My first mtb was a Raleigh Yukon – it cost £330 quid in 1992, equivilent to £580 quid today.

It had cantilever brakes, no suspension and 200 gs gears.

Today you can get this boardman for £580 quid

and the GT someone posted earlier is 200 quid cheaper, but still comes with bouncy fork and disk brakes

2005 marzocchi bombers Z! freeride £379
2013 marzocchi RC3 Ti £879
disproportionate increase

same amount of product? – only if you weigh them.

and only if you pay rrp. My 2010 RC3Tis were ~£420 new in 2011.

In the 90s a RS Judy XC cost >£300, had simple elastomers and a feeble oil cartridge to give some semblance of rebound damping for 2 weeks before it blew. My RS Revelations cost under £300 brand new (with a free headset, thankyou Merlin) and are leagues better in sophistication, adjustability, performance and reliablity.

If you believe mag reviews and grouptests 700 quid is a typical price for a trail fork, and if that were the case, arguably MTBing has become expensive/overpriced. My 2 forks cost £700 together….

As per tpbiker’s post, my first bike, a 1993 GT Pantera, cost £500 (reduced from rrp of around £650), had cantis, rigid steel forks, and low-mid range components (Exage ES groupset and in-house/budget-brand bar/stem/post).

This current-year 500 quid GT has hydraulic disks and sus forks with lockout.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b1s2p5337/GT-AVALANCHE-SPORT-2014

Mail order and grey market has transformed the marketplace and made a mockery of big brand RRPs.

it is bloody expensive

and a lot of things are overpriced

you can get good deals on bikes, but forks, shocks and tyres can be a right rip off

I’m on the same tyres I got 2 years ago, £50 an end is shocking, especially when my half decent car tyres (toyo proxes) cost the same fitted

fork prices have increased a lot, £700-£900 seems acceptable, which is frankly ridiculous

STW is probably the wrong place to complain about prices though

Unless something costs 3 times as much as it’s less niche/hard to find equivalent, it’s no good

See £200 wellies, £200 bike jackets etc

you can get good deals on bikes, but forks, shocks and tyres can be a right rip off

I’m on the same tyres I got 2 years ago, £50 an end is shocking, especially when my half decent car tyres (toyo proxes) cost the same fitted

If all MTB tyres were £50 a piece I’d agree with you. My preferred rubber, Minion DHs, are 20 quid each. You choose to ride 50 quid tyres therefore they arent a rip-off. You have the option to buy cheaper tyres.

fork prices have increased a lot, £700-£900 seems acceptable, which is frankly ridiculous

Seems acceptable to who…- see my previous post.

jools182 – Member

I’m on the same tyres I got 2 years ago, £50 an end is shocking

And right at the high end 😕 You can put 2 high quality specialized tyres on your bike for £54. Or you can choose £50 an end.

Here’s a very straight comparison, 2 decent entry level halfords bikes. Got my Carrera Krakatoa in about 1991, for £360. Steel rigid with a flexstem, mix of altus and mountain exage components, cantis. For its day, a pretty respectable bike at the price, and the quality of components was excellent (both hubs are still going today!)

In 2010, got a Carrera Kraken. Also £360. Alu hardtail with Suntour XCRs, tektro hydraulic discs, SRAM X5 shifting. The wheelset and cranks were lower quality, but the capability of the bike is immensely better- it’s a true first mountain bike that will do 99% of what people buy £2500 full susses for.

That’s not even taking into account inflation, and yet there’s already no competition possible.

Bits have got pricier – this has been led by sram it would seem. When XX came out it was 2 or 3 times the price of XTR. A decent set of forks can be had for c£350 new from various online sources, and that’s a massive amount less than in the mid-90s, plus they actually work.

I buy some bits off here that don’t wear out – examples include King hubs for £150 the pair once I’d unbuilt and sold the rims, a set of Reba 29ers for £70 that needed a full strip down but were otherwise immaculate and a set of brand new Fox F100 Kashima for £300. There are ways of buying cleverly so it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Saying that, I’ve just bought a Moots stem from eBay for £150 thinking it was a bargain, which it was as they retail for £420, but that’s just mental and I would never even come close to spending that on a stem. I think with the advent of sites like this one, and eBay, you can build an excellent bike for a lot less than in the past. The only things I’d never buy used are chains and cassettes.

The prices of a lot of frames and full priced forks are just silly – £3k for a plastic frame and £900 on forks is insane.

GB

gee – Member

A decent set of forks can be had for c£350 new

i paid £120 for a rockshox xc32 29er fork.

they’ve ‘only’ got qr dropouts, and ‘only’ turnkey damping, but honestly, they’re bloody good.

(more than up to the job of amateur trail bashing)

20 years ago i bought a £350 pace fork, which was quite frankly, shit.

i’ve always wondered what LBS and importers do with the old bikes that they couldn’t sell. For example, CRC had loads of early-2000s Konas which were good value.

I don’t think that there was much interest though

Some things are just not fair.
Every day I cry my little eys out thinking about my dream car.

I will never,never own one or even get the chance to drive one.
The second hand ones are a complete rip off,could they not drop the million £ price so that everyone can share in the supercar experience?
If only I could find happiness with the luxury items that I can afford.
I really should have stuck in at school.

Oh hang on a minute,I don’t need that Veyron to get to work ,and I would always be worried about some jealous torag scratching it ,when I parked in town.
Phew ,glad I got that in perspective. 😀

If you think mountain biking is expensive try putting an engine in between those two wheels and try a foreign motorcycle track day.

I go through £630 worth of tyres every four days and do 2 or 3 trips a year!

Cynergy – Member
If you think mountain biking is expensive try putting an engine in between those two wheels and try a foreign motorcycle track day.

I go through £630 worth of tyres every four days and do 2 or 3 trips a year!

POSTED 43 SECONDS AGO # REPORT-POST

Willywaver of the week award….

The price is driven by the market for sure. As others have eluded to QR forks are cheaper then QR20 – why? not like there’s a lot more production / material involved, its just they know that they can charge more as its what people want.

My forks are 2001, the frame is 2007, some 2nd hand bits, ie pedals, bars, stem. New seat and post. Still brings a smile despite its cronkyness.

Advertising hype/fashion… same old.

Prices are mental but then consider the increased cost of manufacturing, Shimano wacked up their prices.

I’m convinced the way to go is get a good set of components, whatever takes your fancy then get frames second hand or cheap last years etc, learn how to build bikes yourself and maintain them. Maybe I’m just cheap but I won’t be buying anything off the shelf in less it’s a killer deal or I win the lottery.

I get one ride out of a chain then it’s goosed according to the park tool.

You are Mike Hall, just been around the world, and I claim my five pounds.

Seriously though, your tool must be out, or your drivetrain ruined, as I get 3 months of riding before I get to .75 these days.

A chain should last a weekend rider a year before you need to replace it to save the drivetrain.

My first MTB 20 years ago was a Raleigh Dakota (just over £200).
My second MTB 2 years ago was a Saracen tufftrax for £300.

Similar bikes, but the Saracen was definitely better.

Taking inflation into account, I’d say the price has come down on comparable products

Buy secondhand and KEEP the bits until you break them. This top tip comes from hora.

All my drivetrain is ridden to death:

Rear mech 11yrs+
Previous Saint cranks 05-11
Previous Hope hoop 2007-11 (replaced with NOS hope bulb but had to buy a hope bolt through hub for new 2ndhand frame).
Front Hope hoop 07+

ALL my frames were either on sale or secondhand.

Ive got spare shifter bought 2ndhand as backups for the 05-current ones

ALL my kit looks very tired. I think people buy buy buy for that new factory look. Very bad IMO and wasteful.

initial outlay is expensive but it depends on how long you keep it. Constant upgrading/new kit and it can become continuously expensive.
Unless you break something, the actual maintenance of the bikes isn’t exspensive at all really.

Its as expensive or as cheap as you want (within reason) but I am struggling with the prices of replacement kit I used to buy and have downgraded my recent groupset choices as destroying deore hurts a lot less than XT. MTB involves the occasional random kit destruction which can be very painful to the wallet.

There are some bargains out there but I do get a feeling that the 26/650/29 nonsense has resulted in full-bike bargains being a little harder to find if you want the on-trend wheelsize, same with forks as noted above

It’s fairly pointless comparing prices today to what they were even five years ago. Inflation and associated wage rises make that comparison irrelevant. Jameso ^^^ makes the point well. The MTB market is pretty small compared to – say – consumer electronics but it’s still quite complex when you consider the manufacturing and the multiple channels to market.

It’s impossible to say if vendor x is ripping the ar$e out of the market by selling their product at y% margin because they have some awesome brand presence or some perceived unique selling point. What we forget is we tend to ‘stick’ at prices five years ago without considering what’s happened since. It’s just not a valid comparison.

MTBing is an expensive hobby both in terms of original purchase and ongoing maintenance when compared to other more mainstream activities. Most people on here have progressed from the ‘cheap’ entry points to something ‘better’ and with that comes additional cost. You can’t really have the argument both ways.

Having said all that £50 for a TYRE 😉

It’s interesting that people view their bikes purely as a hobby. Mine’s a good old traditional form of transport too. So the cost of it is also offset against the money I’m not spending on petrol. Haven’t got the money, the room, or the interest in a dedicated commuter, so the hardtail does that too

I still think you can get a really decent specced bike for what, in the grand scheme of things, is not an awful lot of money at all

I’ve found myself downgrading more lately – square taper, rigid fork, heavier frame, budget contact points

If you think mountain biking is expensive try leaving those two wheels at home and come on a yurting holiday with me an my pals.

We stay in yurts around the world, but we set a rule that we’re only allowed to burn money on the stove in the yurt.

We go two to three times per year, and if we go mid winter when it’s cold, we’ve been know to burn about £300000 each.

😆

I only buy second hand… with the exception of cables & the occasional deore middle ring.

I’m also a cheap date & easily pleased.

These days I could not ever see me spending more than £500 on any bike that’s new, used or assembled from bits. I just don’t have the disposable income, that’s mostly due to having kids and a mortgage to consider before my own leisure costs.

Before the kids I had a couple of pricey bikes which were nice enough but I would say the (relative) scrap heaps I ride now are more fun, suit my riding better and damaging thwm worries me far less as I don’t have anything like as much money tied up in them.

While I can understand the whole conspicuous consumption thing that goes with owning an expensive bike I would have to say the Diminishing returns point probably still applies above £600ish Whatever you are buying and a perfectly good bike can still be had for ~£300 IMO.

Inflated expectations are the real issue.

plumber – Member
just too **** expensive now.

thinking about it I’ve bought 1 hope brake last year and that’s it since 2008 I think. I consciously ride rigid single speed so as not to wear anything out on my other bikes…

The only people who need all the elite gear are the pro racers – and they probably get given their bits if they’re any good.

For the rest of us, it’s magpie lust, we just want the shiny bits and will rationalise why we “need” them.

I think you’ve cured your problem with a rigid SS.

The other part of the cure is to stop reading bike magazines and just ride instead. 🙂

The importance of the year 2008/9 is worth underlining.

That’s when the bottom fell out of the currency, companies ran down their inventories, the tax take went down (possibly for ever) and all the societal / economic changes in the Western world accelerated.

Comparing average real wages, prices and bike parts to that point in time would be more illuminating than – say – the ten years prior. We’ve had a tiny bit of growth since then, but output and average wages are still lower now than in 2008. “Growth” since that time is also disproportionately skewed to the very top 5% in society.

Most forecasts say it will take until 2018/19 for the average income to be back to 2008/9 levels, adjusting for inflation.

My personal reaction is to singlespeed my MTB and to still buy nice parts, but less often.

I am guilty of spending too much on excessively expensive bike bits when I am not riding enough and get sad.

If I’m actually getting 2 – 3 good rides in per week my expenditure is very modest and I’m a happy chap.

🙂

The importance of the year 2008/9 is worth underlining.

That’s when the bottom fell out of the currency, companies ran down their inventories, the tax take went down (possibly for ever) and all the societal / economic changes in the Western world accelerated.

Comparing average real wages, prices and bike parts to that point in time would be more illuminating than – say – the ten years prior. We’ve had a tiny bit of growth since then, but output and average wages are still lower now than in 2008. “Growth” since that time is also disproportionately skewed to the very top 5% in society.

Most forecasts say it will take until 2018/19 for the average income to be back to 2008/9 levels, adjusting for inflation.

My personal reaction is to singlespeed my MTB and to still buy nice parts, but less often.

Interesting.

When I was working as a mechanic back in the late ’90s, my boss was convinced 1997 (I think it was) was a great year for technology/price, as trickle-down kit was finally starting to work well (SRAM had started making semi-decent kit, Shimano had upped their game in response and Campag were finally taking a stand against Shimano’s progress on the road side) and the 1998 pricelists we were getting were showing quite a mark-up in comparison.

Not quite as scientific as the above, but certainly in a similar vein.

The only real out of proportion increase is if you compare branding. XTR – XTR.

If you look at what technology you get in Alivio. Its far superior that higher models 10 years ago.

I think it is expensive, especially at the top end. The price of the XX1 stuff is mental.

However like others, I think the lower end stuff is so good these days it comes down to wanting something shiney to look further up the range. I have the latest Deore brakes and they’re fab. I don’t miss the tool less reach adjust that I’ve used once on my XT’s and they’re stood up to crashing much better than the XT’s.

The price of forks does wind me up though – since Fox introduced the 36, everyone seems to have developed an expensive fork after the 36 sold like hot cakes. The cost of DH forks is even more eyewatering – £1,400 for a pair of Boxxer’s! Yikes. I appreciate that modern forks do more but how much of that do we actually need? I manage fine on my 36 Van’s without travel adjust etc.

Tyres can be a bit of a joke, but at least there are still good tyres for sensible money.

mindmap3 – Member
…Tyres can be a bit of a joke, but at least there are still good tyres for sensible money.

It’s one place I am happy to pay for the best I can get.

Crap tyres make the best bike crap too.

I think it is expensive, especially at the top end. The price of the XX1 stuff is mental.

It’s cutting edge and new technology – it’s going to be rare (comparatively) and expensive, not to mention a base for beta testing.

I’ve always been an advocate for buying stuff in its second generation, which in this case would be the next generation of X0 with XX1 trickle-down.

Do you *need* XX1, or will good old reliable X9 see you reet at the moment?

It may be my bad memory, but I don’t ever remember XTR ever being that mentally expensive. It was always expensive but XX1 seems pretty unobtainable for the average rider. Even X01 isn’t that affordable. The trickle down effect does seem somewhat slower from Sram than it used to be but they somehow seem to be selling a reasonable amount of XX1 / X01 so I guess there isn’t much incentive to rush out an X91 groupset.

Some of the boutique stuff like Paul’s was crazy money back when I started riding, but that wasn’t from a main stream manufacturer.

I agree that tyres make a difference, but £60 per end like some? No tah. £30 is about my cut off.

Some of the boutique stuff like Paul’s was crazy money back when I started riding, but that wasn’t from a main stream manufacturer.

Do you remember the Paul’s rear mech? I had lustful teenage dreams over that. :wistful:

I just buy mid range cassettes and chains when they need it. I don’t buy bits. Seems reasonable that way.

My FS I built myself is full 10 speed xt, my hardtail 9 speed alvio and my hack/commuter is 7 speed tourney.

I bought every thing I need to make my HT xt and make the hack alvio and planned to do so over Xmas as I have some spare time.
But I don’t know why but I just can’t bring myself to do it.

My HT really gets the sharp end of stick as far as it really gets dragged thought the crap in all weathers and has never functioned any thing less then perfect, so I am thinking leave it.
Keep the stuff I was going to put on it as spares for the big bike , and keep the stuff I was going to put on the hack as spares for the HT.

And leave the hack as is, as it sole purpose is to convey me to where ever I wish trouble free where I can leave it locked up knowing that the mere sight of it is enough to dissuade any self respecting bike thief from stealing it .
Which it does all of the above perfectly.

But It is starting to do my head in a little bit as I keep looking at my HT thinking it would look luvely all xt’d up and reach for the tool box only then for me to change my mind for the above reasons.

Although I am lucky enough to be both middle aged and over weight so draw some consolation in the knowledge that the sight of me bimbleing along the trails on a fully blinged mtb is likely to cause as much if not more derisment, scorn and amusement than if I was on a banger .

As someone said above I need to spend more time riding my bikes and less time worry about component envy.

Pimpmaster I do indeed remember the Paul’s rear mech. That thing was lovely.

I also had a real thing fir Kooks cranks.