Aethos Super Record Wireless

[fa63]

I know quite a few people who have $15K bikes. Pretty much every single one of them are high net worth individuals. One of them told me that when the market goes up by 0.25%, he can buy himself a new S-Works Tarmac. I will let you do the math :-)

I am not saying that is a logical approach, by the way.

Originally Posted by fourflys

was just talking to my wife about this last night.. just crazy that any bike is $15k.. and super insane that an "off the shelf" bike is that, even if it's limited to 300 units.. heck the Aethos Pro is $13k..

the discussion I had with my wife was less about the Aethos, and more about how I wonder how many folks are buying this bike on credit, along with a $80-$100k car on credit, along with a huge mortgage, and just getting by with making the minimum payments each month? I know there are a handful of folks on here that would have no issues doing all of that and still have caviar money left over, but I don't think that's the norm.. I mean, to each their own, but I just can't imagine dropping over $10k on a bike, regardless of my financial situation.. maybe if I had $100mil, but..

and, unless you're a trust fund baby, who has the ride time to do a bike like like that justice? I mean I would assume if you could afford that bike, you're working your butt off..

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by fourflys

Sorry, meant to say the S-Works was $13k..

Just saying I would love to see a stat about how many, let’s say $8k plus, bikes are bought on credit.. I bet it’s more than we think.. we all have different priorities I guess..

An $8k bike represents less than 2 weeks of earnings for 12% of households in the U.S. That's not a lot of money for a lot of people.

[kppolich]

Agreed and I'll take the rewards points all day on that $8k purchase on a CC card to just pay off. You get more protection anyway on big purchases like that on credit vs writing a check/cash.

[adub]

Modern $15k bikes are getting dang close to weighing what a 2014 Supersix Evo Hi mod weighed. Gotta love modern technology!

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by adub

Modern $15k bikes are getting dang close to weighing what a 2014 Supersix Evo Hi mod weighed. Gotta love modern technology!

I've heard that weight isn't the only parameter that describes the performance of a bike.

[adub]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

I've heard that weight isn't the only parameter that describes the performance of a bike.

I guess it depends on what our definition of performance is. I've ridden an Aethos and I've owned/raced an older Supersix, both are great bikes.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

An $8k bike represents less than 2 weeks of earnings for 12% of households in the U.S. That's not a lot of money for a lot of people.

so you're saying $8,000 is not a lot of money for a lot of people to spend on a luxury item? I mean you're right that there are a good number of folks that make $190k a year I guess.. that's not the circles I run in, but I imagine they are there.. but dropping $8k for something to recreate on is still a ton of money..

and the comment about paying with a cc for the points, I get that.. IF you can be disciplined enough to pay it off and not incur interest.. the % of folks that carry a cc balance in this country would say that is difficult for a lot of people..

maybe there are a lot of folks similar to people here that will drop $8-13k on a bike and it's not a thing.. or save for a few years for that big purchase.. but having lived around the country and seeing a lot of different folks, I guess I'm not convinced that's the norm for most luxery purchases..

to put my comments/thoughts in a different context, I also wouldn't spend $60-80k on a car either.. I probably could get a loan for one, but just wouldn't.. I also wouldn't drop $5-10k on a watch, so I guess I'm just not meant for the caviar dreams set..

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by fourflys

1) you're saying $8,000 is not a lot of money for a lot of people to spend on a luxury item?

2) dropping $8k for something to recreate on is still a ton of money.

No. See part 1.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

No. See part 1.

well, I'm happy your place in the world allows you to have that feeling.. it took me a long time to get to where I am and me thinking spending $8k on a bike is a normal thing for me to do just isn't the place I'm at in the world I guess..

[callmeishmael]

I've always thought people have the right to spend their own borrow (or borrow it, or whatever) as they wish, and the wisdom of their choices is for them to evaluate. We might have make different decisions, but that's for us.

A wise man once told me that value for money is an entirely subjective assessment, and the older I get, the more right I think he was.

[KonaSS]

I have spent $5-6K a few different times now on bikes over time and haven't lost any sleep on those purchase.

BUT......I have also bought clothes from Sam's Club. I have only bought one new car in my life, paid $32k in cash and felt guilty about the money spent as I pulled out of the lot. We all have our priorities and make choices about where and how to spend our money. Clearly top fashion and cars are not my priority. As others have pointed out, unless you know the full picture, it hard to judge other's choices.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Many vendors continue to make previous model parts for replacement purposes, even if they are not part of their current "catalogue" of products. For example, I recent bought some frame fittings for a Cervelo frame that has been out of production for a few years. Bicycle companies that make only components are a somewhat different category to those that make complete bicycles, as all their products will essentially become "replacement parts" at some point. Those 11spd EPS parts may in fact still be in production, but it may take placing a special order to actually get them.

Best place to know what Campagnolo is still making is here.

https://support.campagnolo.com/media...rt_A_Rev00.pdf

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by fourflys

well, I'm happy your place in the world allows you to have that feeling.. it took me a long time to get to where I am and me thinking spending $8k on a bike is a normal thing for me to do just isn't the place I'm at in the world I guess..

My "place in the world" and my "feeling" has nothing to do with other peoples' ability to buy $8k bicycles. It's simple economics -- there are many people that can easily afford an $6k bike.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by fourflys

well, I'm happy your place in the world allows you to have that feeling.. it took me a long time to get to where I am and me thinking spending $8k on a bike is a normal thing for me to do just isn't the place I'm at in the world I guess..

I get the point you're trying to make, but all of your assumptions and assertations in this thread are that most people can't afford a $15k bicycle.

Consider for a moment that most households own two vehicles, and the average cost of a new car right now is about $40k. So many average family households have about $80k sunk cost sitting in the driveway. If one person in that household wants to own one nice bicycle, suddenly a $15k bike does not sound unreasonable.

Put another way, if a typical two vehicle household suddenly found themselves with one of those vehicles blown up, they would be thrilled to replace it with a $15k purchase.

Put a third way, there are probably lots of people on this forum who have four $2k bikes, which is the same as one $8k bike...

Just sayin.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by KonaSS

I have spent $5-6K a few different times now on bikes over time and haven't lost any sleep on those purchase.

BUT......I have also bought clothes from Sam's Club. I have only bought one new car in my life, paid $32k in cash and felt guilty about the money spent as I pulled out of the lot. We all have our priorities and make choices about where and how to spend our money. Clearly top fashion and cars are not my priority. As others have pointed out, unless you know the full picture, it hard to judge other's choices.

I agree, it often comes down to priorities. The average "light vehicle" price (which includes both cars and small trucks used for personal transportation) is currently about $46,000. Personally, I can't see paying prices like that, when there are perfectly good, high quality vehicles available for much less than that. My last car (Mazda 3) was bought brand new with cash for about $25,000 (and even then it had some extra cost options that I didn't absolutely needs, such as the larger engine option). On the other hand, while I don't have a $15,000 bike, I do have an $8,000 bike, and a few other bikes not much less than that. When I see someone driving a $50,000 car and saying that they can't believe someone bought a bike for more than $2,000, I wonder if they have their priorities straight.

How much someone is willing to pay for different goods largely comes down to social norms, rather than actual needs. It has become normalized for people to pay for more expensive cars than they need (as well as larger houses than they need, but that's a different topic). When all the neighbors have expensive cars, people just assume it is "normal" that they too should buy an expensive car. The availability of easy credit hasn't helped here, either, where people buy cars (or houses) based on monthly payment, rather than actual cost.

There's an old saying that someone whose car is worth more than their bike isn't a real cyclist. Using that criteria, how many here are real cyclists?