Eric F 

As the owner of a couple of high-end 20+ year old bikes, I'm curious about what factors you see as limiting. This is genuine curiosity, not trying to pick a fight.

veganbikes

vonfilm I think you missed the sarcasm of that post.

msu2001la

Cheap calculators must totally blow your mind. For just a few dollars you can get a device that has a ton of tiny and complicated parts that would be impossible for the layperson to take apart and re-assemble. They even have tiny friggin solar panels. Think of the engineering...

wolfchild

You said it, not me....Now your'e getting into a different territory and comparing department store bikes to brand name bikes.

msu2001la

Tire clearance is the main thing. A lot of race-oriented bikes from that era can't fit anything bigger than 23s.

Eric F 

Valid. I can get 25s on my Colnago, but I'm not 100% sure I could on my Time. That said, I'm running 25s on my newer (but still rim brake) Storck, and probably won't change.

icemilkcoffee 

Yes, and the whole point is to ask the buyers of these bikes to explain why this bike is worth $14k to them. Don't just answer with 'Because reasons'.

veganbikes

What about a Rolex bicycle? What if Rolex and Specialized for instance paired together and released a bicycle that cost double the amount of money you were whinging about in this thread? What if it were Rolex and Gucci (pronounced Guh-key to piss off those who value that particular brand) with Specialized?

A watch costing $400,000 is seemingly OK but a bike costing a fraction of that that can get you places and give you more fun than a simple time telling device which has been kind of outpaced by a phone or a less expensive but also still not cheap watch that also can take calls and send messages and what not.

Again this is a bike forum, bikes are awesome. Why a bike is ridiculous here but a watch isn't is kind of odd.

tomato coupe

See reason #2.

Bald Paul

Would you trust your life to a doctor stupid enough to spend the money required to purchase an overpriced luxury car from you with your life?

Were you forced to buy the $14,000 bike? No? I'm so happy for you. Now crawl back under your bridge, troll.

genejockey 

Since a lot of the difference in price comes down to the carbon fiber used, and the complexity of the layup, I'm pretty sure you can't do that in any meaningful way. Plus, you're talking about taking complete components off a complete frame, not taking the individual components down to their smallest pieces and putting them back together.

A Rolex, BTW, has no more parts than any other autowind watch and you can snag those for pretty cheap, and they might just do the job of keeping time as well as the Rolex. The Timex mentioned above will probably do a BETTER job of keeping time, largely by virtue of not being mechanical.

Polaris OBark

If you are as old as Rideabent, that's kind of like next Tuesday.

icemilkcoffee 

Why are you feeding the troll post then? The best way to shut down a troll post is to answer with a substantive answer and steer the conversation away from mud slinging.

tomato coupe

Same question ...

I was responding directly to a question you posed. Did you want an answer to your question or do your prefer that everyone simply ignore it?

genejockey 

Expanding on the Rolex theme, Rolex and the other high end mechanical watch makers did an amazing job selling an inferior product as a luxury item. I say "inferior product", because prior to the advent of quartz watches, what you got when you paid more for a watch was greater accuracy and reliability. Along comes quartz, with an inherent accuracy that mechanical watches could never dream of. And yet the Swiss were able to actually move farther upmarket with a product that does a worse job at its primary task. At least an expensive road bike generally does a better job at its primary task than a cheaper one, even it it's a matter of ounces or a few watts of wind resistance.

icemilkcoffee 

You didn't respond with any answers though. Your response was the same 'it's worth $14k because it's worth $14k' non-answer that everyone else gave.

greatscott

A $14,000 bike is about 1% to 2% better at the most than a bike that costs $5,000, so you have to decide if spending 3 times the amount of money is worth the 1% improvement. At $5,000 you can get a 15 pound bike with Dura Ace components, so what will you gain with a $14,000 bicycle? As you can see not much.

By the way, $15,000 bikes are more fragile for everyday road riding than a $5,000 bike.

tomato coupe

I most clearly did not. I responded to your post expressing frustration that people were not answering the OP's question, by listing two reasons why that might be happening.

tomato coupe

I loooove it when people pull numbers out of their butt. It feels so ... scientific.

veganbikes

How so? Have you done any sort of scientific testing on a 15k vs a 5k bike from the same manufacturer with the same shapes and geo and what not?
Or is it just a perception that a more expensive bike must be more delicate because of price?

Anecdotal evidence isn't useful here so that friend you had with an S-Works that cracked because he smacked into a road sign but when you did it on your 3k Trek Ednoma that one time it was fine. It is not a useful argument without actual testing.

Eric F 

You have me curious...got a link?

greatscott

I love it when people try to make an argument of something they don't understand, but fail miserably.

tomato coupe

Are you claiming the 1% - 2% figure you cited is based on measurements? Tell me more...

(Don't inject political barbs into this -- it's real bush league.)

Eric F 

If every additional expense must be justified with some sort of measurable factor of improvement in equivalent proportion, then a $14k bike is a terrible choice over a $5k bike. However, some people are emotionally stimulated by riding a bike that is the pinnacle of current technology, and have the financial means to be able to scratch that itch. Utilitarian practicality and concerns about long-term durability generally aren't significant considerations in the decision at this level. If I had the financial means, I would be one of those people because hot bikes excite me, and I've been doing this thing long enough to recognize and appreciate some of the subtle differences between good and great. Even if I'm not getting down the road any faster than I would on a cheaper bike, pleasure in the journey is part of the joy of riding. If my enjoyment level is increased, there is value in that to me, even if it's not a measurable factor.

terrymorse 

It's rather comforting to see that the opinions @rydabent offers without knowledge extends to material science.

Can someone remind me how to mute an account?