Originally Posted by
PeteHski
Because bike weight is not as super-critical as some people tend to think and as long as the pro race builds can still get down to the UCI minimum then it doesn’t matter at all.
Weight has crept up with disc brakes, aero tube profiles, aero wheels, electronic shifting and wider tyres. But overall I prefer the improved ride and functionality.
Low weight now comes at a higher cost, but I don’t need a sub 7 kg build, even for epic mountain days. My second tier Canyon build is still well under 8 kg and my daily weight fluctuation is 1-2 kg, so the difference is in the noise. Would I swap the modern tech for a 1 kg weight saving? Certainly not.
I do not really agree. If we do the mats, some huge mismatches come to our attention:
2600 EUR: 2015 Canyon middle tier, SRAM Force 22, 6.8 kg:
See here (I bought from another brand, 6.65 kg, 2300 EUR)
3200 EUR: The same 2015 Canyon middle tier bike, adjusted for inflation to 2023
See here
+400 EUR: add increase in price in 2023 from moving to disk brakes and electronic shifting
Result: 3600 EUR – cost of Canyon middle tier in 2023, with disk brakes and electronic group set, 700 grams heavier.
However, the market price in 2023 is 5000 EUR for Canyon middle tier, Ultegra DI2 (SRAM Force AXS equivalent), 7.48 kg
See here
It shows an unjustified increase of 1400 EUR. In fact, this unjustified increase is even bigger, because carbon parts that account for 60-80% of costs are very much labor intensive, and labor (salaries) cost increase was much lower than inflation.
And… Canyon is still on the lower price tier on the market. If somebody makes similar calculation for bigger players (Trek, Bianchi, Specialized, etc.), he or she might come up with bigger figures and with a few hundreds grams heavier bike.
That is why I say the price evolution is insane and the outcome (increase in weight with almost zero advantages) is not a healthy evolution.