Cuda-

ahh--- the age old pricing story......

Like it or not, things cost money, and generally things cost more to make now then they did 30 years ago. $25 for a *pair* of Grand Cru cable hangers is actually not bad at all, when you consider the alternatives are NOS (impossible to find, original Herse hangers fetch for hundreds of euros on ebay). There's Toei (almost as difficult to find and they cost 6000-9000 yen). Modern triangle type hangers from TRP and others do not have the same look or function, but we sell a ton of them for $7.50 a wheel, which is $15 for a bike.

For another couple lattes, you can seriously upgrade your brake cable hanger.

I know- i don't drink those milkshakes either, but you get my point.

The elkhide bar covers are similar- they are very competitively priced. More importantly, they are actually available for sale. There are alternatives, like Toshi, which going from memory, are $55-60. A fellow CR lister occasionally sells sew on bar covers and it's $30-45 depending on how many you buy and how well you know him.

If these prices are exorbitant, what would be reasonable to you?

I'd love to be able to offer gumwall or tan sidewall tires ('skin' comes in a range of colors, including darker brown and even black, so I really try not to use that term for describing color hues). Velo Orange is a bit player in the tire world. We are trying, but opening molds like Pacenti or WTB is a little beyond our budget, much as we would like to offer it.
There's more to it than sidewall color though. Cheap gum and tan sidewall tires are available through any US distributor who supply to any bike shop in the US. What we are all looking for is a quality tire, with a hgher thread count, lighter weight and better wearing tread compound. but OEM suppliers usually care about one thing: OE COST. That is what forces us to pay dearly for molds, because we want something a little better than commodity level tires. The factory has an expectation that a mold (one size, tread compound, bead, specification etc) will be pumping out a minimum of 50,000 tires, if not more, for the cost to be completely amortized. Velo Orange will never sell that many tires. So, we have to rely on our charms and work with some tire makers who are willing to work with smaller companies like Rivendell, Grand Bois, and us .