One view of bike prices.

[benb]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

It's a Topeak freestanding rack. Came with four bike mounts and I have two removed to snug it up closer to the wall.. Paid $50 for it off CL iirc.

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Be careful with that! I have two in my garage. I drilled them and cabled them to the rafters after the telescoping mechanism didn’t work and the stand fell over. Seems to be related to weather changes.

When it fell the handlebar on my MTB dented the hood of my car.

[mhespenheide]

A counterpoint (although it's not a new observation, and it's one many people here already subscribe to):

Bikes that are good enough are proportionally cheaper than ever. Significantly so, if you're playing in the used market.

5800 performs at least as well at 7700 did. Possibly as good as 7800 did. Honestly, modern Tiagra 4700 probably performs as well as 7700 did. Dura-Ace (and Red and Super Record) have gotten so good, they're really not needed for any rider buying their own bike. (Which, of course, is not to say that you shouldn't buy it if you can afford it and want to.)

A 2019 CAAD12 with 105 on it cost ~$1600. My first good bike, a 1987 Bianchi Campione d'Italia, cost ~$800. Accounting for inflation, those $800 1987-dollars are worth about ~$1800. Is there anyone who would debate that the 2019 CAAD12 isn't a better bike?

If you want to go play on the bleeding edge, you're absolutely going to pay for it. It's astonishing to me that there's enough market demand for manufacturers to keep pushing below 800g for a frame, or even below 700g. Or that one-piece aero stem-handlebars are now a thing. Or that people are obsessing over eliminating 6-8" of brake and shift cables in the name of aerodynamics and trying to route them inside the stem.

Team Sky's idea of "marginal gains" has gone way too far into the general market. Buy what you want, but we're so far into the realm of diminishing returns (in the engineering sense) that the costs have skyrocketed as a result.

[robertbb]

For some reason:

1) Very few car drivers believe they need to be behind the wheel of an F1, as driven by Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel, to achieve their goal of driving from point A to point B (be that for business, errands, pleasure, whatever).

2) Apparently, many cyclists believe they need to be on a superbike, the likes of which is ridden by Peter Sagan or Chris Froome, for their local Sunday chain-gang.

Maybe this comes down to the latter being far more attainable (and of course street legal) than the former. But conceptually this makes absolutely NO sense.

Now at age 38, I finally realised that a good metal frame with round tubes, custom built wheels around aluminium rims, and a crisp mechanical groupset is all I will ever need to enjoy riding a bicycle.

Next stop for me I guess is to wear Birkenstocks with socks, a merino wool cardigan and a beard.

[sonicCows]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Except that's not what is 'working'..That 'increased revenue' go into equipment or to stock holders or to owners pocket..very little goes into 'increased wages and/or benefits'.

On the other hand trickle down works really well for Dura Ace>>Ultegra>>105 etc.

In general I think bikes are too expensive to get people into the sport, and used bikes are all over the place and some knowledge to set up helps greatly. We can all probably be better ambassadors.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by sonicCows

On the other hand trickle down works really well for Dura Ace>>Ultegra>>105 etc.

In general I think bikes are too expensive to get people into the sport, and used bikes are all over the place and some knowledge to set up helps greatly. We can all probably be better ambassadors.

Good entry level bikes are very affordable and preform very well. Under $1000 and you can still get a great bike (new and not used).

Example: ~$1000 USD Retail.

[sonicCows]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

Good entry level bikes are very affordable and preform very well. Under $1000 and you can still get a great bike (new and not used).

Example: ~$1000 USD Retail.

Agreed, recently my friend picked up a new Topstone with Sora for $850 or so on closeout, I rode it the other day and if I wasn't going uphill I'd hardly notice the extra weight. Braking wasn't as good as my SRAM hydros but definitely not bad.

That said, oversaturation of $2000+ bikes is sticker shock and discouraging to newcomers who enter a bike shop. There are definitely plenty of good used bikes at the $400-800 range, but beginners may need help with sizing and the necessary setup.

[9tubes]

Originally Posted by benb

I mostly think the bike guys are blowing a lot of smoke when they try and compare themselves to car and motorcycle engineering and advancement.

I don’t even think bikes have innovated/improved as much as as cars and motorcycles in the 20 years I’ve been cycling.

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Pretty much this. And the car and motorcycle folks are blowing a lot of smoke too, when most of their "new" innovations actually came from the aviation industry.

My €0.02:

Most of the new innovations in motorcycles came from Formula 1 and MotoGP. The big changes in motorcycles in the last 15 years have been in the areas of electronics and aerodynamics: sophisticated traction control (I'm not talking about the stuff that comes on a Toyota), yaw control, wheelie control, active electronic suspension, computerized fueling systems for 16,000 rpm optimization that will blow your mind, active data logging, etc.

The author of the article and some of the people he quotes are simply not well informed. The guy who heads the mountain bike company can pat himself on the back all he wants but any objective observer of both industries can compare the number of finely-machined parts on a mountain bike vs even a garden-variety sportbike. Then let's add the electronics sophistication.

I've been close to the bike industry for a long time and I'd guess that a proper economic analysis would show that the pricing is a function of economies of scale, a seasonal business, very inefficient distribution channel, and mfg getting to overcharge for a halo bike (e.g. Specialized offering the $20,000 McLaren, or whatever Colnago and Pinarello are charging for the latest Super Record bike).