Neil_B

OK. I'd like honorary status on that team. :-)

Rowan

I figure that if you've earned the money honestly, you can damned well do what you want with it.

The people who own expensive bikes and know how to ride them give little attention to those who have the same bikes but ride short distances.

And frankly, the bikes I have just finished building for Machka and me to go touring for six months would have cost around $5,000 each if I had bought them complete and imported them. As it is, they cost less than half of that to build with astute purchases of components. And as a bonus, they look quite mundane.

My other bikes cost about the same (except for the tandem which was quite expensive), and they were my choices, and again were built from the frame up. I would like to get another good-quality carbon bike sometime into the future, and a good-quality folding bike, a recumbent trike, and a high-wheeler... because I will be able to and because riding those bikes appeals to me for certain purposes.

Yes, I used to get a bit up tight about how people with "new money" buy cars, bikes, houses, boats and a whole slew of other stuff that they didn't know how to get the best out of... then either hung it up in the garage or let it fall into disrepair.

Some of it might be worth buying at the inevitable fire sale, but there's no point in buying something for which I am unlikely to ever have a use.

Captlink

I'm not wishing to argue but a warranty is the cost of a replacement and marketing/advertizing is not that expensive and is spread out for a entire product line and how different is the wheel today,plus I never could eat that alligator shirt anyhow! I love what money can buy and you can't compare a 250$ bike to a 2500$ one I just think many 4500$ bikes are 2000.00$ in hype.

Homeyba

The raw material costs of many products is a very small part of the retail cost. If you truly work in manufacturing then you know just how expensive tooling and engineering costs are. You have to have huge economies of scale to justify those costs. There is added value throughout the whole manufacturing process. I'm not sure how many CF bike manufacturers have you visited but it's probably zero (I apologize if I'm wrong) since most US companies have their frames made in Asia. Calfee does manufactures CF frames here in the US and they have none of the machines you mention. They lay the carbon up by hand. Their Dragonfly frames sell for $4100 and I can tell you first hand that Craig Calfee isn't making $3000 on each frame. Most companies have average margins of 40-50% on their products. Higher volume would have lower margins and lower volume will have higher margins. That's reasonable and pretty standard.

Homeyba

I'll try and remember to bring you a jersey this summer.

vesteroid

Wow, just when I had convinced myself that the Clyde forum was imune to this childish crap, along comes this thread.

Telly

This thread has gone beyond being a rant with people taking pot shots at insulting me...
You have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA who I am, my financial situation and whether I'm a jealous fat bigot or someone active and passionate in building a new cycling community. In these four pages I've heard people who agree with me, people who don't, but have the decency to do it in a tactful and polite way and give creative criticism, and people who post insincere and insulting messages without any merit or thought in them just to heat up what they think is a confrontation. I've been in forums all my life and have seen much worse, but after being a member of BF since last September, I was expecting more from the latter posters.

So anyone here can continue to take pot shots at me with insults, I won't bother posting another message on this thread since I've already posted my opinion on the matter and don't have something to add to that; just know that you're not hurting me at all. You are however hurting the online community here at BF since anyone else wanting to post their opinions on other controversial matters might think twice after reading this thread.

And that's a shame because there are others here that may be in a position to help these future posters.

Axiom

Majority of the price comes from the brand name and their customer service, not the actual parts. It's insane that there are road bikes that cost more than a nice car. Don't get me wrong, there are bikes that are built very well and are worth the money, but like a lot of people on here point out, after a certain point you are buying jewelry not functionality.

Rowan

And your post, my friend, answers your own observations in your very first post on this thread. You aren't hurting the people who own expensive bikes by taking potshots at how they ride them or over what distances. Seen from the other side, your original post could be seen as quite insulting, and hurting the overall cycling community because you are criticising people for getting out there and riding bikes, albeit with expensive ones and over short distances.

Pot, kettle, black, I think.

Homeyba

If you are referring to me (since I said the "j" word), I wasn't trying to insult you. I apologize if you took it that way. To be perfectly honest (as I said) I thought the feelings you espoused in your OP were perfectly natural and I've had them myself. It definitely wasn't meant to be a personal attack on my account. You could look at it another way and look at your OP from the view of your neighbors? What if that was you "loading your new Specialized road bike (carbon of course!) onto your BMW X5 suv. Dressed in spandex tights with local team logos and looking to be in fit shape..." being written about on a bike forum?

krobinson103

I got to ride a $15,000 titanium framed bike today. I totally agree that its waay better than my $600 bike, in fact if it was priced around $3000 I'd be buying it today. But, a bike for the price of a car? No matter how nicely it rides I really don't see the value unless, as others have stated it really is purchased because it is the best.

aggst1

I wonder if folks disagreeing with Telly do so because they ride Specialized carbons and beamers themselves... LOL

Neil_B

You are new here, aren't you? :-)

TrojanHorse

Me? Yes on the specialized carbon, no on the BMW. Have fun with your labeler.

Neil_B

SweetNightmare

I actually agree with the poster. If you're only going to go on thirty minute slow jaunts and eventually get bored with it, there's no reason to feed the bike overpricers. Once upon a time bikes weren't stupid expensive. Then the privelaged of us start buying the overpriced ridable accessories, and the prices go up to make more profit. It hurts us all in the end. I'm also with the OP in that I have no money for a car, so my transportation is a bike. Makes it hard to even afford that when prices are driven up by those that could flush money down the toilet and be okay. Real cyclist has nothing to do with my distain for them; it is their blatant waste.

Daspydyr 

Hey all, we are talking bikes and recreation. We are sharing ideas about something we each have passion about. Lighten up! Sounds like we all need a good lung busting ride tomorrow.

Rowan

Again, you have answered the observation yourself... by your self-portrayal as someone who can't afford what the others can, so you choose to denigrate them.

It's not their fault that your in the position you are in, whether it's by choice or has been forced on you.

jethro56 

Trek Carbon Fiber and John Deeres. I don't know if I disagree with Telly so much as I don't think we know his neighbors well enough. Could it be that they're afraid of riding on the streets? I know several people that just can't ride in traffic. I have a brother that drives a Lexus SUV. He's been a car nut all his life and retired from the Army as a colonel. Maybe his neighbors are elitist snobs. Maybe Telly just wants to believe that they are.

JimF22003

How are you supposed to know all this??? I have a nice bike, and I'll wear a jersey that's appropriate for riding a road bike. But I'm oldish, and fattish. Who's making these assumptions? I did a 122 mile ride yesterday. I defy you to tell me, just from external appearances, from the "poser" who's on a 30-minute promenade....

chefisaac

We all ride under wheels... we are all cyclists. What you wear is up to you. What you ride is up to you. How you ride is up to you.

Teff has his opinion and it is respected as we each do have our own as well and thats OK too.

At the end of the day, it is about riding, having fun and each to their own.

We all love ya Teff!

aggst1

I am. Wether you admit it or not you do the same amount of labeling on a daily basis. It is called being subjective.

jr59

Spoken by someone who has little riding experience in riding high end bikes.
You give your opinion on something you know nothing about. It's yours and you are entitlied to it,
wrong as it may be. At 18 and still in school, how could you know any better?

I ride a custom built for me Spectrum Ti bike, campy drive train. Tom Kellogg fit me, ordered tubbing for my
riding style and size, and painted it the way I want it. The frame and fork plus Chris King headset was about 4,000.
The drive train was about 1500 and wheels another 1500. That puts the bike at close to 9,000.
It's PERFECT, and I LOVE it. For once, a bike fits me, no a tweak here or a extender there. It just works.

After riding a few 100 different bikes, I can say this, I would do it again in 1 second. That and riding a stock bike SUCKS!
No matter what bike co makes it.

Now does the raw cost of the tubing equal the price of the bike? No it doesn't you have to pay for peoples time and knowledge.
To think that it should is somewhat foolish. You are going to dental school, after you become a dentis, you would want a person to pay you for more than the cost of the fillings.

To me, all the posters on this thread that say, I wouldn't buy a high dollar bike. I say, go on and ride your own ride, be happy with it.
I'll keep riding mine and be happy with mine.

Rhodabike

Top of the line bikes have always been very expensive. When I was racing (mid 80s through early 90s) I couldn't afford the Pinerello or Bianchi or Colnago with Campy components, but sometimes someone with a lot of money would buy one and ride it for only a season or two. So what? In a few years time they sell it and someone else gets the use of it.
There are plenty of very good bikes in the $1200 - $2500 range. This is roughly equivalent in earnings-to-price ratio to a $400 to $800 bike 25 years ago, and modern equipment works a little bit better in terms of shifting and the amount of maintenance required. (Sealed bearings are standard now, back then they were only found on very expensive machines.)
And how do you know they're going to get bored with and quit? Many novices are afraid of riding in traffic. They may soon get over that and start exploring more and more.

callmeclemens

I remember going to a in LBS in 2009 during Lance's last the TDF to pick up wheels that had been trued. They must have sold a dozen Treks and Team Radio Shack kits that day. I wonder how many of those are gathering dust.