Expensive parts, worth the bling?
 

ok, i am building up a pretty humble bike and understand a bit about bike mechanics and enjoy riding, waka waka waka...

but in choosing parts, (this is going to be a really long WIP, possibly all winter) i was browsing some sites in asia, since JDM stuff (OR now NJS) stuff is kinda nice to look at, but possibly really exp..

then i found this:

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/bebike/n65/

http://image.rakuten.co.jp/bebike/ca...uction/n65.jpg


http://image.rakuten.co.jp/bebike/ca...tion/n65-0.jpg


going price:

■生産終了■N65クリスタル NITTO　
N65クリスタル NITTO　【日東】【ピストバイク】

商品番号 N65
販売期間 2008年03月08日23時00分～2008年03月11日00時00分
メーカー希望小売価格 オープン価格
価格 999,999,999円 (税込 1,049,999,998 円) 送料別
売切れ、在庫切れ　または、欠品中です。

WHat the hell is that about? whats up with this stem that makes it so damn expensive? has it been touched by the hand of god? blessed by a divine budda? its been on every japanese olympic podium rider and then survived filming mash?

i don't get it..

A billion yen? Must be a joke. Looks pretty, though.

unfortunately, in our little world a component's value is more similar to that of a baseball card than a performance piece.
i can't speak for this one specifically, but i'd be willing to bet that it's just as heavy and feels the same as any other "nice" quill stem made from a block of aluminum.

though, now that i look closer, that's probably a typo. i can't imagine something like that costing more than $100 (which, for an aluminum quill, is ridiculous)

thats silliness. here is the same stem for $85 AU

http://www.kookiebikes.com/store/pro...&cat=15&page=1

Probably just some unscrupulous ****er working the "perceived value increases demand" angle.

"Wow, that's really expensive and probably rare as far as my dumb ass knows." *buys it now*

how does a billion yen translate into dollars?

It translates to $9,086,365.79

seems reasonable

Depends on what you mean by "bling"? If you are talking powder qcoated deeps-Vs, areospokes or anything with a NJS stamp on it...then no. If you are talking about Nitto, Phil Wood or some Paul components...then yes. Nitto stuff is rarely that much more expensive and is always far better quality than most.

wrong.

worth is defined by its value to consumers, usually indicated by increased demand.
is a baseball star's rookie card better in quality than some below average dh from that year?
no.
but it's probably going to be worth more.
is a fuji track any better than a bikes direct windsor "the hour"? no. but it demands more.

furthermore, i'll put your nitto to my cinelli any day.

(feel free to ignore that last line, it's just how i roll)

Looks way nicer...

Semantic discussion here. "worth" needs to be defined. My definition is paying a little more for a part that I know will be bulletproof and give me no worries. I've never had issue with a Nitto stem, bar or seatpost. It's right by me! Cinelli is good stuff, but I have had issue with it in the past. I wouldn't consider either bling...

does "bling" mean money, because I thought bling refers to expensive things. Doesn't OP mean "Expensive parts, worth the money?"

I would refer you to the law of diminishing marginal utility, which basically states that your satisfaction with buying bike parts will become increasingly less as a proportion of the money you spend. In other words, a $20 part will bring you 20 units of satisfaction and a $50 part will bring you 40 units of satisfaction. However, an $80 part will only give you 50 units of satisfaction and a $150 may only give you 60 units of satisfaction. If you plot it, you'll see a downward sloping curve.

from someone who just crashed and tore up his expensive saddle and nos campy brake hoods- yes- as long as you don't crash.

That particular stem is no longer in production and is quite desirable in Japan right now.

Any item is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Value is totally different.

is a mickey mantle baseball card valuable?

is it NJS?

OK so no one is reading except looking at numbers...
Maybe a glitch in the system because under that crazy number it says
"sold out, not in stock, or not available from manufacturer"

But yeah like DH said those stems are considered "out of production" and getting sort of rare out here (Japan).
So its kind of like trying to find that Hippo Sleek blah blah that was in Hyper Rev but when you ask your friend in Japan if he can get it, he says that "I will have to look around the Up Garages to see if I can find one".
Well...its not that bad, but I saw your username and figured that might be a good example lol
I have the matching seatpost in 27.2 if you are interested.

Kids in the US who will never race their bike on a velodrome that go nuts for NJS is comparable to a bunch of Japanese Chefs going apesh1t for the kosher "k" stamp on crackers...

Actually, no.

lol

you sir, just won the thread.

i got a mickey mantle rookie spokecard. lets hear some offers.

There's a burrito joint near here that used to have "cup of fat" on the menu for $9.99.