What's your opinion of a reasonable amount to spend on a bike?

[br995]

I've been thinking a lot lately about how my view of "reasonable" has changed over the years when it comes to bike costs.

My first adult bike was an old Dave Scott Centurion that I bought for $275 on ebay. I remember thinking at the time that it was an absurd amount of money to spend on a bicycle. Flash forward 6 months, and I was spending $500 on a wheelset. Flash forward 9 years, and I'm about to buy handlebars that cost almost as much as that first bike.

I'm at the point now where anything up to about $4,500 seems normal for a complete build, but beyond that I still think, "Wow, that's a lot of money for a bicycle."

What's your limit? What seems reasonable, if you were buying/building a new bike? What still strikes you as crazy? Why?

[Louis]

It depends.

[old fat man]

I want a full suspension mountain bike. I used to have one as recently as 2011 (Ibis Mojo SL), but the thought of spending $3k+ to get something nice that I'd want to choose over my single speed just seems crazy. So I guess for me, $3k is the threshold.*





* I have plenty of nice bikes, but have always bought my parts used or at the best discounted prices I can find. I definitely have more than $3k worth of bikes though.

[dave thompson]

Originally Posted by Louis

It depends.

^^THIS^^ First you have to define what's 'reasonable'. One man's trash...etc.

[echelon_john]

~$4k-$4500 all in for a really nice bike (custom) seems reasonable to me in today's market.

That's kind of based on a ~2k frame with a nice fork, Chorus-level components and not extravagant cockpit & wheel choices.

Put another way, $5k doesn't seem UNreasonable when you add a few high-zoot parts. ENVE stem/post, for example.

My Holdsworth Professional with Super Record was under $1000 in 1983.

[makoti]

How much ya got? That sounds reasonable.

[endosch2]

I am thinking 6-7 k. Which includes nice wheels.

[enr1co]

Originally Posted by dave thompson

^^THIS^^ First you have to define what's 'reasonable'. One man's trash...etc.

With the lack of definition around "reasonable" and "a bike" it would be difficult for any forum member to provide a reasonable response to this thread

[ofcounsel]

Depends on the use.

For a mountain bike, I wouldn't hesitate to spend $7000+ for a good rig.

For a road bike, there's so little performance gain above the $2500 mark that I'd be hard pressed to spend more.

[rnhood]

I think between $3k and $3.5K tends to mark the point of diminishing returns. You can get a very good fully equipped bike for this amount. But people have their preferences so in the end, I guess it depends.

[jh_on_the_cape]

Depends on your budget and how much you ride and what you want out of a ride.
The price of a nice bike has gone up up up. The bikes are not the same, they are lighter with some new gadgets. That said, the price of funding an IRA, etc has not gone up up up. Inflation is not close to what people are willing to pay for a nice bike.
My personal idea is the IRS mileage rate of 50 cents a mile. Spend $4k on a bike and I don't expect to buy anything for about 8000 miles. That's before resale.
Personally, I don't see spending more than $2k on a bike. Just diminishing returns after that. I try to find something for $1.5k than another 500 to upgrade anything that actually bothers me while riding.
The one exception I am ready to make is to update my 2004 Turner 5 spot. New FS mtb are pricey but are actually much better. Not that much better than my old bike, the design of which seems to have survived, but it will eventually giveup the ghost and not worth rebuilding.

I think most people spend more than they should on a bike, given how much they ride and their personal financial situation. An aluminum framed bike with 105 group is about right for a serious rec rider. Anything beyond that is just because you like bike stuff. which is OK!

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by br995

What's your limit?

I don't have one. There's no absolute dollar amount that, absent some sort of context, I would say "That's too much to spend on a bicycle." $5 is too much to spend on a bicycle if the bicycle won't last 10 minutes before disintegrating into dust while you're riding it. Conversely, $100,000 isn't too much to spend on a bicycle provided that A) you have a spare $100k available for recreational/health pursuits; and B) it provides more pleasure (or health benefits) than that $100k spent elsewhere could provide.

Originally Posted by br995

What seems reasonable, if you were buying/building a new bike?

Depends. See above.

Originally Posted by br995

What still strikes you as crazy? Why?

Spending any amount of money on a bike that doesn't fit strikes me as crazy.

[oliver1850]

I still think $500 is reasonable. I can buy a (used) bike that will do anything I need for that. I've spent considerably more but put most of my miles on fairly inexpensive used bikes. Last year I put the most miles on a 1985 Cannondale touring. The year before it was a Trek 400 with a cheap SRAM 10 build. I've never exceeded $200 for a wheelset. I do identify with what you're saying about "normal" purchases though. When I started riding I used to buy Michelin Select 23s for $8, which was normal retail. I've become used to spending a little more for tires these days, sometimes as much as $20.

[Mayhem]

I've blown so much money on bikes and parts I don't even want to think about it. Took me a long time to learn that money didn't affect my average mph. Now at 47 years old, @ $2000 and under is reasonable to me for a complete bike. I always buy stuff on sale or clearance. I bought a 2011 Focus Culebro w/ Ultegra 6700 for $1299, which was on clearance for 50% off.

Upgrades are:

Techlite Alloy 10spd 1400g wheelset $275 on clearance

Race Face Cadence alu stem/bars $19.99ea on clearance

Selle Italia SLI saddle (only real leather for me) $79.99 on sale

FSA Energy BB30 10spd standard cranks $125 on clearance

So aside from consumables, I have @ $1700 invested in a 16.5lb bike that rides sweet and has given me almost 7000 trouble free miles. Hopefully I'll get at least another 20,000 miles out of the frame. A $3000 frame, $200 carbon bars, $1000 wheels, ect would do absolutely nothing for me aside from posting cool pics on the internet haha. I have a 5 y/o grandson who is a future Greg LeMond so I'm going to start saving money for his bikes.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by ofcounsel

For a road bike, there's so little performance gain above the $2500 mark that I'd be hard pressed to spend more.

Ditto