The value of The Bike?

[Baron Blubba]

I recently saw a post where a user said something like, "I don't think any bike is worth $9000, let alone $15,000." This got me thinking, not for the first time, about the value of bikes, or maybe the value of The Bike.

In his story "Lady Windemere's Fan", Oscar Wilde wrote that "a cynic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." I think there are many objects and purchasable experiences in the world for which this is true, which is to say that the value of the object far exceeds the object's price, from both a cost of goods and a cost at retail perspective.

Let's play a very hypothetical game and erase all road bikes from existence except for one. This road bike is The Bike. This bike has a basic aluminum frame and carbon fork, a Shimano Claris 2x8 drivetrain, and otherwise basic but quite functional components. An entry level Giant Contend or Specialized Allez or aluminum Emonda/Domane or something like that. This is the only road bike in existence. It was completely trademarked and patented, airtight, there are no competitors, there are no alternatives.

This bike will not provide the same ride feel or conveniences and luxuries of a modern $3000 bike, let alone a $9000 or $15000 one, but it is capable of providing the rider with the same exploratory experiences, and it will still be a joy to ride, especially since we haven't been spoiled by the alternatives which don't exist in this hypothetical world. It will climb and descend the same hills and cover the same terrain and traverse the same environments under the same sunshine and blue skies as our real-world superbikes. The wind will blow through our hair and the air will move across our skin all the same, albeit at perhaps a slightly slower speed. It's the same sublimity as riding the S-Works, so to speak, only marginally less so.

How much would you pay for this bike, if this bike was the only bike, and the only way to enjoy the experience of road bike riding?

Speaking for myself, the material sum-total value of the bike's components would be immaterial. The cost to manufacture the bike might be $500, but the only limitations on the value of the bike would be how much I can afford to pay for it, relative to my other values and priorities in life.

What I'm trying to say is, The Bike is invaluable. The experience of riding a bike is an irreplaceable and inimitable experiential commodity. Like the perfect slice of pizza, it's worth infinitely more than the sum of its parts.

It's only because we have options that bikes have a less esoteric, more defined value, because that value is relative from one bike to another. It's only because one can have such wonderful bike riding experiences with a $1200 bike that bikes with higher price tags seem so inordinately expensive (and increasingly inordinate as the prices rise).

On the flip side, if one is that enthusiastic, that in love with riding a bike, and wants to have their definition of the absolute best experience every single time they get out on their bike, however often that may be, and if they can afford it, then are those 5-digit bikes really that expensive? Overpriced, yeah, maybe. Worth it? Yeah, definitely.

***Disclaimer***
That last paragraph does not include such Baloney Sandwiches as $1000 oversized pulley wheels and similar pieces of bike bling. Those status symbol objects fall into the same category as other status symbol 'luxury' objects, where likewise they are worth it to the person who buys them, because it makes them feel good in some way. But I don't want to tarnish my point above by including components which, while they might do something for one's ego, do nothing for the quality of how one's bike rides.

Anyway, your thoughts?
If The Only Bike was a Specialized Allez Sport and cost $14,000, would you still be a cyclist?