Tempted by those MT420 Shimano brakes as they don’t have that servo-wave nonsense which i’m sure greatly contributes to the bite point moving all over the place

My Deore M512 brakes were the only modern Shimanos I had which never did the wandery bite point thing. And I used them for about four years.

Hopefully that’s carried over to the new 4-pot version.

Seriously, if you’re making stuff and not making 50% gross margin then you’re barely going to break even / probably not going to stay in business long.

Bike part costs $10 in materials and labour in Chinese factory
Bike part is sold to bike brand for $20
Bike brand sells part for $50 / £30 to UK distributor (shipping + duty added)
Distributor sells bike part for £60 to UK bike shop
Bike shops retails part for £144 (VAT included)

In an ideal world maybe. Bike shop then finds it can’t sell at 50% margin as some web shop has it at 30% off and everyone wants a price match. And distributors are struggling as they’re an added layer in the route to market and anything coming through them can be undercut by grey imports or a direct to consumer brand. Brand-building allows you to protect product value but that’s expensive and takes time.

Online competition and ease of price searches has lowered the value of it all in the opposite of the auction price hike phenomenon. Someone is always price-shagging something devaluing the whole market for that product and similar items. I think you’d be shocked at the RRP of many things if a distributed brand had 50% of margin at each stage. Some things have high margins, some are low, the mix aims to be about right.

But yeah, £700 rims = Veblen goods.
Edit, just had a look at FGF. Those rims are £700 EACH. I’m all for nice things that are made with skill and care though, maybe they can justify it. I could spend £2k on a steel frameset so whatever floats your boat or rolls your bike.

Different industry, but I worked at a distributor for 10+ years, we dreamt of double digit margin…

Those rims are £700 EACH

Enve are £1100. Each.

And Enve is a hilariously and admirably successful marketing brand imho.

(edit, ok maybe ‘hilariously’ is a bit past fair. I’ll go with ‘interestingly’.)

Golfists are bored of golf, not unreasonably, and are looking for a new hobby. Lots pick MTBing, and some brands have seen this and set the pricing of their wares accordingly. See also that plenty of ‘urban’ golf courses are being turned into trail centres, or plans are submitted to that effect.

Yes and those brands thought they would only sell to Golfists even at the risk of pricing themselves out of the reach of their core customers. I doubt it.

It doesn’t change the fact that stuff has never been so cheap. Yes there is also very expensive stuff but there has always been. Remember the price of Ti frames in the 90s, compared to now.

So you can buy an entire set of Shimano brakes F+R for £85 fully bled. Total rip off.

Those brands are the once boutique small producers that have become global mega brands (relatively speaking). They never really had a mass market following, so no loss to go for the high end. They’ve done well out of it so have expanded.

Remember the price of Ti frames in the 90s, compared to now.

This. A Marin Team Ti which I coveted in the early 90s was 5000 early 90s pounds – with no suspension, cantis and 3×7 gearing.

Helmets? On-one £10 jobbies!

Oh and brexitflation

We often hear #brexit economic forecasts were all wrong. Nothing has happened! The doomsters were wrong!

Not right, per fascinating new paper by @DennisNovy et al which shows sterling crash cost h'hold £870/year – or the nation £450m a week! 1/threadhttps://t.co/M3OEApSxQa

— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) January 24, 2020

Some bike shops, get up to 60% mark up on Specialized bikes – I wonder what they cost to build.

Some bike shops, get up to 60% mark up on Specialized bikes

I know what the biggest volume retailers make on those brands. Before someone goes to a local IBD and starts haggling based on what “bloke said down’ pub” … it’s a fair bit below that : )

There was a news piece, just after Christmas I think, 10 years Fresh Goods or something where the author made some snide wisecrack about people complaining about the high price of the reviewed product for the whole decade.

It’s nice to see my comment that after such a long period of time, most companies would have taken on board customer feedback and perhaps they should try reviewing the lower price kit most people want to buy. 🙄

I rarely venture onto the front page now because my perception of the prices of reviewed kit means I’m as likely to purchase it as I am to plait shit. £700 rims suggest my perception is not wrong. If moderately priced gear reviews, with the occasional bling kit was the normal fare, hell, I might even start buying the magazine again!

Some bike shops, get up to 60% mark up on Specialized bikes

I know what the biggest volume retailers make on those brands. Before someone goes to a local IBD and starts haggling based on what “bloke said down’ pub” … it’s a fair bit below that : )

I owe you an apology – mark up and margin are often mixed up, this time by me : ) if phone reading is an excuse I’ll take it. If you meant mark up, then yes that’s pretty common. Works out at under 40% margin, earlier in the thread 50%+ margin was mentioned as good business (it is but it’s not always what you get partic on bikes)

I might even start buying the magazine again!

There’s a magazine?

the lower price kit most people want to buy.

Folks don’t want to buy the cheaper stuff, but sometimes they have to.

An article on where to buy say Novatech hubs and which one for which job would be priceless

ampthil, that would make a great article. Even better if formula and bitex and any others were included. Likewise, spokes and rims.

Folks don’t want to buy the cheaper stuff, but sometimes they have to.

A fair point, but I reckon as many spend much lower down the diminishing returns curve even if they can afford the bling, which means the vast majority of purchase volume, by choice or preferance is on the low to mid range product, which Singletrack largely ignore. I’m sure they aren’t alone in that, but this is the primary cycling media I expose myself to.

You can’t compare margins on full bikes and on bits. Margin on bikes around 20%, double that for parts as a ball park figure.