"strong, light cheap…choose two" Does this still apply?

So Mr Bontrager said

“strong, light cheap…choose two”
in this day and age does this still apply?

If not what components, parts or bikes fit all 3?????

I still think this applies in the majority of things.

Sure, you can now get some components that are light, strong and cheap, but when you’re really talking about major components, i.e. wheels, frames etc, it really still is the case of pick two!

Guessing someone will correct me though,

on-one scandal & Whippet, Hope hoops with Stans rims, most KCNC components.

Actually that sounds like my ideal bike build.

All the words are relative. So it will always be true.

superstar pedals
and hopefully the ‘exotic’ clones postie just delivered 25 quid off eBay will. be just as good

hexhamstu fair point but for example

chris king hub. expensive strong(durable?)

hope hub strong light cheap

Dialled bikes strong cheap light

It’s all relative to be honest..

One persons cheap is another persons expensive.

Sure, if you have a wallet lined with gold, you may think that CK hubs are cheap, but to most, hope hubs are cheap for what they are, but they’re still expensive! £170 for a rear hub isn’t exactly cheap!

It may be derived from: “Faster, better, cheaper” has been NASA’s mantra since Daniel Goldin

tbh deore hubs fit the bill they’re just not very bling
infact the entire deore groupset is a fewhundred grams lighter than xt 1/3 the price and can anyone yell the difference on strength ?

you can either say it applies less or differently, but it still applies.

Hope Hoops cheap WTF Mike I’m in the wrong profession!

Deore hubs are not light, the sealing is gash too.

Cheaper than the Mavic equivalent weightwise Al, as above it’s all relative.

hope hub strong light cheap.

I wouldn’t describe a hope hub as cheap! Aren’t they £150+ for the rear? I mean they do offer good value for money, but I wouldn’t describe it as cheap. This just strengthens my point. A hope hub is cheap in relation to a chris king, but it is bloody expensive in comparison to an XT hub at £40.

it’s a universal engineering principle. I remember seeing a similar statement in a textbook on motorcycle maintenance from about 1936. I suspect it has been quoted and edited for over a century, It’s the sort of thing IKB might have said.

it has, does and always will apply.

just thought, you can’t compare across time, what is light and strong now, is not the same as 50 years ago. Compare a 953 frame with a 753 frame from the 70’s(?) both light both strong and neither cheap, but looking at numbers 953 is very different to 753.

Im strong, light and cheap. Does that mean I’m the pinnacle of evolutionary engineering?

@slowrider obviously 🙂

As Hex said, all relative. Stronger, lighter, cheaper than something else?

I’ve found CK hubs to be strong (more reliable than Tune Prince) cheap (less than half the price of Tune Prince) heavy (compared to Tune Prince)
Therefore Tune for dry XC races, CK for very wet/boggy races and 24hr events.

And no, I’m not made of money. That Tune hub cost me more than my entire car, just a question of priorities.

One that ticks all three? I bought a NOS Saracan Killi magnesium frame, 2 years old but never built. 2.9Lbs for 19″, still going strong 5 years on and cost £40. Just got to look around for bargins.