Quote:
Originally Posted by El Chaba
From a materials/manufacturing standpoint, there is no substantial difference between a bicycle helmet and a styrofoam cooler that Walmart sells for about 5 USD. There is some money spent on getting the design to pass safety tests and liability insurance. I see almost no reason for the most expensive helmet in a company’s range to cost any more than the cheapest helmet at retail. They spend a fair amount in marketing to differentiate the models and justify the cost difference. They could just as easily manufacture their best helmet and sell it at essentially the same cost as their cheapest model, but the differentiation model calls for them to withhold features from the cheaper models to justify the difference.
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I’m with El Chaba…
On a broader perspective, it seems virtually everything (vehicles, bicycles, homes, decent clothing, etc) in our increasingly vast consumer world is getting out of hand in cost. It often appears as a dynamic that occurs simply because it can. Period.
In many cases it borders on obscenity, if not outright theft. But, obviously there are enough individuals to pony-up the dough.
Yes, of course, inflation and technology come into play, as well as innovation, but c’mon, it frequently seems well beyond that.
It is both frustrating and maddening that that arc continues unabated…