I’m thinking that my next bike will be rigid and 29er with second hand bits and bodging where necessary… Road bikes aren’t necessarily cheaper tho they get hammered in the winter

You can have a shot on mine to see if you like it. 🙂

I do think it’s about time that magazines took a look at the range of prices of items they review. With some exceptions, (the Isla Bike in this issue of Singletrack for example) the well known manufacturers send their high end stuff for review and the cheaper brands/own brands don’t seem to, presumably because of their narrower margins. Or at least that’s my perception as a reader.

I honestly think that the likes of DHB, Decathlon, Raleigh’s components and clothes should included, even if it means the reviewers having to actually buy ( 😯 ) some of the stuff for test.

Nice things in ‘costing money’ shocker.

If you really want something to gripe about, check out the shifters on the £2600 Saracen ariel 142 (I think) Yep, Acera….

Deore…

Apologies its the 141 (£2250) that has Altus shifters 🙄

http://www.saracen.co.uk/bikes/all-mountain/ariel-141

Brand new is a mugs game, but then if it weren’t for mugs, I’d be one too.
2nd hand bargains a plenty. Not bought a frame or fork new since manitou sx ti forks mid 90s, let alone bike. Yet my bike bits are a few years, if that, out of date

OP – Im the reverse.

No-one really needs better than deore/reba/sektor/low end finishing kit/taiwan rebranded stuff, it’s all far better than the XTR/fox/thomson of yester year.

It’s just snobbery of wanting atleast “mid-end” (myself included, i just run what i want, typically not bottom end), where mid-end is actually quite expensive, but that’s fine, it’s mid end.

We are genuinely spoiled when it comes to good bike kit not costing the earth.

Single speed. This is the reason I mostly ride single speed.

My first mountain bike cost £400 in 1986 and I reckon taking inflation into account I could build up a better rigid bike now for an equivalent price. Yes at the top end it’s a very expensive hobby but the basic kit available now is excellent and works better than basic kit of the past.

High end bikes are much, much better than ten years ago and a bit more expensive.

Low end bikes are much, much better than ten years ago and about the same price if not cheaper.

I think what happens is that you mentally “set” prices for things when you are young or just getting into something. So if a high end fork was $600 when you started riding, that’s what they “should” cost in your mind.

If you come across a $1200 fork, then it seems outrageous because its 2x what it used to cost. But you’re not factoring in inflation and the fact that you’re probably earning more as well. Of course currency exchange rate can drive up prices of certain brands/products much more quickly than overall inflation.

My dad said that it was a shock to him when he bought a car that cost more than he paid for his house! 😯

I see myself buying more and more kit from the classifieds here rather than new…and some of it is really top rate and at a great price (£32 posted for fatbar lite with one small mark).

Buying off the classifieds also helps the whole recycling thing too.

Still inclined to buy new frames tho and transfer kit.

The problem is that, like any hobby, the more into it you are, the less willing you are to accept lower end kit. Have a look at what Decathlon are knocking out and really think about how much it would hold you back.

Its more a matter of unrealistic expectations than excessive pricing.

There’s always been top end, high price point kit, the major issue now is people who think XT or X0 are “mid level” or “bog standard” when in fact most people would struggle to exceed the performance capabilities of Alivio or Deore, but we have to keep believing we’re “worth it”

Better yet there are people who buy a whole new bike ever 18-24 months in the belief that they are in some sort of cycling arms race… Yes the latest new thing has more sprockets, 4% bigger, rounder wheels and suspension made by magic elves or something, but my 6+ year old bike with it’s “old” eight or nine speed kit hasn’t ceased to function just because newer objects happen to exist…

If the acquisition of pretty displays of wealth or keeping up with the Joneses is your motivation for being into cycling, you’ve sort of missed the point, but the second hand market enjoys your cast-offs so carry on please…

High end bikes are much, much better than ten years ago and a bit more expensive.

2003 S-Works Epic was £3500

2013 S-Works Epic was £7200

Not really a bit is it? Admittedly it was alu in 03, but still had a full XTR group set including discs, DT240 hubs, SID Carbon forks etc. It’s now a couple of pounds lighter. A better bike for sure, but worth double?

no MOTs on bikes so why replace a perfectly service-able bike “just because” ?

I’m running a 2002 Gary Fisher Tassajara (granted the only original component is the frame!) and a 2004 GF Cake 2 – pretty much original – and have no need to change. OK I’ve replaced rear mech on the Cake, gear cables, tyres, bearings, but essentially it’s the same bike as I bought 9 years ago…

Need to work out how to do a Krampus on the cheap now

2k is silly money for something like that

john_drummer – Member

no MOTs on bikes so why replace a perfectly service-able bike “just because” ?

I’m running a 2002 Gary Fisher Tassajara (granted the only original component is the frame!) and a 2004 GF Cake 2 – pretty much original – and have no need to change. OK I’ve replaced rear mech on the Cake, gear cables, tyres, bearings, but essentially it’s the same bike as I bought 9 years ago…

I’m sure you could describe a 30yr old Muddy Fox Courier frame as ‘perfectly service-able’ if you could find one – it wouldn’t mean you’d want to ride the piece of crap though, whatever you choose to hang off it.

Just looked away from browsing the Assos online catalogue and spotted this thread 🙂

My full-sus was sub 1000 a couple of years back – 2010 Marin Attack Trail 6.7 (mostly x5/deore and revelation forks) in a Winstanleys clearance. A quick look suggests its still quite possible to get a decent bike for well under 1k if you’re willing to have last years kit and hold your nerve until the sales.

High end bikes are much, much better than ten years ago and a bit more expensive.
2003 S-Works Epic was £3500
2013 S-Works Epic was £7200
Not really a bit is it? Admittedly it was alu in 03, but still had a full XTR group set including discs, DT240 hubs, SID Carbon forks etc. It’s now a couple of pounds lighter. A better bike for sure, but worth double?

Online inflation calc says £3500 is £4700 today. £7200 going the other way is 5600 or something.

njee20 – Member

Not really a bit is it? Admittedly it was alu in 03, but still had a full XTR group set including discs, DT240 hubs, SID Carbon forks etc. It’s now a couple of pounds lighter. A better bike for sure, but worth double?

But if you look at it the other way, instead of comparing swurks with swurks, look at what today’s equivalent performing bikes would cost.

I’ve not bought a new bike since 1998. I just replace parts and upgrade over time buying second hand if the price is right. My bike now is worth about 2k new but I didn’t even pay half that for it over time. I just can’t.justify spending the going rate for an equivalent bike new.

I shop around but most of my stuff comes from a LBS now, it’s a good price for exactly what I want. He’s not a massive shop and he must have sole over 100 bikes in the last 12 months (mostly mid-high end). 10 were upped to XX1, a few more to XX. People are buying the kit and it’s not just the sneered at rich boys toys, a lot of these guys are riding hard and serious and this is their main/only toy.

This thread has proved a few things for every £7000 bike (that you don’t have to buy) there is an import from China or an On-One type bike. Look at Fox vs Suntour/Xfusion? The number of Aldi threads shows there is kit for everyone and people are buying it. It’s a market, people are willing to buy so people are selling. For every 4 new bikes sold there are probably 2/3 complete second hands coming onto the market making high end bikes available for less money.

This thread has proved a few things for every £7000 bike (that you don’t have to buy) there is an import from China or an On-One type bike

doesn’t most LBS work come from fixing BSOs?

Online inflation calc says £3500 is £4700 today. £7200 going the other way is 5600 or something

Then figure in the weakened GBP:USD and we’re probably paying less now!

MTBing isn’t huge now, road biking is far bigger. Look at the pace of change in MTBing and tell me where these vast profits comes from? Or do you want to live in a world where no-one makes any money from your hobby, shops run by volunteers, distributors just for the love of it, R&D done in spare time on home computers and in the garage? Get real.

Some things – forks, for example – can be a bit pricey, but as others have said, singlespeed and Deore keep costs down. Doing your own servicing also saves money that could be spent on cassettes, chains & tyres (the main running costs of a bike)
There’s nothing really complicated on a bike, and there’s a nice therapeutic effect that comes from riding a bike that you just built/fixed.

The prices will only go so far before they leave a price point vacuum…Cue China who are making otherwise expensive (carbon) for not so much more than alu stuff.

Then there’s always lower end kit such as Deore which is all anyone NEEDS.

IMO we are nearing peak popularity/BS factor in MTB as shown in so many different sports over time. The tell tale signs are when marketing BS is dressed up as further technological innovation etc – and perhaps three wheel sizes epitomises this perfectly.* The froth will blow over in next 3 years following well established sports trends. Don’t invest in MTB industry now unless you want to holding the baby at the wrong time. If own a profitable brand/business (mag/website?) in Mtb now is the time to exit and leave the lasts 5% to some other mug – IMO of course!

* may well backfire as folk delay purchase until new standards becomes established. Just been offered discounted trance 29er but why bother when giant lead us to believe that this is a sub-optimal design?

I’ve just looked at an online calculator to test my notion that the £400 I spent on a Rockhopper in 1986 would buy a much better rigid bike today. Well it reckons I’d have £994 to spend so that would buy me a decent hardtail light years ahead of the Rockhopper.

Chances are you’re not a top-end rider, what makes you think you NEED a top-end bike?

Stop buying, get riding. 😉

I have to say those new Deore brakes are astoundingly good. I personally don’t feel the need for anything more “bling” the x5 stuff on my bike is shit though. That will get the deore treatment when it dies.

Chances are you’re not a top-end rider, what makes you think you NEED a top-end bike?

Why does anyone who isn’t Lewis Hamilton or Seb Vettel buy a nice car? Why does anyone who isn’t Joe Satriani buy a nice, high-end guitar? Why does anyone who isn’t Shaun Palmer buy a nice, high-end snowboard? Why does anyone who isn’t Chris Froome buy a nice road bike? Why does anyone who isn’t Stephen Hawking buy a nice telescope? Why does anyone who isn’t Michel Roux Jr have a nice kitchen installed? etc etc

Need <> Want

I have to say that normally I’m an XT, SLX, kinda guy: Ya know, medium, but reliable spec. kit. However, the new bike I bought a couple of months ago came with XO kit and when you tally up the sum of the parts, the cost of the complete bike was a bit of a bargain.

No one has to spend a fortune and as others have said: The cheaper stuff is now better than it has ever been.

If you are thinking you are being priced out of the game then I would venture you are being a little short-sighted, and maybe a little bit snobbish.

It seems like the law of deminishing returns to me. It becomes ever more expensive to deliver something attractive enough to make you ditch what you’ve got. It doesn’t necessarily need to actually be any better or lighter, they just need to convince someone to buy it. I wonder how much of the high end pricing is about positioning the rest of the pricing higher.

I used to buy S-Works, now I won’t even buy Specialized because it’s become too expensive and too proprietary. Manufacturers used to develop frames and sell them with a pretty standard recognised spec. If you were a weight weenie with deep pockets you could spend fortunes on exotic, boutique aftermarket kit, and drop serious chunks of weight. To a certain extent, manufacturers are speccing and even developing what some would have added afterwards. Carbon in particular became increasingly available in frames and parts.

What’s a bit different from the 90’s is that technical performance became at least as much a motivation as weight. For me the tide turned when Fox came out. From the outset they were more expensive and heavier than Rockshox, but they sold on performance and styling. Fast forward a decade or so and even the XC race scene was prepared to accept extra weight for performance in the shape of widespread 29er adoption.

I’ve never found Fox to offer better performance than Rock Shox, despite the higher cost. In fact, quite the opposite.

As mentioned, a product doesn’t necessarily need to be better, you just need to convince enough people that it is for whatever reason. Back when the Fox Float was released a RS SID was the default choice for most, and generally considered much more noodly than a Float. Whether that was actually the case I don’t know since I’ve never owned a RS fork, just RST, Manitou, Pace, Fox, and Marzocchi.

Why does anyone who isn’t Stephen Hawking buy a nice telescope?

Stop the Internet. We have a winner.

When I was a kid, the dream bikes in MBUK were way out of my reach. Now, the dream bikes are still way out of my reach.

But the dream bikes from back then are now £100 on eBay 😉

Of course the cost of bikes and components have increased – prices going up are a fact of life. But haven’t we changed?

I remember when I started out with a third-hand Specialized Stumpjumper (with the old U-brake behind the BB – anyone remember that catastrophic idea?) I had a lot more disposable income to splash on kit that I didn’t need but bought it because I could? While I was in that situation I continued to spend so had the best I could afford and its difficult to ‘downgrade’ when you’ve had the good stuff.

So now that I’ve got a wife and kids, a house, two cars to run and all the expense that comes with domestic bliss, can I afford the latest XX1 cassette at £275? Of course I can’t. And there’s a part of me that would never spend that much on a cassette while I have other priorities. 85% of my current bike is made up of carefully sourced second hand or reduced price parts and its still a lovely sub 20lb carbon XC hardtail. Do I love getting out there and riding? Yes. Am I willing to make my kids go without for the sake of having the latest wheel size? No. Thankfully, there will always be those who are and I’ll be there waiting to take the barely used, drastically reduced in price kit from them when they move onto the next craze.