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I'm kind of in a weird spot here but even though I know the effects of inflation and bike tech and..... etc.
I still can't get over the fact that I bought a race-able caad9 with 105 for 1300 and that was a frame that was recently tour-ridden.
I think the market has changed where the trickle down effect doesn't quite work the same way, but I really do think that the increase in integration and tech has really pushed price of bikes up like crazy.
IIRC a full DA with zipp supersix was like what... 6.5k? Now you'd be hard pressed to get a top of the line bike from them for 10k which is inflation adjusted-ish.
I know there's a huge difference in tech here since that top of the line bike now has electronic shifting, is more aero, disc, etc etc etc. But I think it still alienates people to see things that are that expensive. I think on average, wages haven't really kept up with inflation much so the average person feels the pinch more than ever and it further makes things like bikes look elitist.
In reality, I think things are the result of poor planning. Thinking the demand during and post pandemic would keep up. It happened in so many industries including musical instruments, like with fender, that things grew too fast, then they slashed and burned when reality started to set in.
That said, I'm a little bummed that I wasn't really in place to capitalize on some of these sales. It would have been nice to have bought a fully modern fleet for the price I've paid for my cobbled together used bikes/parts.
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