rydabent

So does any one know what the actual cost of a $14,000 bike is to the mfg? What is their profit.

Also what is the huge difference between a $5000 bike and a $14,000 bike? Im talking the actual mechanical difference.

Reflector Guy

Something tells me it's going to be a long, cold winter....

badger1

... because 16 pages (and still going) on this isn't enough.
How can a $14,000 bicycle possibly be worth the money?

Eric F

No idea about the first question.

Mechanically, the difference will be in the quality and/or weight of the parts. Most people will find those differences minimal, inconsequential, or meaningless. That said, a $14k bike isn't for most people in the same way a Ferrari isn't for most people.

Kontact

A few hundred dollars.

None of the materials are actually exotic. Di2 wires were borrowed from the automotive industry.

tomato coupe

Geez, I'm still yawning from your last profound question.

Eric F

Is that just cost of raw materials? If so, there are a lot more factors that are included in the cost to produce a product and deliver it to market.

veganbikes

How much does a 400,000 Rolex cost to make, how much does a multi-thousand dollar Pokeman card cost to make? Some things are more expensive to own then to make it is not an uncommon thing at all. This thread is boring like the same one you already posted on the same topic. Come up with some new material. You already smashed the watermelon we saw it we briefly laughed and it was over. You are trying to do the same Netflix special over and over except not on Netflix more like a hotel T.V. channel on repeat.

Bikes are fun!

tomato coupe

More like the videos played on the little screens installed on gas pumps.

livedarklions

Their costs are an awful lot more than just the cost to build. Also, much of this is going to be bookkeeping--there's presumably a lot of R&D that goes into producing the $14k bike--do you count the costs of that against the profits on the $14k bike even if you're going to trickle down the new tech later?


Are you being paid by the thread?

livedarklions

The worst is when the two pumps you're close enough to hear are just a fraction of a second out of sync, although I have to say that the name ""Maria Menounos" sounds completely trippy that way. True gas station stories.

Kontact

There are carbon framesets you can buy new for $500. There are groupsets that cost $150. There are all carbon trispoke wheelsets that cost $500. And that includes the profit.

Substituting some more carbon or titanium does not raise labor costs 1000%. A hard to lay up frameset might take at most twice the labor time. Nothing actually requires meticulous added labor and none of the materials are anything but standard industrial stuff.

A $14k Aethis maybe cost Merida and Shimano a grand at most. A pair of handmade shoes probably takes more labor hours.

Aside from luxury price points, the main thing that raises the price is all the middlemen that each add a margin.

Pratt

But, remember, the manufacturer has huge advertising and public relations costs so that those not on the $14,000.00 bike can recognize it when you ride up on it.

genejockey 

More money gets you higher grades of carbon fiber, and a different and more complex layup which, which is done by hand, as well as the engineering and design that allows it to be made. And what are you but 11 gallons of water and a few bucks worth of chemicals?

3alarmer 

...if neither the $5,000 bike, nor the $14,000 bike is a recumbent, both are worthless anyway.
Clearly this is a trick question, and you will eventually turn the discussion toward mechanical differences.

Polaris OBark

Why not pick a specific example of a $14K bike in which the vendor (Trek, Specialized, Giant, Scott, whomever) lists the individual components.

Then look up the price of each component or group-set, and write it down.

Then add up the prices of each of the individual items.

If the frame is available separately, you can add that in. Otherwise you will have to guestimate. (Maybe start with $4K for a very high-end carbon frame.) Add in that price.

Now add it a few hundred bucks for assembly.

Finally, don't forget the import taxes that agent orange imposed.

big john

I can't believe you guys are doing this again. The other thread is still in the top ten.

genejockey 

I've been watching an interesting series of videos on Cam Nichols' YouTube channel, about what you get for $500, whether it's framesets, or groupsets, or wheelsets. Mostly, what you get is crap. Poorly made, poorly finished, big voids and unevenness in the carbon layup, etc. A lot of times, "Halo" products don't make much profit, if any. Manufacturers don't sell that many, and often they can't price them commensurate with their costs.

genejockey 

I've got the day off, and it's raining on and off, and I only just washed the Canyon after yesterday's rain-and-mudfest, and I just got home from taking Rango for a walk, and it's not time for a nap yet.

But it's close.

big john

Enjoy!

Germany_chris

Each one of these bikes is 5k plus but there is no thought or testing given to aero, or weight, it's all expensive components on gas pipe. Your perception of cost needs a reset

Eric F

A company like Specialized is a large machine that takes a lot of people to operate every day. The labor cost to produce a bicycle isn't just the people who layup the frame, and the people who assemble the bike. It's also the finishing, packaging, shipping/warehouse, purchasing, accounting, marketing, HR, etc., etc. There's also R&D costs, facilities costs, insurance costs, advertising costs, etc., etc.

Don't get me wrong. I agree that $14k is a price that gets inflated at multiple steps, and leans heavily on the exotic/luxury factor in the same way as exotic/luxury cars do. However, there is a lot more to the cost to produce a product than just the raw materials and the guys who lay fabric in the molds and push the buttons on the machines.

There might be $150 groupsets, but you can't possibly believe that they are made with the same manufacturing precision and consistency, and have the same level of durability and performance as a Dura Ace Di2 groupset.

EDIT: What it really comes down to is simple business - sell it for the highest price that people will pay for it. In that, it seems that Specialized has been successful with their $14k bicycles. If you don't like it - for whatever reason - don't buy one.

Chuck Naill

I preferred the first picture of the bike.

Eric F

Those are not all the same bike.

veganbikes

What about a $19k recumbent combine everything together. Some of those Velomobiles are pretty expensive.