Bicycles have gotten insanely expensive.
06-07-19, 11:11 AM
#51
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How about we all drop our boring scripted roles already? I know I could write your posts for you at this point.
06-07-19, 11:17 AM
#52
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Which is what most people who pedal their vehicles buy because most people can't afford or are not willing to spend any more money than BSO prices.
I got my first ten-speed, a Japanese Free Spirit, for Christmas in 1974. It retailed for about $70 back then. To my parents and grandparents, $70 was a big deal then.
My father was a DOD electrician who worked for the Department of the Navy and my maternal grandfather was a retired union Operating Engineer
heavy-equipment operator then. To my parents and grandparents an American dollar had significant meaning. I'ma ge 55 now. I can remember when a
a 12-oz Coke or a candy bar was 10 cents. A loaf of name-brand bread and a box of national brand cold cereal was well under $1.00 This was in 1971.
Some things as home electronics have gotten much cheaper over the years. my mother bought our first microwave oven in 1982: a Quasar. Retailed close to
$300 back then. That same year we bought our first VCR: a large, heavy top-loading Sylvania VHS that retailed for $1,200 and had a remote control with a long cable, two-head mono sound and very complicated instructions and procedures for setting it up to tape TV shows.
I bought a large Hamilton Beach microwave at Walmart for a paltry $53 new 3 years ago. In 1990, I bought my first new VCR at Montgomery Wards for about $200 called a Symphonic. It was front-load, wireless remote, somewhat compact, two-head mono sound and somewhat easier to program than our old Sylvania. It lasted for about five years. I think the last new VCR I bought was in 2000: a Sony Hi-Fi 4-head model for about $100 then. Wireless remote, front-loading, very compact and light and much simpler to set up. The Panasonic Blu-Ray player I bought new in 2014 was about $100. In 2014 I bought a new Samsung 40" LED Smart TV with resolutions up to 1080i in excess of $700 at Best Buy. Walmart now has Samsung ULTRA HD 40" Smart TV's for as low as $228. I remember when those plasma TV's were new-car-priced and they stunk badly in design due to burn-in troubles.
I got my first ten-speed, a Japanese Free Spirit, for Christmas in 1974. It retailed for about $70 back then. To my parents and grandparents, $70 was a big deal then.
My father was a DOD electrician who worked for the Department of the Navy and my maternal grandfather was a retired union Operating Engineer
heavy-equipment operator then. To my parents and grandparents an American dollar had significant meaning. I'ma ge 55 now. I can remember when a
a 12-oz Coke or a candy bar was 10 cents. A loaf of name-brand bread and a box of national brand cold cereal was well under $1.00 This was in 1971.
Some things as home electronics have gotten much cheaper over the years. my mother bought our first microwave oven in 1982: a Quasar. Retailed close to
$300 back then. That same year we bought our first VCR: a large, heavy top-loading Sylvania VHS that retailed for $1,200 and had a remote control with a long cable, two-head mono sound and very complicated instructions and procedures for setting it up to tape TV shows.
I bought a large Hamilton Beach microwave at Walmart for a paltry $53 new 3 years ago. In 1990, I bought my first new VCR at Montgomery Wards for about $200 called a Symphonic. It was front-load, wireless remote, somewhat compact, two-head mono sound and somewhat easier to program than our old Sylvania. It lasted for about five years. I think the last new VCR I bought was in 2000: a Sony Hi-Fi 4-head model for about $100 then. Wireless remote, front-loading, very compact and light and much simpler to set up. The Panasonic Blu-Ray player I bought new in 2014 was about $100. In 2014 I bought a new Samsung 40" LED Smart TV with resolutions up to 1080i in excess of $700 at Best Buy. Walmart now has Samsung ULTRA HD 40" Smart TV's for as low as $228. I remember when those plasma TV's were new-car-priced and they stunk badly in design due to burn-in troubles.
This has FA to do with bikes.
06-07-19, 11:20 AM
#53
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06-07-19, 11:22 AM
#54
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I dont consider this a troll thread or out of order at all!!! In fact I think some time back I started one on the same subject.
The fact is-------yes some have become obscenely high priced because some people have pretty much unlimited money, and snob appeal. The fact is it doesnt make any difference if you are talking cars, washing machines, or bicycles. You reach a point of increasing quality and cost UP TO A POINT, and beyond that it is name and snobbery. Some of it is driven by weight weenies to the point that the really high priced bikes are plastic CF bikes. They are so light they are actually fragile, and mainly for world class racers that are on a team and can afford to throw them away at the first sign of damage.
The fact is-------yes some have become obscenely high priced because some people have pretty much unlimited money, and snob appeal. The fact is it doesnt make any difference if you are talking cars, washing machines, or bicycles. You reach a point of increasing quality and cost UP TO A POINT, and beyond that it is name and snobbery. Some of it is driven by weight weenies to the point that the really high priced bikes are plastic CF bikes. They are so light they are actually fragile, and mainly for world class racers that are on a team and can afford to throw them away at the first sign of damage.
06-07-19, 11:24 AM
#55
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06-07-19, 11:29 AM
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06-07-19, 11:36 AM
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06-07-19, 11:41 AM
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Maybe you could keep an index of your posts, key words, whatever. Then you could whip out one tangentially related to the thread, put in a box or other cute display. You could make both your points w/o having to ponder.
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06-07-19, 11:53 AM
#60
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06-07-19, 11:57 AM
#61
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06-07-19, 12:02 PM
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06-07-19, 12:06 PM
#64
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Pretty Inexpensive
is what I would call the modern state of bicycling in America, at least.
For the nostalgic, you can browse your local Facebook Marketplace listings and buy a pretty decent steel bike for a few hundred dollars. And there are some bikes that are roadworthy and are cheap. If you have the tools and the know how, these would make fine riders.
For the neo-wannabe-racer-type, you can build your own by sourcing Chinese carbon frames, posts, bars and wheels, and buy dirt-cheap groupsets to finish things off. For much less than $1000, you can build up a bike that is better than roadworthy, it'd be race worthy. Even at $1600 in 2019, which will build an open mold Ultegra equipped high profile carbon tubular wheeled machine, that'd be...[adding machine keys punching...][sound of lever pulling] about $400 in 1970s money. Expensive, but not completely out of line for a race bike.
Anyway. What was the question?
For the nostalgic, you can browse your local Facebook Marketplace listings and buy a pretty decent steel bike for a few hundred dollars. And there are some bikes that are roadworthy and are cheap. If you have the tools and the know how, these would make fine riders.
For the neo-wannabe-racer-type, you can build your own by sourcing Chinese carbon frames, posts, bars and wheels, and buy dirt-cheap groupsets to finish things off. For much less than $1000, you can build up a bike that is better than roadworthy, it'd be race worthy. Even at $1600 in 2019, which will build an open mold Ultegra equipped high profile carbon tubular wheeled machine, that'd be...[adding machine keys punching...][sound of lever pulling] about $400 in 1970s money. Expensive, but not completely out of line for a race bike.
Anyway. What was the question?
06-07-19, 12:11 PM
#65
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06-07-19, 12:16 PM
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06-07-19, 12:27 PM
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Anyone got any insanely expensive bicycle-related vacations coming up? I am flying first class to Missoula a week from tomorrow to start a two-week tour.
06-07-19, 12:32 PM
#68
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06-07-19, 12:34 PM
#69
WALSTIB
According to the commercials and billboards you can walk into a casino and lose 10k while having a good time.
Buy the bike you can afford and enjoy!
Buy the bike you can afford and enjoy!
06-07-19, 12:44 PM
#70
I'm the anecdote.
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Maybe once all the kids are on their own and supporting themselves? I can see it happening again, though. Someday, someday.
06-07-19, 12:54 PM
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Huh. I bought a Trek 5200 in 2000 for $2100. Adjusted for inflation, that would be roughly $3100 in 2019 dollars. If I walked into a Trek dealer today to buy the comparable bike, the Emonda SL 6, it would cost me $2800. https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...ode=black_grey
So, by that comparison, it's actually gotten a little cheaper. And a little better, since current Ultegra is a bit nicer than Ultegra 6500.
So, by that comparison, it's actually gotten a little cheaper. And a little better, since current Ultegra is a bit nicer than Ultegra 6500.
06-07-19, 01:00 PM
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06-07-19, 01:36 PM
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I bet troll threads are good for ad views. Just can't cross the line.
