range. A 30% price rise in 10 years is under inflation (and the forks are probably better).

FS bikes were £2k+ minimum, I remember the Giant VT being a huge deal in the MTB mags as it was a FS bike, that actualy worked, for £1200. I'd day the £1200 bikes now are certainly as good/comparably specified, and inflation means it's more like a £1700 bike at least.

Where there has been development is in the super high end, so the markets been distorted. There were very few £3k+ frames on the trail 10 years ago (or £2k back then with inflation). It's not that the bikes now cost more, it's just that a more expensive market now exists (or maybe it always did but very few bought into it) in addition to the low/mid range.

some mag out there ought to do a review of bikes they purchased second hand for £500.

Bike (a french mag) did a series of challenges a few years ago, a few of them revolved round cheap bikes. On one of them the journalist had to ride the Mega on a bike bought from the supermarket, changing nothing but the tyres. He finishes around the 200 mark and the bike survived.

forks are ****ing stupid money

Top end stuff has got expensive.
Like a £1000 set of forks.
But the forks you can get for £300 are amazing compared to a few years ago.

forks are **** stupid money

The price of forks is the main thing that put the brakes on my 'custom build'. Just couldn't swallow paying nearly a grand for anything decent when a full bike offers such better value.

I feel sorry for this guy, new wheels in January and they are seemingly already obsolete.

Now that's how to make mountain biking expensive

Ha Ha I saw that earlier and thought the same thing. I bet people are queuing up to give him £1800 for a second hand set of wheels.

Part of the problem is that our expectations of what we want to ride keep going up and up.

Your gentle blue run at a trial center is what a downhill race course looked like 15 years ago.

Your red run is what a downhill race course looked like 10 years ago.

And now we all want to ride the black run, and do 5ft drops to rock gardens. And we can on a £3000 bike.

On the other hand, I have a lot of fun on a £500 ss and a £1000 full susser, and find my limits* on not-so-demanding terrain.

* I have super skillz, just don't like to flaunt them

Like me old grandad used to say...if your willing to pay the price...then thats what its worth.

Either dont buy it...or find a cheaper alternative.

My 1997, rigid P7, with v-brakes, LX and XT cost 1000 quid.

A 600 quid bike nowadays would have decent enough suspension forks and disk brakes. Not as nice to look at though

some mag out there ought to do a review of bikes they purchased second hand for £500.

It'd be about as useless as Edam cheese though. Either a bikes as good as it was when new, or it's FUBAR'd by the previous owner (or shades of grey inbetween). Unlike cars or motorbikes which all get used much the same and therefore suffer similar issues. You couldn't review a £500 s/h bike and say the drivetrain was worn and therefore it's useless, the only things differentiating s/h bikes are the same things differentiating them when new.

forks are **** stupid money

Like I said, there's loads out there for <£300 new, Rebas and Revs, Marzocchi, etc. And Fox have always been stupid money, I remember Vannilla R's being £280 in the sales 10 years ago (so with inflation ~£450 today). So if anything Fox are cheeper today!

My '92 Breezer retailed at around £800, if memory serves. Rigid fork, 7-speed, canti brakes. That's about £1400 in today's money.

I conclude that the cost of a quality bike has fallen substantially.

And other segments where 2 or 3 journos get £500 to build a bike from the classifieds then ride a famous 100miler or 12/24 hour race or a bikepacking adventure.

I suspect that many people with a "habit" would be able to pull a good portion of a bike out of the parts bin and proclaim "I only had to buy grips, cables and pedals, so I've got a fantastic, race ready hardtail, and I'm £75 under budget!!!"

I've been cycling on quite a budget quite happily. £400-ish hardtail does everything, and I bought an enduro bike for around 1000 all-in, sold it a year later for 800 and bought a fully capable high spec DH bike for 900.

Who buys wheels for £900? It's not the price of biking that's rising, it's your percieved value of bike components that's increasing, along with your available capital and willingness to spend it. BIKING is almost certainly getting cheaper.

I think stuff at the higher end has got more expensive - forks are the things that really get me and I blame Fox. The original 36 was a bit of a revelation but came with a high price tag that people were happy to pay. The cynic in me thinks that Sram and Mazocchi saw this so started to make more expensive forks. Can the new Pike really justify the massive hike in costs? Hopefully X Fusion will start to make the big players rethink their pricing strategy.

High end bikes are crazy money these days - the number of bikes that cost more that £4,000 is mental, But then again, there must be a lot of people that can see the benefit or they wouldn't exist.

From a spec point of view, bikes like Rockhoppers are going backwards from a peak four years or so ago.

The only plus side is that teh lower end stuff is actually really good - my Deore brakes are genuinely very good and looking back the extra cost of XT's on my other bike is hard to justify. The new Deore stuff actually looks pretty good these days too.

Don't get me started on the cost of tyres though...

Mostly i ride single speed rigid so that helps keep costs down - its had a new chain, bottom bracket, one set of brake pads and a rear tyre since new in 2006 and is still fine

If you want to keep up with the storm troopers then that fine but I ride mostly on my own these days and as such have no one questioning my lack of taste/skill

Is it this time of the year already?

2009
2010
2011
2012
2013

: )

MTB cost me about ~£200 this year on material stuff and maybe 8-10x that on trips - flights, food on the way, etc. Happy with that ratio. Some years it's a similar ratio but half the cost. Edit - oops forgot about the loop bars I bought. That makes a difference ..

Kryton57 - Member

Is it getting ridiculous?

no, it's still getting cheaper.

20 years ago, i struggled and saved to buy a £400 kona fire mountain.

I just checked, you can get the new Fire mountain for about £500. But it'll be lighter, it'll handle better, it's got disc brakes and adequate suspension forks. In real terms, it's about half the price.

it might come as news, but it's possible to go mountain biking without kashima coating, carbon rims, and clothing hand made in Sweden.

bikes are ace, they're cheap, they've never been cheaper, and they're getting even better!

🙂

The price of forks does seem a little silly, but again, 20 years ago the price of a set of rockshox/manitou/pace forks was £300, the forks you can get now for £300 are much much much better. (and in real terms, they're half the price)

hell, the forks you can get for £150 now are bloody great really,

The entry point for suitable bikes has not really changed (about £3-400). But an entry bike now will be more capable than 10 years ago. There are more opportunities to spend much more, as the market has matured. But good basic kit need not be expensive.

If anyone thinks cycling is expensive, go to Decathlon. Triban 3; especially the one with carbon forks for £300.

Saw a 7500 Bronson in leisure lakes a couple if weeks ago and asked them will anyone buy that bike and they said they had sold 2 the week before. Week after some guy was picking his up, he was in a very smart suit with a big gold watch.

TiRed - Member

The entry point for suitable bikes has not really changed (about £3-400). But an entry bike now will be more capable than 10 years ago.

Absolutely. What people actually mean when they say "Bikes are so expensive" is "I only look at expensive stuff". I bought a £350-ish bike in about 1991 and another one in 2009 or 10, the difference is ridiculous. The 91 bike had some nicer parts (the hubs are still going!) but there's absolutely no area of performance where it's as good.

And though you might think "Why not use this progress to make a cheaper good bike", £350 was a lot more money 20 years ago.

The only thing that really poses an issue for me is tyres -

You have the 40/45 quid and up tyres that generally work really well for their designed purpose.

Then you have the 15-20 quid tyres that are stupid heavy and generally downright rubbish.

Why is there no middle ground? Why can't we get a tyre that is 25-30 quid and offers the grip of the 45 quid plus tyre, at the expense of not having a superlight tyre.

I pay 26 quid each for butcher & purgatory and for me they as good as the maxxis etc at 45 to 50 each pump up tubeless easy as well

Kenda Nevegals? Just about everything by Specialized?

Conti are expensive because of their posh rubber and low production runs, and they can't make a tyre that works without it. Schwabbly are expensive because they just like making everything ridiculously complicated. And Maxxis... Maxxis are expensive because you'll pay what they charge, I think.

But are they any good? I don't have the money to try every tyre on the market so (shamefully) go off the never-ending "what tyre" threads for my next tyre choices - never see either of those mentioned.

Next up I think is Massis High Rollers. Think you can get a basic pair of those for 30 that don't weight a ton.

All 3 of my bikes cost me less than a grand. And when I say all 3, I mean collectively, not each. They're not top end, no. But they are all very capable. OK, one was second hand, another partially second hand - new prices would tally around £1500, I cheat. Sometimes I ponder building something a little more...prestigious, but it's hard to justify because it would be little more than vanity driving it.

If you're happy to drop 5k on a bike. Do it. It'll be a very, very nice bike, I'm sure. But it's nota necessity.

plyphon - Member

But are they any good? I don't have the money to try every tyre on the market so (shamefully) go off the never-ending "what tyre" threads for my next tyre choices - never see either of those mentioned.

Yep. But you don't see them mentioned so much on here because they're not expensive enough. (Nevegals used to be one of the official STW tyres til suddenly one day they were officially terrible.) But we do talk about those a lot, Butcher/Purg is a really popular combo now.

Specialized are made by Maxxis, or rather Maxxis and Specialized (and On One and no doubt others) are both made by CST. So when you ride a Butcher frinstance and think "Hey, this is like a Minion, improved in many ways" that's because it's exactly that.

My MTB cost me £600 and is still far more competent that I am and ever will be.
I am in a pair of Shimano SPD shoes which cost £50 three years ago but still going strong. They let water in as they are not waterproof. I'm prepared to live with it.
My helmet is the base model Giro one, £35 and two years old.
My backpack was £12 from Tesco

All works for me and I enjoy my riding...Unless it is a steep techy slow climb and then no amount of exepensive bling kit will stop me feeling pi@*ed off.

Interesting. Just checked the LBS and they stock the spesh's for £30 odd, prolly get a cheeky local discount instore so that could be an option - good tip cheers!

Affordable kit is a hell of a lot better than it used to be.

Expensive kit is a bit better than it used to be.

If you want to, and can afford to, you can spend more now than you ever could, but you can also just spend the same as you used to and get far better gear than you used to.

Interesting answers.

Personally, I've less disposable income than 5 years ago, but also I'm "used" to riding around high end bikes with XT.

I may be being snobbish when I say this, but if they broke, I'd have to swallow some pride to roll around on a 32lb full susser with Deore/SLX when I really want a 27lb full susser with XT....*

I was talking RRP btw in my parts list, and the "cheaper" option isn't comparable. I want to/but cant (at RRP) buy the same quality lid as I did a few years ago. Whilst I appreciated that all costs go up, the industry is showing a large like for like % increase.

* Awaits flaming

Ah, well Kryton57, the price of being a bike kit snob is high prices, yes. That's self evident.

Sure. My point being is that I couldn't afford (without finance) to buy an equivalent bike, other than looking for a 2nd hand/pauls cycles offer.

Its a first world problem for sure.

MTB cost me about ~£200 this year on material stuff and maybe 8-10x that on trips - flights, food on the way, etc. Happy with that ratio. Some years it's a similar ratio but half the cost. Edit - oops forgot about the loop bars I bought. That makes a difference ..

On the subject of things being reasonably priced, I'm still wondering how you shoehorned £250 worth of brakes into the Arkose 3. I couldn't believe it when I saw the BB7 SLs price per end.

* Awaits flaming

Isn't that what you want, though?

The fierce competition on the internet shopping sites keeps it grounded. Buying at RRP on the high street would be no fun. £350 for an SLX groupset, what more do you need.

Your gentle blue run at a trial center is what a downhill race course looked like 15 years ago. Your red run is what a downhill race course looked like 10 years ago. And now we all want to ride the black run, and do 5ft drops to rock gardens. And we can on a £3000 bike.

STW classifieds is brilliant for picking up kit at reasonable prices
Amazes me the kind of high end stuff that appears which is only a few months or years old.

In 1991 I bought a Kona Cindercone. A great bike. It was £510 IIRC, with 21 gears, rigid forks, canti brakes and fully rigid...
£525 buys an alloy framed Trek with a usable suspension fork, 27 gears and hydraulic brakes. And another 20+ years of experience in the geometry.

£15 well spent I'd say!
🙂

campkoala, you are pussywillow AICM £5

2013 product same price as 2003 one = much better quality.
2013 product same quality as 2003 one = much lower price.

nice things cost money shocker

I started riding regularly in about 2000 and like thisisnotaspoon said, bought mx comps for about £200 and they're actually still in use on a bike today. I was seduced for a while by the "new is better" thing and bought more and more expensive kit but it really doesn't matter.

Currently ride an 06 FSR with Fox forks bought from ebay. Change the bearings as and when they wear out and the XT groupset the same.

Best advice to save cash - only change stuff when it wears out!

Jamie - Member

* Awaits flaming
Isn't that what you want, though?

No, why would I? Its just what I expect...

Kryton57 - Member

Personally, I've less disposable income than 5 years ago, but also I'm "used" to riding around high end bikes with XT.

I may be being snobbish when I say this, but if they broke, I'd have to swallow some pride to roll around on a 32lb full susser with Deore/SLX when I really want a 27lb full susser with XT....*

SLX today is better than XT a couple of years ago.

If you're talking RRP look up rockshox DHO - a 1996 elastomer sprung 4" travel dry lubed fork that blew it's poor quality damping cartridge with ridiculous frequency.

How much was this gem of modern bicycle suspension engineering ?

£1199

I just paid the same for two cars tyres as i did for two bike tyres...i still keep scratching my head over this...and the bike tyres were purgs.

S'funny how mtbers will buy the latest, grippiest best performing tyres they can find to skid their way down old Deer tracks at 8mph wile they're happy to drive their loved ones on the road at 70 on some budget shit isn't it?

my thinking on this is, mountain biking is no different than any other sport, i do alot of sea fishing, and how many fishermen use top of the range zziplex rods, and then cant cast them properly due to their skill is not good enough to use what are usually competion casting rods, plus there will always be bikers that think that if you havnt spent over 3k on a bike , you cant be a proper biker, there will always be people that justify why they should spend that kind of money on a bike that so they say will last the test of time, there usually the ones, that in 2 yrs time have the same bike up for sale, so they can have and need the latest new thing, biking is only expensive if you want it to be, slx kit is all most people will ever need,but they still justify to them selves why they need xt, i think todays bikes are far better value for money, and are better and last longer than anything ive bought over the last 30 yrs, as in most sports , some people have to have top end kit to make them look good or feel better.

I like my expensive suspension bike, I worked hard for it. I equally like my rigid bike with no gears or suspension, I worked hard for that too. I don't think that makes me an idiot

Not really any difference between slx and xt in terms of weight either. Certainly not 5lb...more like .5lb

Mid range forks and frames have got pricier since 04 to 06 though. The first entry level 888s were no worse than the current basic dh forks (certainly better than domains) and less pricey.

...although I guess when one looks around - 27.5lbs 650b for £1499 new...

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=3280#tab-reiter2

I'm pretty sure I can remember an XT rear mech being £30 on crc in 2008. Just had a quick look and they're around the £50 mark. How does that work out inflation wise ?

I make it £38.29 if inflation was a steady 5%, which is being pretty generous...

I got a nice bike, I paid what I could afford for it.

I'm happy that in general the bike I have now is better by a long way than the one I used to own with the gear that was on it.

Apart from that I couldn't GAS some people are just looking for an excuse to get grupy. If it wasn't bike parts it would be pies and pints.

That's a strange attitude mike. Speaking for myself, I'm not grumpy, Just observing a trend an posting to promote discussion. Shermer75's post highlights the issue does it not?

Honestly Kryton? There is a thread every couple of months from people saying things are more expensive/rip off. Half of the people agree it is half don't then someone points out that you can still buy cheap bikes and second hand. Maybe your not grumpy but there are plenty who are and keen to point out that everything is a rip off.

I've recently downgraded.. Loving the world, although my back wheel (from the tip) is a bit heavy and is letting the bike down..
The only other downside is the frame which although steel and the same weight as my soul, has a much harsher front end due to the inferior tube set..

still, I'm still getting pb's, I can leave my bike locked up in town or outside the house without fear of it getting robbed, and most importantly.. I love riding it, even if the sum of it's parts cost less than the crank on my previous bike 😀

its all relative really, what price can you put on enjoyment, if i added up the money ive spent on curries n strongbow over the years, and how much a pint costs these days, i would probably stop going out, doesnt really matter how much you spend, as long as you get the enjoyment out of it, then its worth its weight in gold, the memories alone are worth the expense.

Yes mike - speaking for myself as I said. Like many, I have a ss which cost the princely sum of £190 which I enjoy a lot, and a bottom end road bike bike which I very much enjoy, set pbs on and have trained on all summer.

I'm not disputing we can't enjoy cheaper kit, I'm just commenting that like for like, bike parts/bikes cost has has an exponential rise.

Vis a Vis - if my asr5 disappeared over night, I'd happily by that canyon I listed earlier, but wouldn't dream of replacing it with a new asr5 or sb75 at today's cost. Second hand even would mean a cash purchase probably which is hard even at half retail. Can I replace an xt / Thompson shod Asr5 for less than 2k easily? No. P'raps by hunting the classifieds only.

Just as a reflection, I was talking in the office today about the fact that, with car advertising more often and not the best looking and most appealing car is advertised - of course - to attract buyers. But how many people actually by one?

Same with bikes - i love to know the ratio of people who read them actually buy a 4-8k bike, continual xtr upgrades or replacement these days.

It'd be nice for stw to perhaps do a working class "month" edition of the mag. 🙂

IIRC, the Japanese Yen played catch up on exchange rates in 2007/8 when the global market was bullish enough to allow it and their economy had started growing after years of flat-lining. This had a substantial impact on prices, particularly for Shimano, which started to have a knock on effect on bikes. The subsequent downturn left plenty of surplus stock around which negated the impact for some time but eventually supply became more aligned with demand and the higher prices stuck.

There has been a subsequent market downturn on the Yen but, as you'd expect, pricing from the Japanese manufacturers hasn't changed to reflect this reduction.

Just a thought Kryton,the ASR5 Race* retailed at £3,800 in '11 and is only £95 dearer now.

*standard Yeti 'race' spec.