roadandmountain

Trek racing bikes start at $700, very close to the $600 BD bike with a couple of upgrades.

VegasTriker

Just for kicks I went on our local CL and looked just at bikes listed for $1k or more. There are a couple pages of them. Ditto for bikes listed at >$2K. It appears that a fair number of people buy expensive bikes and then decide they may have made a mistake after a year or so. If I were going to buy a really expensive road or MTB I would want it to be fitted to me. Buying second hand is nice but it is a lot harder to get one that fits.

gregf83 

Not really. There aren't very many frame sizes made for any particular model. 90+% of people will fit one of three frame sizes with a seat adjustment and stem replacement.

VegasTriker

I'm on the very short side of the spectrum. I picked just one bike at random on bikepedia - the 2014 Cannondale CAAD10 3 Ultegra Double with MSRP $2270. It comes in the following frame sizes 48cm , 50cm , 52cm , 54cm , 56cm , 58cm , 60cm , 63cm Many people who list their bikes on CL don't even list a frame size. It is a crap shoot to find one that really is best for your particular size.

rydabent

I did watch the whole video, and pretty much agree with the guy. I have posted on several bike forums about the cost of bikes.

Where I do depart from what he was saying is on clothes and accessories. I ride a recumbent bike and trike. I do not need clothes that protect me from my bents, since they do not tend to hurt me. I make do with $15 rugby shorts, and common wicking t-shirts.

The bottom line here, and what the guy on the video was mousing around is-------------if you want to be a egotistical peacock that says look at how much I spent, be my guest. But--------if you want to use common sense and logic, search out equiptment that gives the most bang for the buck. Ask your self-------am I riding a serviceable bike or a name brand. Just who am I trying to impress????

NoviceJohn

The thing I did not understand why the narrator comparing a TT bike to a road bike. 99.99999999% of recreational cyclists would not go out and buy a TT bike. I don't even think a LBS would even have the conscience to suggest a TT bike to a recreational user even if Bill Gates was the buyer. So the comparison between the two is like what he said, "apples and oranges" so the purpose of the narrator's intention of comparing the two is strange. The comparison between a motorcycle and road bike was also strange and has no meaning. I won't go into that.
Also the fact having a carbon bike versus a steel bike is the smoothness on the road. That's the main difference. Third, his bad experience with DA and ultegra components doesn't represents the quality of its product as a whole. Every brand on this planet will have defects in their production line. It's the luck of the consumer. In short, buy what you can afford and prefer. It is like buying a Toyota over a Mercedes and vice versa.

Northwestrider

While I tend to agree with the video, a high end bicycle is a lot cheaper than a high end motorcycle. Apples to apples

Sullalto

Yes. Weight weenies exist for cars, too.

MikeDVB

The biggest weight savings I could get on a bike is by losing some weight myself .

Little Darwin

I stopped watching after 18 minutes. I really wanted to jump up and down supporting this guy's premise before watching the video, but I just can't get excited.

It took 10 minutes to basically say that the rest of the video was going to be comparing a high end bike with an entry level bike.

When he finally got to the point of discussing the issue, he makes some points I tend to agree with, but backs them up with "statistics" he seems to be pulling out of thin air...

Things like a mid-level cyclist would ride 2 mph faster, and a recreational rider 1.5 mph faster ont he high end bike... They may be valid numbers, but for a 37 (THIRTY-SEVEN) minute video, I would expect more than a couple of buzz lines repeated many times with some numbers thrown in without any reference to support them.

Then he goes on to proclaim that Ultegra and Dura-Ace are crap. As much as I dislikre the elitist pricing of Shimano components, I don't think Ultegra and Dura-Ace are crap, or nobody in the pro ranks would ride Shimano components.

I think a better video could be done making the main points more effectively, and could be done in well under 15 minutes.

But, I agree with his premise. Recreational riders don't need to invest 5 figures into a bicycle. In my opinion, even though a buyer is free to do so, I think they should go in realizing what the cost difference really gets them (or doesn't).

Cyclist0084

Spot on!!

caloso

You are asking the question the wrong way. How is it that you can buy a motorcycle for so little?

Keith99

Bolding mine.

You don't? Video won't load for me but just from reading this thread I do.

He needed it to make his case. Of course it backfired big time for you and I suspect any person actually knowledgeable about bikes.

contango 

Which also explains why you can buy a $20,000 Rolex that does the same job, although arguably not as well, as a $200 Timex.

ETA: Compared to buying the Rolex it's cheaper to buy a used car that comes with a clock in it, that can also get you from A to B much more easily than the Rolex ever could.

Keith99

I just want to point out one thing about good quality bikes, they last. I bought mine for about $1700.

About 20 years ago,

The seat has worn through is a couple of spots. Both wheels have been replaced because of pothole impacts over the years making them nearly untrueable. I don't even want to think of how many tire replacements, pretty much all simple wear.

But the frame and groupo are all still fine.

I consider it money well spent.

roadandmountain

SRAM had a good run for a few years, but it's back to shimano domination as always. Suntour did all right back in the 80's and part of the 90's.

Campagnolo is still a player in the high end but shimano has eaten away at campy's share of the racing market in a huge way also.

Shimano has a near monopoly on bicycle componentry. This has to affect the pricing structure of bikes.

cruiserhead

I couldn't watch all of it but he completely ignores the fact all of the low-mid range performance bikes benefit from the high end development.
Call it trickle down tech, but the fact is they are enjoying bikes that were considered high end a short time ago.

There is a cost to development, and a risk.

10 years from now, he will be saying how no one needs to buy anything more than a $700 carbon Di2 105 because there is no value in the high end
unobtainium frame and Di5 that runs 5 years on a watch battery.

btw,
I agree that the biggest factor in performance is the engine. Plenty of people can do very well with a sub-1K bike.
Nothing wrong with that.
However, it does not negate bikes costing more. Faulty logic.

Robert P

Do you feel that applies to everyone?

Jaeger99

I think anyone who feels that their paricular value assessment should apply to all is displaying arrogance. But no, I don't feel that all people think this way. Thankfully, many are open-minded enough to accept that one person may validly choose the most basic form of two-wheeled transportation while another may just as validly choose something beyond that.

Al Criner

The internet has become a lot like TV. We all spend too much time watching pointless stuff.

Unless somebody is starving their children or something in order to buy a blingy bike, why should I care?

GhostSS

I watched this video several months ago and it wasn't even worth thinking about. Expensive things exist. Dehydrated Folgers coffee and Kona Peaberry coffee are both caffeinated so why by the expensive Hawaii stuff? The reasons don't need to be based on anything other than desire when purchasing luxury items.

Plus, cost is almost never directly proportionate to quality, value, or increase performance, it's almost always exponentially diminishing.

Cost scales between items with some overlap. There are some motorcycles that cost more than a decent car. There are cars that cost more than a decent house.

eja_ bottecchia

Yep! What you said...

Mos6502

Since not all bikes are expensive - who cares?

DBA

this!

AdrianFly

Aside from pro-athletes and wealthy racers(God bless them).. there is big money to be made from men going through Mid-Life Crisis.