The world's most expensive bikes?
 

Bike forums folks,
I'm a bike lover and a technology reporter for Forbes Magazine. Ahead of the Tour de France, I'm putting together a story (a bit outside my normal beat) on the world's most expensive bicycles. I was hoping that you all might have ideas.

I'm looking for specific examples of ultra-pricey bikes, but also trends in high end cycling technology and ideas about which might be the most expensive bikes that will be ridden in the TDF this year.

If you have any ideas about who might be a good source for this story, I'm definitely eager to hear suggestions.

If you'd prefer to email me directly, my work email is also agreenberg@forbes.com.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Andy Greenberg

I'll take you at your word (forgive the skepticism but this is the internet ;) ). Anyways, Shimano seems to have truly broken through with electronic shifting. The Di2 group is something like $3K but since it seems to work really well it is becoming more and more used, both on pro bikes and on bikes for people who are willing to drop serious money ($5K+) on their bikes.

I'd guess the pro time trial bikes are the most expensive since the top ones come out after alot of time in wind tunnels and they use the Di2 if they can since the electronic shifting seems to be especially nice on a TT bike.

The most expensive bikes won't be in the TdF. Those are the ones from custom builders like Vanilla and Richard Sachs. Big $ and 3+ year waiting lists but not TdF bikes.

Btw I closed your thread in single speeds. You won't get anything there.

I'll take you at your word (forgive the skepticism but this is the internet ;) ). Anyways, Shimano seems to have truly broken through with electronic shifting. The Di2 group is something like $3K but since it seems to work really well it is becoming more and more used, both on pro bikes and on bikes for people who are willing to drop serious money ($5K+) on their bikes.

I'd guess the pro time trial bikes are the most expensive since the top ones come out after alot of time in wind tunnels and they use the Di2 if they can since the electronic shifting seems to be especially nice on a TT bike.

The most expensive bikes won't be in the TdF. Those are the ones from custom builders like Vanilla and Richard Sachs. Big $ and 3+ year waiting lists but not TdF bikes.

Btw I closed your thread in single speeds. You won't get anything there.

The Cervelo Project California is a huge breakthrough, but again I am not sure if they will have one at TDF. They would have to spec it with heavy parts to meet the weight limit. It is definately pushing the engineering envelope.

Nothing stands out, but pretty much every bike in the tour is $10K and every spare wheelset is $2.5-4k.

Count the bikes being ridden, on top the cars, etc, and do the math.

Not much money.

Like Walter said the Shimano Di2 equipped bikes will start in the upper 5k range and go as high as you want...Depending on build you could reasonably expect to pay upwards of 18k for some bikes, like this one:


Colnago Extreme Power Super (EPS) Di2
• Size: 50.00cm CT
• Color: MTBK - Limited Edition
• Fork: Colnago C75 Extreme
• Group: with Shimano Di2
• Wheelset: Lightweight Obermayer 12-20 Spokes
Weight: 13.75 lbs.
Bike Subtotal: $17,430.93

Add and SRM powermeter, which many team run, at 4k and that bike is now 21k

Any bike with Lightweights will be over that..the wheelset alone is pushing 7k...remember this is retail pricing. If the bike has an SRM that is another 4k

The truly super-expensive bikes are the ones with the custom one-off paint jobs being marketed as collectors items like the $50k colnago posted about a few weeks ago, or the hand-built weight-weenie type bikes like the 7lb bike that's been posted about a bunch. Throw on some $12k LEW weeks and the price jacks up quick. But for the most part, that's not high-end cycling technology, that's just oppulence and exclusivity. As walter said, the technology is in stuff like Di2 which is expensive but not crazy expensive. The weight limit on bikes does to some extent keep the prices from becoming insane because after a certain point there is really no benefit from wringing more weight out of things. I doubt any teams are using those LEW wheels (now Reynolds I guess), but you do see Lightweight brand wheels. The TT bikes are probably where most of the tech is concentrated these days, in the quest to make them more and more aero. Lots of wind tunnel testing, and lots of bending of the rules like with the Shiv, which was declared illegal and had to be modified.

I don't think you will find the world's priciest bikes at Le Tour.

The TT bikes will be costly, but mostly stock parts.

The answers are hilarious.

They are honestly good answers for a bike geek (like me). For a layman they are terrible. The answers should be written in a way , that a person who does not know cycling could understand them.

One of the more expensive bikes actually ridden in the Tour will be from a newer team, Team Sky. They ride Pinarello bikes, a well established Italian company.

I think there will be two other teams riding Pinarellos, but Sky's bikes will have the Di2 group, which is the priciest group out there (the other Pinarello riding teams have a different group set maker on them, I think). Groups essentially consist of the shifters, brakes, and gears. Di2 is special because it shifts electronically.

I eyeballed the bike and tried to price it as if someone with a very big checking account were to walk in and pay msrp for the bike. Sky's fully loaded bike with wheels, power meter, etc. came to be just under 17,000 usd. My specs (may be a bit off though)

As mentioned before, the Cervelo Project California is one of the pricier ones out there. However its not really a production bike, more of a engineering experiment.

I don't know how much you know about the cycling world, but there is a guy named Leonard Zinn who is pretty much a technical guru when it comes to cycling. He writes a column for http://velonews.competitor.com/ and takes reader questions about tech problems. If he has time for an interview, he is probably the best guy to talk to about bike tech trends.
his email as posted on velonews --> veloqna@comcast.net

Let us know when the article is posted!

If he is a writer, that's his job to figure out. I'm not going to write the article for him.

I think this is currently the world's most expensive bike, although not raced in the tour:

http://www.extravaganzi.com/wp-conte...oad-Bike-6.jpg

More info @ http://www.factor001.com/

As far as the most expensive bike at the tour goes, I think it is a close call between Team Milram with their Focus frame/Lightweight wheels combination and Team Sky with their Pinarello Dogma frame/Shimano Di2 electronic shifting combination.

Ok. In laymans terms - Carbon = expensive. More carbon = more expensive.

Actually, carbon itself is not terribly expensive, it's just that working with it and using it well can be tricky. I would say that actually less carbon = more expensive, because more care needs to go into the design and construction.

I think what's revolutionary in bicycling isn't represented by what's the most exclusive and expensive gear, but how high quality the gear is that's coming in at the low and middle part of the market. Entry level bikes run really, really well, making cycling more enjoyable and more accessible to alot more people. I'm guessing that's not going to be very interesting to your average Forbes reader. ;)

Now if you want exotic and bleeding edge (with the accompanying price tags), look here: http://www.rouesartisanales.com/

here: http://fairwheelbikes.com/

and here: http://www.kgsbikes.com/news/what-is...bicycle-anyway

Great point.

In other words, a bike that could win the TdF costs about the same as a garden variety Harley Davidson, MSRP.

Heck, the line of porta-potties outside the pressbox at a NASCAR racetrack will cost more than a TdF winning bike.

I guess I don't understand the premise of an article about the cost of a TdF winning bike - they're not that expensive. Unless your readers think of bikes as toys.

My team mate Alan comes close. I estimate the cost of his race bike @ $15K, and he races the stupid thing all the time.

But he'd never agree to a magazine interview. He's beyond that.

Actually, when you tell the average person that your high end race bike with Zipps and a Power Meter retails for $8K-$10K, most of them are utterly astonished. Try it on a few people just to get a reaction. First ask them how much they think the bike costs. The last time I did that the guy said "$1,000".

I wish.

With all of the opportunity cost of you posting about your bicycles, they are probably the most expensive in the world. :innocent:

I didn't think Forbes Magazine attracted average people. They're all "special."

"Forbes Magazine is the magazine for people that have the facts - they just need to know what to make of them. Mailing 26 times a year to over 900,000 subscribers (this includes four special issues per year), this magazine provides insight and information that ensures success. This magazine claims that it is not for everyone - but it is for the people everyone needs to talk to. "

Avg HH income: $230,000.

The average Forbes magazine subscriber already owns a garage of Serrottas; they spit on Cervelos.

This is more of a motorsports mindset, where it is literally true that the more money you spend, the faster you can go. What's different about bicycles is that after a certain point, you can't buy more speed. It's the mind and the motor, not the machine, that matters the most.

Probably not a very appealing notion to the rich, who measure power and status by the cost of their toys. There is no bicycle equivalent of the Bugatti Veyron.

Agreed -- I am guessing that Forbes is approaching this from a motorsports mindset, or "toys of the rich and famous."

As someone once said, it's not about the bike.

As long as you understand this, that's all that matters.