scary bike prices.

Is the feeling of walking into the specialized store any different from walking in to the BMW dealership (to get our secondhand mini serviced) and feeling so out of place with the people in swanky suits and cars costing north of £50k

Isn’t there a limit on bike to work allowances now?

Only if one is set by the employer.

Going to have to check this shop our next time I’m in Harrogate. Love window shopping there… always interesting to see the top end of everything on show. Such a green and pleasant town. Never actually take anything home though.

this on was may fave.  i fear it wouldnt like 20 stone of me onboard.

https://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/product/306441/2023-s-works-crux/

but this one was more suitable and on my list.

https://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/product/38101/2022-chisel-comp/

Isn’t this all a bit obvious?

I know we like automotive equivalents on here, so what the OP has done is just akin to wandering into a BMW main stealership, perusing the newest M5 or whatever, plus options and suddenly discovered that posh products sold in a bricks and mortar setting, in a well heeled part of the world, have a stupid asking price… And?

I don’t even think Spesh Concept stores are the peak of luxury bicycle retail: The boss and I popped into Henley for a cheeky Wetherspoons lunch and a saunter around the Posho’s various knick-knack shops a couple of weeks ago.
She sent me off to look in the bike shop there,I wander up and there’s a Visma world tour replica Cervelo in the window, nothing else has any indication of price on it (if you have to ask, you can’t afford it), it looks awfully tidy for a ‘bike shop’ on a weekend, I can’t see your standard rack of random spares and innertubes and the staff seem to have have matching polo shirts. This is a showroom not a bike shop, I turn around to go and look at whatever crap my missus is interested in.

You can buy bikes lots of places, expensive shops are an option but they’re really only for “high net-worth” individuals and idiots.

Specialized isn’t a BMW. It’s a Ford.

Expensive shops you say?

https://www.pushcartel.co.uk/bespoke

I’ve been in some poncy bike shops, the Harrogate shop isn’t like them, they are nice, unpretentious lads & lasses who love bikes, know their stuff, ride regularly and are a good laugh on the group rides (road and off road) they put on. It’s really just a normal bike shop, that has some expensive bikes in it. I’m told their coffee is nice too.

Why do people only ever mention Specialized when it comes to £10,000+ bikes. Is it because they are in the concept stores and the average joe can see them? Plenty of other makers produce bikes that exceed that. Even top end Trek and Cannondale XC bikes are £10,000 and more often top end race bikes are a lot more.

Specialized isn’t a BMW. It’s a Ford.

That seems harsh. I’ve never owned a spec’ but I’d find it hard to think of a type of bike where they don’t make something pretty world class.

A Ford, earlier.

Perhaps VW then. The ‘People’s car’ that’s actually quite premium

I bought a Giant trance X 29 1 (2022 model -panther green) for £1600 in September last year… I also got a full XTR groupset (£180 chainset, £160 rear mech, £50 shifter, £500 brakes, £250 cassette, a new helmet and some clothing) all under a £3k cycle to work scheme so will cost my wallet about £2k… I bagged a Nukeproof horizon bar and stem, brendog vaults and deathgrips for just over £100 in the wiggle melt down sale…. And to finish it off a set of ex display DT Swiss XM1700 wheels with the rear having an upgraded 240 hub for £300 off eBay.

It doesn’t have to be stupidly expensive if you don’t want it to be! Just be prepared to look for the bargains

Ignore the high end. The chisel comp mentioned above is £2300. 5 years ago the same bike, with a slightly more expensive spec* was £1300 retail.

* Not necessarily better, but OE the parts would have cost more I believe.

I do think Specialized are one of the worst for taking the piss on pricing. I was talking to LBS manager at Christmas. They had recently dropped Specialized because they were getting hard to sell. The Specialized sales rep couldn’t explain what the extra money was going into compared to brand xyz. I suspect there is an element of bias there. But having recently bought a Cannondale online and been very disappointed with it, I do think some brands are charging a lot extra because they think they can.

Specialized isn’t a BMW. It’s a Ford.

Specialized is absolutely BMW. Both make very expensive models, but also budget stuff for people who see the brand as adding some tangible value. It amazes me that the German manufacturers are still seen as premium despite selling mostly products for the masses. The 3 Series has outsold the Mondeo for ages now. Both are slowly chipping away at spec and quality whilst pushing prices further upwards.

Specialized are known for pricing their S-Works bikes much higher than the sum of the frame, suspension and all the components. As numerous people with lots of time on their hands have proven repeatedly.

Trek are even more expensive than Specialized but nobody ever seems to hate on them.

If these bikes are such poor value then why are they not being undercut and outsold? The bike market is highly competitive, certainly far more competitive than either the car or motorbike markets. The new Epic 8 will also sell like hotcakes, as will the new Stumpjumper or Enduro whenever they decide to release those. Clearly there are no shortage of willing buyers, just not many of them to be found on STW…

The Specialized sales rep couldn’t explain what the extra money was going into compared to brand xyz. I suspect there is an element of bias there. But having recently bought a Cannondale online and been very disappointed with it, I do think some brands are charging a lot extra because they think they can.

I agree about specialized being pricey on full retail. However I don’t see them making huge profits

Spec’ uk made 3.7 million on 94 million in sales. Which doesn’t leave huge room for lowering retail prices

Does anyone know if the parent company in the us is more profitable

I have owned a few Specialized over the years both MTB and Road I’ll be the first to admit they are not value for money compared to some other manufacturers but I like how they ride and fit and I am very tempted for one of the new Epics but it would be the base model if I do go for one.

Talking of Harrogate, a couple of years ago I got talking to someone who knows the guys at Prologue and he said that the *average* spend on a new bike and accessories was approaching £20,000.

Conversely, I just bought two brand new Schwinn ladies bikes (RRP of £499) for £100 each. This afternoon’s job is unboxing them and putting them together.

Talking of Harrogate, a couple of years ago I got talking to someone who knows the guys at Prologue and he said that the *average* spend on a new bike and accessories was approaching £20,000

Suspect there’s a bit of Chinese whispers at play there.

But not a lot. And there’s a lot of very quick guys that shop there too.

Spec’ uk made 3.7 million on 94 million in sales. Which doesn’t leave huge room for lowering retail prices

I’m sure they do their very best to make as little profit here as possible. They’ll be buying those from a more tax friendly location where the real profits are held I would expect.

You can get a top end Ribble with Dura Ace Di2 for a mere £8000 now they’ve knocked £2000 off the RRP.

I’m fine with Specialized charging at the top end of top bike prices. The SL8 and the new Epic both have strong cases for being the very best at what they’re designed to do.

Ribble blows my mind though. Every time I see one I can’t help but think back to the mid 00s when everyone in my uni club rode their blue alu winter frames because they were £150.

A mate has just bought a Santa Cruz High tower for around £4 1/2 K , wireless shifting , carbon frame etc etc . £3K off RRP 👍

I once made the mistake of walking into that Push Cartel place by mistake. The moment I saw the words ‘apparel’ and ‘bespoke’ I turned around. The kind of **** bollocks that  represents everything that has gone wrong with cycling in the last few years.

The moment I saw the words ‘apparel’ and ‘bespoke’ I turned around

I think the rot really set in when “collections” became “carefully curated”.

While I am sure you could spend mega bucks in Push Cartel, when I looked at them for a bike with Ultrega / force group sets, there was very little difference in price between what they could offer and the big brands, including Canyon.

It must be nice to buy a bespoke bike, but supporting a LBS, is never a bad thing.

The moment I saw the words ‘apparel’ and ‘bespoke’ I turned around

I think the rot really set in when “collections” became “carefully curated”

‘Colourways’

 he said that the *average* spend on a new bike and accessories was approaching £20,000.

That can’t possibly be right  can it? I can believe some people might be spending that sort of money but not that there are enough spending more for that to be the average

Specialized isn’t a BMW. It’s a Ford.

I’d have thought Boardman was more like Ford, you know “motoring for the masses” purchased from less upscale premises, stuck together for a target price, less aspirational value for people who care about such things.

Sorry, I’m not really a “Car Guy” I’ve spent about as much time I’m bimmer dealerships as I have in concept stores and enjoyed both about the same amount, seemed like a reasonable comparison.

Feel free to recalibrate our expectations so we know which cars/bikes to look down our noses at 😉

All these Ford references, Ford have made some pretty outstanding cars in the past – I’d argue that their catalogue of outstanding cars beats BMW – my mate has had quite a few BMWs which I thought were pretty poor.