Boutique bikes and guilt

So I’ve been biking forever and love my ageing Enduro 04 but am thinking of a replacement. After several visit to LBS the advice I keep getting is spend about £4k on a 29 full suss built in California. Which is all very good but four grand on a mountain bike?! Four grand! I just can’t get my head round that. I see a Spesh Camber for about half that, Zest for a failr bit less…but apparently the SC is built to last – and I have had my 04 since, well, 04. So ar they worth it? Or do I go for a nice HT like Genesis High Latitude and have a holiday with the spare cash? Or am I being an old fart?

Spend £1000 on a hardtail and the rest on a carbon hooligan road bike with Ultegra and get really fit.

How much do you ride and where do you ride?

If you’re riding all over the world at a very good level then the high end bike might be worth it.

If however you’re riding once or twice a week on local trails then my approach would be to go with a more mainstream bike and spend the other money on a holiday.

My missus finally got her significant birthday bike which all in is probably round that price, she loves and rides it all the time. Great value (especially as it’s worth more 🙂 )

I have a road bike too (globalti) and have ridden in Alps/Moab on trips but most of my riding is local evenings and bigger trips at weekends (Cairngorms stuff as that’s where I live). Well aware that bikes are amazing value for money in terms of return for your cash (general feeling of well being and liking being alive etc) but think I’ll get that without such a huge outlay. So thanks; maybe talked myself out of it?

I’m a santa cruz fan, but I must admit that due to the pricing structure there are far better value bikes out there.

Wrecker; thanks. I know it’s not just about value for money so I applaud your honesty!

No bike is worth 4k, but would I spend that, yes. Stuff like this is always emotive. At this price you’re way past the common idea of value and almost looking at things from an artistic impression. You must look after your stuff if you’ve for an 04 enduro , so a new bike would hopefully last as long. On the plus side, Santa Cruz are good at keeping spares for ageing models so long term maintenance won’t be an issue. You would have just as good a time on a bike half that price though. All comes down to how disposable the cash is to you. If you won’t miss it I say go for it, must have 5k in my mojo hd. Crazy money but then I don’t smoke, I don’t drink a lot and bikes are my passion. Can’t believe people spent over a fiver on a pack of ciggies and beer in a pub cost 3-4 times what it cost in a supermarket. Your money your choice.

Santa Cruz is not a boutique brand and nor are they ‘built’ in Calfornia. You’re paying for the badge. For my money, the best FS rides I’ve ad have been on Spesh and Giant bikes. For 4k I’d get a nice steel hardtail and a mid-range Spesh/Giant.

After several visit to LBS the advice I keep getting is spend

Funny that.

Going from the fact that you’ve been using your previous bike for around 9 years, I’d say you’re good at investment 🙂

If I had to buy a whole new bike I’d probably consider Norco Sight – gets amazing reviews for a ‘mass’ brand and seems very reasonable in terms of suspension/geometry. And does not cost £4K 🙂

If you have to go for a full custom build, I’d recommend Liteville. I’m riding one myself and they do ride very well. And, they have 5 years warranty + 5 years crash replacement/support after that so 10 in total – I think you can benefit from this more than others.. 🙂 Not a 2 year period like with many ’boutique’ brands… Another nice ‘pro’ is that if you fall a victim of a 650b rush their latest frame generations support this too (need to check for size though, I think M and above only do).

Giants have a very good suspension but I could never get along with their geometry and sizing (you might be different though).

BTW, generally speaking, if you’re going to be spending this amount on a bike I’d say a number of demos is in order. Why 29r? Why Santa Cruz? There are so many options out there nowdays.

Expensive bikes are just as expensive to maintain and to own as a mainstream bike.
A high volume selling bike will have (hopefully) all the problems ironed out earlier than a niche bike.

My ’05 Kona creaks and groans as do mates SC and 5s, just because they cost £4+ does not mean they will not fail at some point.

For 4k I’d get a nice steel hardtail and a mid-range Spesh/Giant.

Except they have both swanned off up the big wheel river…

I’m about to shell out on SC, it’s similar priced to the much rejoiced (and STW benchmark) Orange frame only and comparable on builds. (also significantly cheaper than Orange for their basic single pivot offerings)
It can be beaten on price, I’ve been made some great offers on 650b’s but I would end up removing drive train & brakes and not using the new set of wheels I just got built. So Frame up build it is and once your there then the nice frames all cost about the same.

Simple fact is for that money no off the peg bike will be right, some will be OK but you will still spend more changing the bits.

Take it out for a ride test the hell out of it and see how you feel.

Except they have both swanned off up the big wheel river…

You say that like it’s a bad thing…

anything above two grand on a bike strikes me as “you could buy a car for that” territory.

If I had that sort of cash to blow on whatever I fancied I’d be going for the holiday-in-the-states-plus-buy-bike-out-there option.

I’m thinking of selling my boutique, Californian 160mm fs to fund a new, more modern, French, 160mm fs. Cos the more mainstream Frenchy is better.

All relative innit?

£4k to some people is nothing for a bike.

£1k to others is utterly ridiculous for a bike.

If I had £4k burning a hole in my pocket, then I would spend it on a bike. Probably followed by £10k on a sunday sports car, then £3k on a snowboard holiday…

If you can realistically afford it and it adds to your enjoyment of the sport than go for it. There’s no harm in that.

Yes, bikes that might feel very similar to most riders are probably available for less money, but if they don’t do it for you then don’t feel guilty.

The key point is whether you can afford it. You’ll get people on here from all walks of life; to some £1000 is a huge investment on a bike, others won’t even notice the outlay for £5000 bike. You’ll also get the full range of opinions on here about different brands quality, value for money etc. Just make your own decision, ideally based on a demo ride or two.

It sounds like you’re the sort of rider who buys a bike as an investment and gets alot of years use out of it. If that’s the case then spending a bit more to get what you really want might make sense.

Enjoy the new bike if and when you get it 😀

anything above two grand on a bike strikes me as “you could buy a car for that” territory.

Or arguably more relevantly, a sorted 2nd hand motocrosser or enduro bike. (It’s cheaper to enter a motorcycle enduro than a bicycle one too.)

Bung out about a grand on a burly hardtail, or if you’re really keen to burn money buy that Boardman FS. 🙂

Assuming you can afford it. Buy/do what you want.

Always buy used, leave the big spending to the rich people and early adopters, have always had pretty nice bikes that I couldn’t afford to buy new, probably.

Don’t think I’ve owned a ‘big brand’ mountain bike for over a decade.

One of the only brands I’d stay away from is Spesh. I don’t like their bikes (the camber is the only bike I’ve ever ridden which I have nothing good to say about) or their corporate ethos. Giants and Treks on the other hand are great bikes. SC may not be regarded as “boutique”, but that’s a pretty meaningless label. Very few bikes are manufactured outside of asia any more simply because they’re the best at it.

Its great to have boutique bikes. But after a while you realise that an off the shelf bike probably only makes you 0.0000000000000001% slower/less fun if any.

Its about the bike that makes you happy, not necessarily the name.

If I had the cash I’d hapily spend £4k on exactly the right parts to build to my spec, but I’d never buy an off the peg for that much.

But then, I’m a tight old bugger. 😡

A bike – like anything – is worth whatever you’re happy to pay.

I don’t buy into the ’boutique bikes are better’ myth so I’ll probably never pay the premium for one.

I say probably because there’s always a chance I might try one and fall in love…

I say all the following as someone who currently rides around on roughly £4k’s worth of boutique bike (IBIS Mojo HD).

Objectively its hardly any better than a spesh enduro costing half the price (I came from an enduro)

Its got more bells and whistles (CCDB shock, full rebound/coompression on the fork), and its probably a pound or two lighter, but a bike at 50% of the price would give you 90% of the fun of a “boutique bike”.

Subjectively though, if you’ve got the money and you want the bike, then go for it.

Always buy in the sale. £5999 bike for £3700 was my last bargain.

only vague justification I can come up with is resale

Nearly 3 years ago I nearly bought a Zesty for about £2500 I think. Settled on a Yeti 5 frame for £1500 ish

so anyone remember the cream and gold Zesty frame and would anyone buy one?? – it’s about 4 paint jobs old now…….. Whereas a black ano yeti still holds a fair bit of value (50% ish)

Brought a new road bike for around that price last year and love it. Didn’t even ride it for months as I was on the winter bike, but just looking at it gave me that fizzy feeling in my trousers 🙂

Though must admit I’d not spend that much on a single mtb these days. Tend to view them as being pretty disposable (things break, wear out, etc.) so don’t spend a fortune on them. The built to last thing is nonsense if you are throwing them down mountains.

It’s no different from buying a luxury watch, car, perfume, holiday etc. You earned the money, so unless your think there is a more deserving case for spending it, spend it. You can’t take it with you. And personally, I’d rather spend £4K on a bike than a car. But then I have a purely utilitarian view of cars.

I’m with the OP on this will I/ won’t I??

Jeeez… I’ve got my eye on something that is on a limited time offer, but is waaaaay over what I’ve spent on a frame before. And that’s JUST the frame. It would work out at least £3.5k to build up, even with spare bits knocking around.

The thing is. I can afford it. But. I own 8 bikes already. I don’t want to get rid of any of them, but I doooooo liiiike this new one. Lots. Been wanting to buy one of these for years and years, and the feeling never goes away.

But. The bottom line: My contract runs out in 10 months. I reason that, yes – it’s my money and I earnt it, so why not spend it… But the money in the bank is quite a nice insurance policy against possible unemployment*. (Whereas 2 wheeled carbon fibre bling will not be much use IF this actually happens)

And there we have, essentially, the root cause of the current febrile status of the UK economy.

* does this seem sensible to anyone, or am I being over-cautious???

Four grand! I just can’t get my head round that.

You should’nt need anyone to convince you to spend that much…it’s something you’re either prepared to do or not. Don’t listen to a thing anyone in a shop says, do the research yourself and make your own mind up. Try and ride a few demo bikes too.

Depends on 2 things imo, how much it makes you grin and how long it’ll last.
A simple, durable, high-quality rigid single-speed at much-££££ that makes me smile on every ride is my £ well spent. The same on a fully sprung adjuster-everything bike may seem like better vfm until it lasts a year of riding before most of it is worn out or you spend too much riding time fixing the thing. Depends how much you value the tech to enjoy a ride really.

And the holiday with cash saved on a cheaper but equally fun bike idea is a better life experience for sure.

Visited a friend on the weekend who’s getting into radio and he’d just spent 6 grand on an amp, just one component of his setup. Made my bicycling hobby seem quite cheap in comparison.

So I say, if you have the cash and want it, buy it!

I’d spend 2-3k on the bike and put the rest towards a trip where you really get to enjoy it.

Sounds like what you are really looking for is a custom build – with £4kish you should go to Ted (James) or one of the other builders from bespoked!

Set your budget and work from there.

Your a long time dead – enjoy life while you can….I often spend ridiculous amounts on bikes, cheaper than a coke habit and healthier 😉

After several visit to LBS the advice I keep getting is spend about £4k on a 29 full suss built in California. Which is all very good but four grand on a mountain bike?! Four grand! I just can’t get my head round that.

Sounds a bargain considering an S-Works is £7200 now. like it or not, in price terms £4k is mid range.

If you an afford it and you’ll use it, go for it! Life’s too short not too.

I’m in a similar position to you – thinking about retiring my 05 SX Trail. It still rides fine but looks a bit knackered now, the shock is a stupid size and had started playing up etc so in looking at a new frame. It looks like its going to cost me £1,500 plus a headset and back plate for my chain device. It seems like loads to spend on a frame, but I intend to keep it for a while, I ride as much as I can and also figure that I may as well do it whilst I can afford it.