I buy my bikes when the sales come round. Last bike cost £584 with the discount and i love it. The Actual cost with all the changes and addons cost a bit more (£360ish :oops:) all done on the same day of purchase. So the cost of the bike was £944.

I never count the cost of the bike (as you can’t put a price on perfection) and the addons are essential (i love my bum, and i don’t like flats and you can’t use the same lights as it’s like sharing knickers) Just makes sense, but people don’t seem to understand that these are reasonable costs

So what is the ‘Actual’ cost of your bike

(It’s ok, your OH will never see this thread)

Well the last bike I bought was a PX road bike, and I altered everything to fit well (and to put the tyres I wanted on), I get on OK with the bars and saddle on it. £20 on pedals I think.

Other bikes are a constant evolution. The commuter had rack and lights transferred from the bike it replaced, but needed a new front hub (dynamo lights), just replaced the rear hub as couldn’t find a replacement freehub body for it, and new mudguards, it could do with different handlebars too as I don’t quite get on with the shape of the drops (although I’m mostly holding back as setting up and taping bars is a bit of a PITA).

Mountain bikes I have swapped and chopped over years, although the oldest one has reverted back to almost standard, all I changed when new were the bars, other stuff has been worn out parts.

I stopped buying bikes and now only buy parts. I was dead keen on the cannondales from Paul’s but after I swapped out the bits I didn’t want, I’d be left with the frame and fork.

Same as most of the Planet X deals. Parts are usually their own brand shite so better off buy the frame and fork.

Last new bike had bars, tyres, saddle, pedals and bar tape added. A new bottom bracket followed not long afterwards. I reckon that was at least £200 on top of the original price.

Last bike was 2nd hand, £500 quid.
Added some Easton bars
Spd pedals
Butcher and purgatory tyres
Total cost around £670.

Not bad for a 4 year old zesty that was £2300 new

Edit: not a new bike, per se, but on costs would be the same

Apart from since Aldi lights, a set of M520 SPD’s and some mudguards the last bike I bought it still stock. And to be honest the pedals were in the spares box.

Mine are subsidised by my Corporate Health Account thing that I salary sacrifice and get matched by my employer.

An all time high (well low) was building a complete Krampus for about £250 of “real money” using a combination of a Frame and Fork I won (I know thats cheating), CRC vouchers that I got in lieu of a warranty frame and the aforementioned health account.

Shame it got nicked…but the insurance money paid for my Chromag so silver lining and all that.

New gravel bike (£950 rrp) with discount, and the health account will end up cost me about £300 of “real money”.

…and you can’t use the same lights as it’s like sharing knickers

I tend to add to my bikes very slowly over a long period of time. It help the cost become a bit more vague and more justifiable 🙂 But I definitely hear you here. In an ideal world I’d have a separate pump, lights, saddlebag (with tools, puncture repair kit, tubes, etc), Garmin/mount, and anything else I might have forgotten (bell!), for each bike. Which is the point. They’re all ready to be deployed at any time with minimal faff, and without forgetting anything. But it gets expensive if you’re paying £30 for a pump, etc. All adds up.

All in, I find my bikes a relatively small cost compared to the other stuff.

I used to buy new bikes – a long time ago – from LBS or similar. Yes there was usually a rack or similar to go on, nothing much.

Haven’t actually paid cash for a new bike in the last 15 years I think!

second hand or as part of crowd funded deal.

Gradually whittling down the range of forks, pedals and so on that I have accumulated..

I bought my Boardman Road team carbon for under £600.

Just bought a CX team for £480.

Feel like a bargain or the actual cost price?

The bikes are on clearance and I’ve wasted money in the past buying new with full XTR then stopped riding.

Now I ride when I want and spend cash on women, dinner and photography.

A motorcycle is cheaper than a bike!

I bought a Trek Fuel EX8 29er and have since changed the forks for Pikes, groupset inc brakes, pedals, grips, tyres, handlebars, stem, shock. In retrospect I’d have bought a better bike to begin with. Had fun though!

If the new bike’s a different colour I’d have to spend hundreds on new colour co-ordinated troy lee outfits and a new matching lid!

If the new bike’s a different colour I’d have to spend hundreds on new colour co-ordinated troy lee outfits and a new matching lid!

Are you the guy that’s always on the cover of MBUK?

Trust me a Motorcycle is not cheaper……. Ohlins, Brembo, BST, Marchesini, Gilles……..
Really not going to mention ex-factory swingarms, engines, bodywork…..

Not counting consumable parts (e.g. cassettes, chainrings, BBs, cables and cable outers, brake pads);

£1200 – Specialized Camber Elite 26er 2012
+ £30 shorter stem
+ £35 new saddle
+ £100 new brakes and rotors
+ £220 new shock with custom tune
+ £150 new wheels
+ £260 new fork
+ £60 new tyres
– £50 sold old shock
– £100 sold old fork
– £50 sold old brakes
– £30 sold old finishing kit
——-
£1,825
——-

All of this was done over the course of a year.

mrsfry
i love my bum

Pics, please.

Additional cost to mine over one year not including essentials like tubes,pump and worn part replacement and the odd tool :

Bell £5
Front light £20
Back light £5
Mudguards £20
Better tyres £55
Lb wheels and hope hubs £650
Better bar grips £20

£775.00

My wife couldn’t believe I could spend £1100 on a bike and then have to buy pedals separately! Come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure why either…

Oh yeah, forgot to add pedals to my list. +£20

Mine came with cheap wellgo pedals that are decent enough to be fair.

You’d think they’d at least put some crappy generic pedals on really.. I now a lot of people change for better flats.. Spd’s etc but really?

Just got a new bizango for 540. Put used ss pedals on (15), a used nw ring (10), used reverb (100) and a new front tyre (20), total 695. I’m refusing to upgrade anything else. And I’m left with sellable new chainrings, front mech and shifter and I’ve a spare post if needed. £670ish.

My rallon was a bit pricier and complex. 1799 plus 300 shock upgrade, swapped everything and between sales and purchases it ended up costing 2500.

My ‘next’ one I’m currently building up is costing £1,523.84
Priced it up to minutest detail, right down to cable ferrules and those little cable donut things

I don’t buy a whole bike, current road and mtb were both built from a mix of old and new parts. The parts I can’t afford when I get the frame I’ll just save for and get at a later date as money allows. That also helps lessen the financial blow a bit. Current road bike cost about £1k for frame, forks and new wheels everything else I swapped over from my old. Mtb probably around £2.8k over the course of a year to get it finished but sold some of my old parts and the previous frame to fund it so net was probably £1.5k for me.

Currently at £489, I think that equals a fully functioning bike. It’s not all turned up yet so can’t guarantee that.

Will be sourcing rack and panniers yet, which are pretty much essential to the bike.

my voodoo bokor came from halfords in 2010 and I changed nothing – not even the saddle or tyres and it had wellgo flats so I stuck with them for about a year before putting spds on

I’m really surprised that some people change gears or finishing kits, ok there is personal preference but are the differences so great ?? have you bought a bike you actually want?

given that this forum has such a wealth of knowledge on mechanics (I know we rail sometimes about the nonbike threads but there is so much gold here as well) and active buy/sell, I’m surprised that more people don’t buy a frame and build what they want

Seeing as I have triggers broom, some of which came from 2008 Orange ST4, I could not tell you how much it cost.

Last MTB was £1199.
Rock Lobster 853 from Merlin, 10 years ago.

Carbon bars fitted, a Christmas prezzie.

Thomson seatpost, a freebie from Merlin in an attempt to stop slippage – turned out to be the crap Hope clamp.

Mismatched brakes – a lever failed, replaced by a freebie from my LBS, gawd bless ’em.

Consumables replaced, that’s it.

Still got the same wheels, (regularly serviced) forks, chainset, etc.

No plans to change.

I’m really surprised that some people change gears or finishing kits

Not sure if you’re being serious, I’d have thought the reasons are obvious

When I buy a bike I just ride it as it is, and only replace stuff as it wears out.

Surely if you buy something off the shelf, and change it you would be better starting off with just a frame to start with?

Have you ever priced up a full custom build? Or thought about how much time it takes? Why not buy a bike off the shelf and change a few things, it’s completely logical.

All my bikes were stolen in a burglary a few weeks ago.

Just replaced the summer and winter bike with one

Giant TCR advanced pro 1, full ultegra for 1389
Crud road racer guard, 16
Garmin mount 6
Pedals, keo copy 20

All season road bike 1431

Last 2 bikes…
The Santa Cruz was a custom build so nothing changed 😉 Later on did a cartridge upgrade, replaced the rims and that was about it until it got a new drive train after 2 years.
The Rocky Element about the same 6 months in I went 1x on it and thats about all I’ve done.

My experience is it’s much cheaper to buy a complete bike, then swap stuff from new so you can sell on the unwanted new bits…

One of the great things about buying from Bird is you can spec the bike pretty much as you want it. The only non consumable I’ve changed in 2500km is the chainring for an oval and the pedals (£40) to match the frame 😉

The Calibre Dune however….

[url=https://flic.kr/p/BRyDxi]Don't need these bits anymore[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

I had brakes, bars, stem, gaps in the spares box. Bought cranks, reverb, cassette, chain, mech and BB and two new tyres. Cost of the bike ended up being £467 after discounts. Spent AT Least that on upgrades. Still ridden it pretty much exclusively since.

If anyone needs some 8 speed stuff, let me know 😉

The new bike, which isn’t quite up and running, is a Bird Zero AM (with custom geometry courtesy of a -2 deg headset and a 20mm shorter fork). Bike cost ~£1500 ex VAT (cycle scheme) with a SRAM GX build. However, I’m perfectly happy with my old 10 speed Shimano drivetrain and prefer my old Hope brakes and wheels, so the shiny new parts are being sold. Plus I also have my 2011 Cotic Soul (medium orange if anyone’s interested!), Fox Float 32 140RL and Gravity Dropper Classic to sell. Total estimated outlay comes to ~£800.

This is from before the shiny new parts were removed (isn’t it awesome?! 🙂 )

New frame and fork – 2000 (Smuggler and Pikes)
New front wheel and tyre – 200
New front ring, bottom bracket and headset – 450.

Full cost of bike build which I had told myself would just be a new frame and fork – 2650.

NB all prices there in Euros so about 2000 total in sterling I’d guess.

I don’t think about the other costs such as petrol to get to trails et. I haven’t needed to buy any clothing or gear like that in a while.

I always underestimate the cost of building a bike up never mind buying complete. Bought the Stanton and thought oh won’t cost me much more to have a full bike. Then when you think about gear cable inner and outer. Fluid to go tubeless etc. It seriously adds up. Can’t remember the last time I bought a complete bike though, even if I did it now I’d strip and sell everything and got my own bits ( in case it was only available as a complete build)

Had an on one inbred single speed, built up from spares/classifieds bargains as a commuter/winter hack.

Saw offer on Santa Cruz chameleons £350 + £60 for dropout upgrade. Intended to swap all existing parts, save maybe a seatpost
Need more appropriate fork. Pike. £500
Didn’t fancy SS anymore. SRAM X1. £400 inc cranks +£50 for new freehub
Needed a dropper. Reverb. £220
Tyres look a bit skinny now… HRII 3C x2. £80
Bars feel a bit narrow… Easton carbon £100.

Got an amazing deal on a new 2013 Trek Madone 5.2 (ultegra) a couple of years ago.

Whitewall tyres look guff. Conti GP4000s x2 £80
Wheels are a bit weighty. Dura Ace C50. £1000
These ‘leccy gears look good. Full DA Di2 ~£2000
Aero bars iz moar aero. Bontrager XXX. £250
Alu stem doesn’t match carbon bars. Bontrager XXX £180
Saddle now doesn’t match bars and stem Bontrager paradigm XXX £160
Mtb pedals on a bike such as this won’t really do. DA pedals and sworks shoes. £400.

Yep. I replaced everything but the headset and seatpost (but that’s an isp so couldn’t if I anted to). It’s not so bad, as I paid less than the rrp of the frame and fork for the whole ‘donor’ bike. And now I have some nice kit on my winter road bike.

New front ring, bottom bracket and headset – 450

Made of gold?