Right Said Fred

I have one of those old steel lugged road bikes (although mine is upgraded with a Dura Ace drivetrain and Ultegra shifters) and while I haven't compared it to a $10K bike, I have compared it to an $1800 aluminum bike and a $2500 carbon bike, and I have to say, I wasn't impressed enough to spend either amount to upgrade. I did notice some increased stiffness in the bottom bracket area, but my bike weighs 21 pounds and I wasn't interested in spending a minium of $1800 to drop about 3-4 pounds.

pallen

haha, more money is not always about harder/smarter work.

himespau 

Don't forget that Mr. Bean just crashed his $1 million supercar.

echotraveler

Haha its crAzy fun.

A goOd friend told me "ive been cycling for more than 30 years. Im getting old, im gonna ride wha i want!" we were tAlking about his look carbOn pedals.

His a great rider, and his campagnolo super recOrd 11 must feel very good after all this years of riding ultegra.

johnnyletrois

Cento1 is so nice. I've been back to the LBS twice to test ride it. So close to pulling the trigger, but it's equipped with Ultegra and I would prefer Force or Red. I'll have to decide if I can live with Ultegra for now and put SRAM or Campy on later.

DropDeadFred

yes and no

DropDeadFred

I'd buy a big end lambo or ferrari for 150k...thats a steal....flip it!

save10

Its funny because its true.

More perspective....my friend Erica has a $4000 purse. That she uses.....once in a while. An F*ing purse! And in her words...worth every penny. I was incredulous....she was unmoved.

eja_ bottecchia

I have three road bikes, a 1989 Bottecchia with a Columbus SLX frame, a 2001 Litespeed with a Ti frame and a 2012 Bianchi Infinito with a carbon frame.

FWIW here are my impressions of the three frame materials:

The Infinito accelerates as quickly as the Columbus SLX Bottecchia and over the long haul it is as comfortable as the titanium Litespeed. At 17.12 pounds (with Look pedals) theInfinito is a little lighter than the Litespeed and a LOT lighter than the Bottecchia. Climbing, the extra light and extra stiff CF frame was a real big help. In descents, the Infinito is very confidence-inspiring; it is more stable than the very stable Litespeed.


I don't think that the OP is criticizing expensive bikes per se, I think he is just wondering whether the extra $$$ really buys a significant improvement in performance over a "lesser" bike.

IF I had the extra cash I might buy the Colnago Ferrari ($15K) model on display at my LBS (it is autographed by Ernesto himself). This way I can combine both ultra-bling names: Colnago and Ferrari.

In the meantime, here is my current stable:

pgjackson

You can buy insurance for that in case of an accident. On a $10,000 bike, you blow a tire and wreck your ride or some a-hole runs you off the road, that's a lot of money down the tubes. Personally, I think spending that much money on a bicycle is foolish...but it's a free country.

kabex

They're not worth it unless they are custom built with LW, AX, ENVE, THM parts. Huge waste of money just like a Harley.

Sports cars can't be compared because the performance on those things is absolutely insane compared to a cheaper option.

You can build a bike that has 110% the performance or more of a 10k bike for 5k or less. Over at weight weenies guys are building 5 kilogram bikes(11lbs, seriously) for 5k dollars. You'd have to pay 15k at your lbs for that kind of weight.

Also, even for ridiculous money bikes come with crappish wheels and tyres, which is where the biggest improvement is to be had.

For sub4k bikes there's no option in building yourself since youll likely spend more, but anything higher and NOT building yourself is silly.

IMO, if I had the money I would spend my 10k on an S5 with SR11 and Lightweight wheels instead of the crap they'll sell for the same price at the LBS.

kleinboogie

Agreed with TDRILL, diminishing returns is steep in bikes. It takes off, imo, right after the price of a new CAAD-10. I buy used frames and build them up now and been very happy. Good way to save thousands. GL

shadoman

Just like any other item, there are things that are good value, and ones that are just overpriced chum.
Would I buy a new $10k bike ? Probably not, even if I was independently wealthy.
But I'd probably buy a really OLD one for the same price from some collection and ride it like I stole it.

spock

Does anyone wonder or know how much they spend on a 10k bike building it? I think the revelation would punch you in the face.

HokuLoa

Baby Boomer'd...

Yeah, capitalizing in a growing population of older, monied, "I want the cushy best" consumers. That said, if you have the free time and cash to ride many, many thousands of miles a year (especially in the mountains) then the added cost is justifiable. Consider that a good, careful rider can/does maintain a high end bike for at least 5 years or so. Say that works our to $2K/yr on a $10K bike and w/ say 5-8000miles a year... Doesn't seem all that expensive for the luxury when you consider that lots of folks spend at least $1200/yr on television. I'd take the super buttery road bike, thank you very much! ;-)

StanSeven

You're not going to completely trash any bike if a tire blows or someone runs you off the road. You might incur some damage and it could cost money to fix it.

Also your subtle comment about spending that much money is foolish but it's a free country is an insult to others.

justkeepedaling

Does anyone know how much the R&D for these bikes are? I think that will blow their mind

StanSeven

No different that most things we buy and use. There are lots of manufactures competiting with each other on price.

Right Said Fred

I think I remember reading somewhere that it's not about the bike.

spock

I would hope so. I would be willing to bet that the actual physical price of the bike to make wouldn't be more than 1000 + components. Don't know about R&D and all the other stuff tho'.

Farmer Dave

Bicycling is as expensive as you wanna make it. If Bicycling makes you happy and you can afford a bike like that, get it. If you save years and years to get it a really nice bike like that, ask yourself if you will be content with it and not lust for next year's model. I think personally any bike past the 3k mark is a bit overkill. But if you think that an expensive bike will motivate you to try harder, and you justify it by riding more then by all means get it. I would love a bike like that but will never get one on my own accord, that's why you gotta enter those sweepstakes!

gundom66

CC is marketing the new Wilier Zero.7 with Campy at over $10k...

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/fr...bike-9976.html

My buddy and I were talking about the prices on some of the bikes along with his wife and my wife the other day. The ladies were still shocked to see the price of a CR1SL then my buddy said he doesn't mind paying for that price since it's well equipped. Then I mentioned this new Wilier and my dream bike, the Oltre, and he said that would be a waste because it's not like I'll be able to ride it on a daily basis and for long periods of time. I looked at him and said that he's in the same boat yet he doesn't mind owning a $7k bike... My wife responded that she will not allow me to buy that much of a bike, and not even the $7k one either. I told her that it's too much bike for the budget, but what if we struck it rich? She said she will. I told her she's crazy, and even if we win the lotto, I still won't buy a bike over $10k. Then I came back and said, I'm happy at $9,999.

himespau 

fify

Phantoj

lol, if you're that thin-skinned you deserve to be insulted!

save10

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