Was having a wee browse on Stif and came across this Santa Cruz Bronson.

Almost 4.5 k with SLX, Deore, Sektors and no dropper.

I appreciate its a great frame, but thats simply outragously bad value for money. Anything to beat that out there?

Oranges? Anything AM that comes with 32mm stanchions?

The bike above is £3200 with an alloy frame there is a £900 premium for the carbon frame.

Whats the worst value bike out there…

the one that never gets ridden.

but its a santa cruz man !!!

That is pricy. Its what put me off getting a Bronson. Im getting a Mach 6 with pretty much the spec spec as their Santa Cruz Bronson Carbon XX1 AM. But mine is working out about £800 cheaper.

Its not just a bike! Its a way of life!!!

Usually any of the ‘dream’ bikes at £7+k that companies list for the people with more money than sense (because there will always be customers who want the most expensive bike).

They usually cost twice what the sort of spec the pros actually ride costs and have no real performance difference.

Just checked out the cost of the frame itself..£2600 rrp. So how on earth can they justify charging a further 1800 quid on the bits they’ve hung off it.

Whats the worst value bike out there…

the one that never gets ridden.

£7,500 for 11 kilos of shopping bike

@Shermer

Wow. I was going to say any Kona but that is special.

It’s worth taking the scope of the warranty into account too. IIRC, SC aren’t brilliant in this respect.

On a side issue, I recall that a Brain-equipped S-Works Enduro frame retailed for a whopping £999.99 back in 2004. Granted, the equivalent frame today is made of carbon but it’s fair to say that the older frame was considerably more expensive to build than it’s modern aluminium counterpart with all the monocoque mouldings in four different sizes.

I calculated that a 2004 S-Works superbike complete with top of the line Fox forks, a Hope wheelset and brakes plus an XT groupset would slip under the £3k mark back then…

Santa Cruz build kit prices are pretty poor generally – they’re close to RRP pricing.

Better off buying frame and building, or at least seeing what a shop like 18bikes will do for you

£7k for this looks a bit steep 😉

I calculated that a 2004 S-Works superbike complete with top of the line Fox forks, a Hope wheelset and brakes plus an XT groupset would slip under the £3k mark back then…

It was £2500 I think for the full build – I crashed the reps/demo one 🙂
I went frame only and yep £999 with a 10% discount in store credit went towards some wheels for it.

£7k for this looks a bit steep

Unlike the seat tube

the orange cross bike. only a doe-eyed gullible mtb’er would think that was a good buy.

That Herme’s shopper is outrageous. My Batavus would beat it into the ground, will outlive me, and only costs a monkey for a new one.

It was £2500 I think for the full build – I crashed the reps/demo one
I went frame only and yep £999 with a 10% discount in store credit went towards some wheels for it.

Nice! I bought a bottom end model Enduro back in 2004 and by the following summer had replaced every single component except the frame itself – not because I wore stuff out but because I was (am) a colossal tart. It would have been cheaper to go down the dream build S-Works route but that’s hindsight for you…

It was good till the chain stays ripped out 6 years later

I believe that most of them failed like that…in addition one friend with a 2003 bike put a crack all the way around the seat tube just above the weldline and another broke the stay in half at the rear brake mount.

Mine was unscathed and now hangs on the living room wall as a statement in industrial art, much to the chagrin of MrsPJM.

6.5k for an Bronson on Stif’s website.

Fair enough XTR, but no dropper and a Sektor fork!

If I paid full price for the frame I’m pretty sure for £4000 I could put together a much better spec and still have change.

That Hermes bike takes some beating though

In fact I was bored so I worked it out.

Frame £2599
Fork RS Pike £650
Wheels £400
XTR Group £800
XTR Brakes £270
Hope Headset £70
Dropper £250
Saddle £50
Stem £50
Bars £85
Tyres £90

That’s £5314

Factor in a generous £100 for grips cables and spokey dokeys and you are more than a grand ahead and have a better spec.

A fool and his money…

GT GTR ELITE?