So i was in the lbs here yesterday and took a look at this nasty blue bike.... oh wait, its the 04 rockhopper. I just bought the 03 rockhopper at the beginning of the summer. So i took a look at it but not too closley, noticed it had a different fork. Anyway, the pricetag on it was 420 bucks... thats 80 bucks cheaper than the 03 rockhopper.

so whats up with this, did specialized downgrade the rockhopper to make it more affordable? And whats with the (IMO) ugly blue

Fact of life in bikes. Things get cheaper. My gf has a 2002 Kona Stuff. She payed 1100$ (that was msrp I talked the shop down a bit). The following year they added better parts including disc brakes and dropped the price to 900$. It will make you feel better if you look at the bike industry like computers. You will never win unless you are getting bro deals

so i tried searching for the 04 rockhopper and couldn't find anything. Not even on specialized website. hmmm, makes me wonder how they got that bike.

how do you like the kona stuff? it looks like a good bike thats in my price range.

i cant wait to go bike hunting tomorrow. i gotta make a list of all the bikes i want to try out.

My gf has the stuff I have the roast. They kick ass. I couldn't be more satisfied with my ride. Definately test one as some people think the cockpit is cramped but that is by design. The bike is made for technical riding where a short cockpit is best

Again that does happen. The Glacier shop in town has 2004 Kona's and has had them for a while. Specialized may not have officially released them yet but may be selling them

Bikes do get cheaper supposedly. But they are very different to computers. You can easily ride any trail with a 1998 bike. But you cant play a pc-game with a 1998 computer. Personally i dont give a dime about new models, coz if i did then i should be in a constant loop of not buying anything in order to wait for next year's model. I only care about new models if i am on the lookout for something , bike/fork/component.... that said, i am happy with my 03 rockhopper and 03 Z1 fork .If i was to buy something a year earlier i would get a 02 model and so on.... its an endless conversation with no real ending. You buy what you need when you need it and you dont regret the money spent on it . If money is your concern then you should study investment theory and behavioral finance .

PS. Mael you got a very tidy and well laid homepage... i wish i could meet you and A2 someday.

Thanx Math. I haven't done work on it in 2 years or so. I sort of had to back out of that part of the industry due to my job.

Good point on the computer but the pure cost analysis still works

True but Mael, a 5yr old bike is still VERY usable especially if its a medium to high end bike, on the other hand a 5yr old PC or cellular phone is rendered USELESS today. Cost analysis shows that digital products decay in cost and efficiency at an alarming rate. Analog products stay stable. For example i have a 1996 Yamaha high end amplifier coupled to a pair of BW kevlar loudspeakers. Age? 7yrs. Value? The same, usability? The same. On the other hand 1999 PC, Pentium III 550mhz , GF2 GTS, 256ram, 10gb HD price 2000$ (1999) . Price today 500$ MAX , usability 20%.

Math, you are preaching to a preacher. I have been in the computer industry for almost 15 years now. I do realize depreciation and how useless computers become. But I am not comparing that in the least. Simply from one year to next things get better in both industries. A 5 year old high end bike is now considered a low end bike. It may still work but it doesn't have the components. XT 5 years ago is now where Deore is. That all I was trying to say and most people can relate that kind of depreciation to computers which is why I used it....

Yes sure. BUT , apart from the trendy virus that we all have, we can easily bomb trails with our current bikes in 5 years time without noticing any difference . However we wont be able to use modern programs and games in 5yrs time. All i am saying is that the depreciation factor in bikes is highly affected by trendiness rather than pure usability and performance.

Agreed, another analogy I like to use is with GOLF equipment. That's a huge industry worldwide, every year there are new clubs offered, new clothing, yet the basic premise of the sport hasn't changed very much since it's inception, and definately not very much in the last 50 years. Yet, every year, every manufacturer releases an entirely new range of product. What happens with the old stuff? Why is the new super high zoot so expensive, and last year's super high zoot is now middle of the range?

Same with bicycles. As the product is refined and new technologies used to build them, the cost gets amoritized over years and the trickle down effect comes into play. Plus, in a supply and demand economy, it's better to sell your product for 30% less than previous years even if the cost to build them is the same as opposed to sitting on a huge surplus of inventory.

L8R