Originally Posted by
Wilfred Laurier
there are three parties involved in a bike sale
the shop
the consumer
and the manufacturer
the manufacturer is the only one who does not benefit from including pedals
so it is a
win win lose
although the losses are so small
i can think of no other reason other than cheapness that they do not include them
how small you sak
i would guess
based on my time working for an importer of taiwanese bike parts
that a chinese made pair of plastic pedals today
costs significantly less than 50 cents
to include with a bike
My wife's new Jamis came with a pretty decent pair of pedals with toeclips. However, I had a pair of extra Shimano M324 that we opted to use instead. I planned to give the toeclip pedals to my son, but he said he didn't like them, so instead I traded those toeclips to the bike shop for a pair of resin (plastic) platforms that my son liked better. Bike shop would have given me a $5 credit if I had just given them the pedals.
But back to your point. How many people buying a $2000 or $3000 racing bike will actually use the cheap platforms that you say the manufacturers should include? Maybe 1%?