Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Why do very similar looking bike frames have such different prices?

I have been a bike enthusiast for almost my entire life, and I thought I knew what was going on.
However, over the past few weeks/months I have been doing research on a cheap fixed gear bike to start
with and I have become a little confused. Just browsing through craigslist and ebay i can't seem to find any
major difference between a $150 "nishiki" and many other bikes going for well over 1000 dollars. When it
comes to road bikes I understand the price differences with carbon fiber and design, but I seem a little lost
over the huge price gaps in the market.

the best example of this I could find is a $1500 frame over at trackstar that looked like it had come out of
someones garage.

help me out people

See my sig. Those cheap ones are the ****** bones.

Vintage track frames are high in demand, and many of those come from very reputable builders and are made with very nice steel. Largely it's a name thing, the nishiki is probably a road conversion so it probably has slacker geometry and different dropouts etc. Another large factor is country of origin and material quality, country of origin being an issue because a frame made in an asian factory setting may be crafted less skillfully than one made by an experienced builder somewhere in Europe/Asia/America etc.

Ask an economist.

I have been a bike enthusiast for almost my entire life, and I thought I knew what was going on.
However, over the past few weeks/months I have been doing research on a cheap fixed gear bike to start
with and I have become a little confused. Just browsing through craigslist and ebay i can't seem to find any
major difference between a $150 "nishiki" and many other bikes going for well over 1000 dollars. When it
comes to road bikes I understand the price differences with carbon fiber and design, but I seem a little lost
over the huge price gaps in the market.

the best example of this I could find is a $1500 frame over at trackstar that looked like it had come out of
someones garage.

help me out people
that craigslist nishiki probably weighs 30 pounds, has horizontal drop outs (not track ends), road geometry, and ****ty parts.

other fixed gear bikes are usually made with that in mind (track ends, steeper geometry, no cable guides) made of nicer (lighter/stronger) tubing, nicer welds (or lug work), and higher quality parts.

Ask an economist.

BINGO!
Same reason my office mate was able to sell his worn out Vans (from '87) on Ebay for $300.

Most 1,500 dollar track frames will be custom/semi-custom, and mad by a master frame builder. The ride is unmatched by anything made in a factory. I have raced on many frames, and the custom steel stuff is on a different level.

being handmade, in a country with workers getting paid more than .50$ an hour, the type of steel or aluminum used, and of course...brand markup

i think a big reason why some expensive fixed gears don't look as fancy as a comparably priced road bike is fixed riders infatuation with steel. for the most part, expensive steel tubing won't look much flashier than the cheap stuff (no aero tubing in strange shapes like you see with carbon and aluminum). also, there are less components on the bike for you to look at that denote quality (no fancy looking dura ace or campy deraileurs, levers or brakes).

basically if you ride one you'll know.

it's what's inside that counts.
for instance: two girls at a bar. both 34 D, both gorgeous. With a sweater on, they both look stunning.
However: one has natrual tits, the other has saline implants
they "look" the same, especially at first glance, but there's a substantial difference in quality.

Cheap steel tends to weigh more, ride poorly (esp over distances) and is cheap to make. Quality tubing costs more, and when assembled by hand and to particular specs, makes a far more valuable bike.

Nice paint + lugs = big boobs + sweater. Really means nothing at a glance.

Wow, If I flagged posts, I'd start with ^that^ one.

yeah, way to treat women like meat spooki. misogyny is murder!

There's nothing misogynistic about that post.

Most people don't think of silicone/saline when considering 'what's on the inside'.

most people also don't think of "bicycle" when they think of how to get downtown.
common sense should never apply.

Most people don't think of "cars" either spOOki, they consider the route. You are far off.

Common sense actually should apply when choosing your words.

what the hell spooki?

you've been getting out-snarked left and right lately and then today you come out with this?

you're really slippin' here.

Most people don't think of silicone/saline when considering 'what's on the inside'.

Word. Everyone knows that this is what's on the inside.

http://www.republicanvoices.org/meat.jpg

No saline there.

correct.
just the insides of brooks saddles.

correct.
just the insides of brooks saddles.

(yawn)

correct.
just the insides of brooks saddles.

Yep. The delicious insides of delicious Brooks saddles.

Mmmm... Brooks saddle = tasty...

thanks eveyone,
I understand now it's the same as almost any other product on this ridiculous market except for the fact that with fixies looks don't happen to mean everything.

Also, great comparison sp00ki, and crushkilldstroy way to google the word meat and chose one of the first few images to show up. I'm guessing you do that a lot.

and crushkilldstroy way to google the word meat and chose one of the first few images to show up. I'm guessing you do that a lot.

What's wrong with that? He wanted a picture of meat, so he went to the most popular search engine to look for one. What do you want him to do? Download a picture of meat off some bit torrent site? wtf