AB OS PW peak insanity

[vespasianus]

Originally Posted by nmrt

I'm sorry but I was looking for the typical Paceline remarks on product pricing. Something along the lines of "if you don't like it, don't buy it".

If you subscribe by this philosophy, you cannot complain about this AB product.
To the Americans on Main Street, our $5500 Made in Taiwan Aethos is just as ridiculous.

Honestly, if AB can get it for those prices, great for them. This is the free market.

All of the bike industry is marketing. All of it.

[dmitrik4]

Originally Posted by nmrt

I'm sorry but I was looking for the typical Paceline remarks on product pricing. Something along the lines of "if you don't like it, don't buy it".

If you subscribe by this philosophy, you cannot complain about this AB product.
To the Americans on Main Street, our $5500 Made in Taiwan Aethos is just as ridiculous.

It’s less about the money than the fact you have to grovel for it. Specialized sill sell an Aethos to whoever walks in the door. Completely different thing.

[shadco]

I’ll be submitting this.



.

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by vespasianus

Honestly, if AB can get it for those prices, great for them. This is the free market.

All of the bike industry is marketing. All of it.

I don't think anyone here is saying they should not be allowed to sell this type of thing. And, we have every right to ridicule the hell out of them.

Tim

[jemoryl]

Maybe AB has the screening process so Hambini doesn't get his hands on one?

[nmrt]

I agree with you on how 3D printed bike parts look, and hate the raw, unfinished nature of the part. I am also aware that this is subjective. There are people who will love 3D printed parts BECAUSE it looks raw and unfinished. However, I know you are aware of Prova Cycles, have you see their 3D prints? It is superb!

I agree with you that it is a shame that No22 moved the production of the aero Reactor away from USA to the East and expect customers to pay $15000 for the frameset. But I do not fault them any more than I fault any other US manufacturer moving production offshore. That cat has been out of the bag for a VERY long time and is probably not going to go back in until these companies have used up cheap labor from every country whose cheap labor can be used. Then, they'll probably use robots/AI eventually.

I agree with you that the bike company is looking to the financially well heeled customer to sell these products. But let's get some perspective here. For so many on this forum, a frame $5000 - $6000 is normal. Not that they might think this is right, but it is normal. This where the industry is in pricing their upper tier products.

But to say that the average persons debt has run out and hence they are not buying the No22 aero Reactor is as incorrect as saying that the average persons debt has run out and hence they cannot buy a $100,000 gold/diamond watch made by some lousy company. These products are not marketed to the average person. Yes, the US National debt has increased. But these products are catered to those people whose stock portfolio is in the tens of millions and higher. And there are lots of such people. And No22 knows this.

Honestly, as repugnant as the pricing is, the seeming pandering from Absolute Black, the sky high price of the No22 Reactor, we are not really mad because they are expensive. I think we are mad that Big Business has taken our simple bicycle, and like it has done to so many products, created a another pricepoint achievable to very few. And we are mad because they have done this to our "simple bicycle".

But not to worry. If history is any indication, these prices will become normal very soon until there is another, higher new normal in three years.

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

I have a couple of special edition Ceramic Speed rear pulleys that were originally around $900 and another that came on my Domane. The $900 pulleys clearly didn't sell at that price and were around $170 when I picked them up. I like the way they look and function, but they certainly don't make my fat a$$ any faster.

I don't see this pulley as any more ridiculous than the No22 Reactor. I saw the raw product prior to the finish work and although it's an interesting concept I found it ugly, devoid of any soul and find it laughable that phasing out the labor force with an Asian made 3d printed titanium frame at over 15k is the next big thing.

I think the unfinished look that the 3d printed bits put on bikes look like $#!+ personally. I love the welded bikes and would take them 10 out of 10 times over the 3d printed stuff. It just doesn't have any appeal to me.

At this stage the industry is pandering to the well heeled luxury market because the average person's credit has run out. The debt carried by the US citizen has risen up a staggering $1,700,000,000,000 over the past couple of years and these products are not for them.

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[osbk67]

Originally Posted by shadco

I’ll be submitting this.



.

Absolute Black deserve nothing less than to be absolutely inundated with false applications for their ridiculous pseudo-exclusive trinket. However, they may point out it’s for Shimano 9200. I’m picking if you submitted your Aethos with 9200 they’d take your money even if it had flat bars and a 700x35/650bx47 front/rear combo. Not that there’s anything wrong with that setup if it works for the user.

[krooj]

Originally Posted by Louis

Should I post an image of my $100k T**** watch?

Or would you prefer my Richard Mille?

Fixed:

[mcteague]

I’m not a watch guy but….that is one hideous device!

Tim

[bigbill]

I have an Open Min.d, the bike, not my personal feelings. I lean conservative so my mind is somewhat narrow. What I liked about the bike was the round tubed main triangle and the thin seat stays. Nothing rectangular other than the chain stays. I bought it second hand, so it was a pretty reasonable midlife crisis. It has Red AXS 12 speed, so I guess it has the latest and greatest OEM pulleys, and after 18 months, I can't detect any chain stretch with a Park tool or a large machinist scale measuring pin to pin. I guess the flat top concept was sound. I think SRAM messed up by making a really good bottom bracket that costs $40, but I could always buys something with ceramic bearings in case I reach a cadence high enough to need them.

I'm holding out for magnetic bearings in the pulleys that will require a battery to operate. Large industrial motors and turbines have them. Maybe a wheel hub that is also a generator to power its magnetic bearings. Like a second coming of Nuke Proof hubs but this time we meant for them to act like a battery.

I was an engineering manager before I retired in 2022. We had two 3D printers, one of which printed metal. I thought about making some derailleur cages, but alloy ones are so cheap and light. We mostly used them to prototype a design before sending the drawings to a local machine shop for fabrication. Getting something perfectly round in a 3D printer was a challenge. The machine shop could CNC my design in delrin plastic and because they started with round stock, they were round.

[dmitrik4]

Originally Posted by osbk67

Absolute Black deserve nothing less than to be absolutely inundated with false applications for their ridiculous pseudo-exclusive trinket

Seriously…”Pleez I can haz jockey wheelz?”

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by nmrt

I agree with you on how 3D printed bike parts look, and hate the raw, unfinished nature of the part. I am also aware that this is subjective. There are people who will love 3D printed parts BECAUSE it looks raw and unfinished. However, I know you are aware of Prova Cycles, have you see their 3D prints? It is superb!

I agree with you that it is a shame that No22 moved the production of the aero Reactor away from USA to the East and expect customers to pay $15000 for the frameset. But I do not fault them any more than I fault any other US manufacturer moving production offshore. That cat has been out of the bag for a VERY long time and is probably not going to go back in until these companies have used up cheap labor from every country whose cheap labor can be used. Then, they'll probably use robots/AI eventually.

I agree with you that the bike company is looking to the financially well heeled customer to sell these products. But let's get some perspective here. For so many on this forum, a frame $5000 - $6000 is normal. Not that they might think this is right, but it is normal. This where the industry is in pricing their upper tier products.

But to say that the average persons debt has run out and hence they are not buying the No22 aero Reactor is as incorrect as saying that the average persons debt has run out and hence they cannot buy a $100,000 gold/diamond watch made by some lousy company. These products are not marketed to the average person. Yes, the US National debt has increased. But these products are catered to those people whose stock portfolio is in the tens of millions and higher. And there are lots of such people. And No22 knows this.

Honestly, as repugnant as the pricing is, the seeming pandering from Absolute Black, the sky high price of the No22 Reactor, we are not really mad because they are expensive. I think we are mad that Big Business has taken our simple bicycle, and like it has done to so many products, created a another pricepoint achievable to very few. And we are mad because they have done this to our "simple bicycle".

But not to worry. If history is any indication, these prices will become normal very soon until there is another, higher new normal in three years.

I wasn't referring to the average person as being in the market for the high end stuff, just pointing out that the amount of credit that folks have taken on prices them out of most items that aren't a necessity, so therefore these companies are catering entirely to the high end market. I get why.

I am by no means whatsoever well off, but I don't carry much debt and know how to make it through the peaks and valleys of life. I can afford to buy a bicycle that is in the $5-$6k range on an annual basis if it strikes my fancy which is what I purchased my Drifter for back in 2017, but now the average new No22 is well above my comfort zone and means. I still love them, but whenever I stop by and there is a former show bike or sale bike sitting around looking sexy I can't even entertain the idea of buying it and I am ok with that.

The Prova bikes are very nice and there are a couple of others that do a nice job. I am more put off by what I saw prior to the great finish work my buddy did to make that Reactor frame not only look presentable, but great. Let's just say that a lot went into making it look show worthy and it wasn't the 3d printing, but the work of a talented person to make that bike presentable. I saw what it looked like prior to the finish work that was applied and it being a concept bike there are certain things that will need to be worked out in order for it to be functional. I was surprised to see they were going to take deposits on them and putting them in production. I suppose that is why they are getting in the orders now. The kinks can be worked out and they can maximize profit by ordering a bunch from Asia all at once.




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[Nomadmax]

"Maybe you can be one of us"

Worked for the Corps.

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by marciero

I have no problem spending $$ for nice things but I find the whole exclusivity angle distasteful and antithetical to what cycling means for me. I'd be embarrassed to have that on my bike.

So true. Those things looks stupid anyways. It’s a bit like how I feel about owning a Tesla Cybertruck.

[dmitrik4]

^^^100%. Charge whatever you want for your stuff but that whole “ask us if you’re cool enough to buy it” thing is…just no