Why are bicycles so expensive?

[jpark]

omg this thread all the sudden reminded me of how much i missed mountain biking.. i sold both my bikes to buy my first car. biggest mistake ive ever made
dug these photos from from my pinkbike album from 2006 dayum. bring both of these bikes up to whister, rip up the a-line and joyride with the devinci, come down, swap to the hardtail and rip up the dirt jumps, break my bone and hurt myself, still worth it.




The mountain biking culture is very big here in BC, which alot of average joe people wont notice. Hence the pricey downhill bikes do end up getting sold eventually all the time. Like meme405 said, pinkbike is where i got most of my sources back then. The market is so big, i used to buy parts on that forum with my limited budget and was able to build my own bikes. It was awesome

[underscore]

Originally Posted by meme405

It makes absolutely no difference in the world, especially when almost all the various pieces like the stems, brakes, seat, rear shock, front fork, wheelset, all of that shit comes from asia.

Fine build the frame of your transition right here in BC, but that Fox 40 203mm fork on the front of the bike which you rely on to absorb those 40 foot hucks will always be built in taiwan.

Agreed, I'm sorry but anyone who thinks the country of origin matters in this day and age is an idiot.

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by wasabisashimi

Made in China, Made in Taiwan,, Made in USA, Made in mexico... wherever doesn't matter, but depends on the brand and its own quality control plus the material used. Cheap labour does not always translate into poor quality anymore. I kinda stop looking at where it is made for certain stuff. I'd be concerned about food/ Produce made in china though

Originally Posted by meme405

It makes absolutely no difference in the world, especially when almost all the various pieces like the stems, brakes, seat, rear shock, front fork, wheelset, all of that shit comes from asia.

Fine build the frame of your transition right here in BC, but that Fox 40 203mm fork on the front of the bike which you rely on to absorb those 40 foot hucks will always be built in taiwan.

I see your point but Made in "some asian coutry" was never known for built quality.

If Lamborghini and Ferrari were made in Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, etc...I'm that would hurt their brand image. Same as Ducati, MV Agusta, etc.

Not saying Italians ever had good built quality but still...

[cpt000]

Actually...I'd argue that the high end of the market is actually cheap, relative to other vehicles. For about $20K max, you could be riding the same bike that is used in world championships. You can't do that with a boat or car.

[hud 91gt]

That's a silly comment. You can buy a new bottom of the barrel bike for $200.

A bottom of the barrel car is $15000.

So 20g's gets you a high end competitive bike. That's 100x the price of your basic bike. Make the same calculation for the car and your at 1.5 million.


Take motorcycles. 4,500 get you your most basic "sport bike". 100,000$ would get you one hell of a race bike. He'll, $16000 get you close to the same thing off the dealer showroom floor. That's not near the 100x ratio.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by Timpo

I see your point but Made in "some asian coutry" was never known for built quality.

If Lamborghini and Ferrari were made in Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, etc...I'm that would hurt their brand image. Same as Ducati, MV Agusta, etc.

Not saying Italians ever had good built quality but still...

[Ash Eater]

really it's just simple economic scale. It only takes 1 R&D team to design a motorbike that sells 100k units/year, just the same as bicycle that sells 1k/year. That same motorbike can be assembled at a constant rate at one factory, while the bicycle requires its own factory as well, and building a factory is not cheaper if it isn't running all the time. So because the motorbike sells more units it can be sold at smaller profit margin and still easily cover the overhead, whereas the bicycle needs a bigger profit per unit to make it all back.

also wtf is this shit about people knocking bikes made in asian countries and not north america? People can make trash or quality products in any country in the world.

[Timpo]

Why do bicycles ever need dual rotor???





Even dual purpose motorcycles don't have dual rotors.

KTM 690 ENDURO R


Kawasaki KLR650

[meme405]

There is no possible reason in hell anyone who could physically ride a bike could have enough mass to require dual rotors like that.

I don't know where you found pictures of that bike, but it looks like it was more a project to build something absolutely ludicrous rather than something genuinely built for racing.

That brake setup looks incredibly heavy, when in reality bikers take crazy steps to lose weight off even their DH rigs. So chances are you ain't gonna be seeing that type of setup on an FMB ride in this lifetime.

[hud 91gt]

I've got a scar on my leg to show how hot those rotors can get. But I agree, complete overkill. Road bikes with discs? Also nonsense.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by Timpo

I see your point but Made in "some asian coutry" was never known for built quality.

If Lamborghini and Ferrari were made in Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, etc...I'm that would hurt their brand image. Same as Ducati, MV Agusta, etc.

Not saying Italians ever had good built quality but still...

Come on Timpo you know the best engines come from Hungary.

Best engine

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by meme405

There is no possible reason in hell anyone who could physically ride a bike could have enough mass to require dual rotors like that.

I don't know where you found pictures of that bike, but it looks like it was more a project to build something absolutely ludicrous rather than something genuinely built for racing.

That brake setup looks incredibly heavy, when in reality bikers take crazy steps to lose weight off even their DH rigs. So chances are you ain't gonna be seeing that type of setup on an FMB ride in this lifetime.

No, it's not a project or one-off thing. You can actually buy it.
It has 8 pot caliper (each)

[originalhypa]

Those are cool from a bike geek standpoint. That said, my 4 piston saint brakes stop me just fine. The 8 piston would be nice for modulation if the engineers designed the pistons in different sizes. But like meme said, you don't have the mass or grip to take advantage of that sort of braking power.

I ride a knolly podium, a true dh race bike and there are times where I feel like I'm holding the bike back. It's like driving an f1 car at 3/10, you're just not getting the best out of the machine. I've raced with the bike and it kills courses. Compare that to my old kona stinky, which was great. But riding the kona was more like driving a stock 'vw on a rally course. Every turn, jump and brake was an adventure. It just didn't have the light weight, geometry, or high end parts that my knolly does.

[originalhypa]

For the record, the bike above is a one off design from 2005. Having spent the last 18 years on a mountain bike I have seen some crazy shit That never made it to market.

Then there were the crazy ideas that did make it to the stores, like the Rohloff hubs, shiver forks, hammerschmidt, and the 29'er (trollololol).

[GabAlmighty]

Originally Posted by originalhypa

Those are cool from a bike geek standpoint. That said, my 4 piston saint brakes stop me just fine. The 8 piston would be nice for modulation if the engineers designed the pistons in different sizes. But like meme said, you don't have the mass or grip to take advantage of that sort of braking power.

I ride a knolly podium, a true dh race bike and there are times where I feel like I'm holding the bike back. It's like driving an f1 car at 3/10, you're just not getting the best out of the machine. I've raced with the bike and it kills courses. Compare that to my old kona stinky, which was great. But riding the kona was more like driving a stock 'vw on a rally course. Every turn, jump and brake was an adventure. It just didn't have the light weight, geometry, or high end parts that my knolly does.

I'm having issues with my Saints. I had almost no brakes when I first got the bike, cleaned the rotors and burned the pads, and got my braking power back but now it's gone again haha. I'm guessing my seals are leaking brake fluid onto my rotors so looks like a rebuild kit is in my future!

That's a nice ride! I just got an 08 Demo 8 and boy do I like that bike. Super planted over everything and soaks up everything. Can't wait to shred Whistler in a few weeks! See if i'm still as fast as I was haha.

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

I've got a scar on my leg to show how hot those rotors can get. But I agree, complete overkill. Road bikes with discs? Also nonsense.

yeah these bikes are approx $20k and they don't even come with V-brakes. It's like some sort of old school style brake that I don't even know what its called.

Pinarello Dogma


Scott Plasma

[pengu]

Bikes are a complete and utter rip off. They should be cheaper than sportbikes. I have a feeling most of the profit goes towards having a trendy design.
No way it costs more to build and design a mountain bike than it does a 4 cyl performance engine.

[bomiheko]

Nope, no such thing as rip off. It's all driven by consumer demand. If people are willing to spend $20-30k in a bicycle, then the market will have products at that range. Same with motorcycles. No one complains about $400k diamonds when they are mined at same cost as a $500 diamond.

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by bomiheko

Nope, no such thing as rip off. It's all driven by consumer demand. If people are willing to spend $20-30k in a bicycle, then the market will have products at that range. Same with motorcycles. No one complains about $400k diamonds when they are mined at same cost as a $500 diamond.

Yeah a lot of business people say this: "Nothing is overpriced when people are willing to pay for it"

[multicartual]

Originally Posted by Timpo

Yeah a lot of business people say this: "Nothing is overpriced when people are willing to pay for it"

My bike was $460 new and delivered from Craigslist





Can't put a price tag on riding around the seawall with a little buzz, commuting to patios and meeting girls

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by pengu

Bikes are a complete and utter rip off. They should be cheaper than sportbikes. I have a feeling most of the profit goes towards having a trendy design.
No way it costs more to build and design a mountain bike than it does a 4 cyl performance engine.

It's all about volume. Engines are mass produced 20K bikes are custom built for each rider. Like I said before you can go buy a bike for $78 bux.

[multicartual]

Mountain bikes are so expensive because they are abused as fuck and need to be strong as all hell


Road bikes are expensive because road bike riders often have short dick syndrome and NEED an 8k+ bike to show off!





Hipster bikes are usually less than $500

[originalhypa]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

I'm having issues with my Saints. I had almost no brakes when I first got the bike, cleaned the rotors and burned the pads, and got my braking power back but now it's gone again haha. I'm guessing my seals are leaking brake fluid onto my rotors so looks like a rebuild kit is in my future.

Shimano doesn't offer a rebuild kit, instead they'll replace the caliper under warranty. I got my new caliper from fanatyk in whistler. They were great to deal with.

Fanatyk Co Ski & Cycle, Whistler, BC - 604-938-9455

I bought a new saint for my knolly. Then I found out they would fix it for free. So now I have a saint on the front of my bottlerocket. It's a hell of an upgrade.

Originally Posted by multicartual

Mountain bikes are so expensive because they are abused as fuck and need to be strong as all hell

Man, you hit it right on the head. I've broken my elbow, fractured my lower back, and won a race on my knolly. All it haa needed in the last 4 years is bearings and brake pads. It's a beast.

[multicartual]

I had a Santa Cruz V10...

[slicrick]

this thread makes me regret selling my bikes never had a DH rig but some DJing / park hardtails