iCapture

Ive been wondering this for some time now. I look at some of the bikes on this forum and on the road and they are not cheap. I see some in stores for $10,000! I realize that not everyone here has a $10k bike, but i think a majority of riders have bikes that cost more than two to three thousand dollars. Am i right?

Now, i am really into photography, and my camera equipment probably totals out to somewhere in the $10,000 range. BUT, its also a part time job for me. I probably do around 2-3 paying jobs a month. So in that sense the cost of the equipment is justified.

Now, i can understand why the pro riders have $10,000+ bikes, its their job and every gram counts when your racing at such a high level. But it is my impression (and tell me if i am wrong) that most riders out there cycle just for fun.

So why have the lightest most high tech bike on the market? What can a $7000 road bike do that a $1000 road bike cant? And is the advantage worth $6000?

hope im not offending anyone here. Im not looking to argue, im genuinely curious.

Prince9931

Because ............ People like to reward themselves with nice toys.
Its like buying a hasselbad over any other medium format camera.

BFG

Im interested in road biking.
I realy want to get into it, and ive been wondering the same thing.
I want an old, POS road bike that i can fix up. It seems to me (*dons flamesuit*), that some road bikers buy these big flashy, bajillion dollar bikes.....and then once them once a fortnight for like 20 kilometers. Essentially, they do it for their egos.

iCapture

yes, but the difference between a Canon D1 MkIII with Canon L glass produces a incredibly higher quality picture than a sony point and shoot. They dont even compare. When it comes to cycling its mostly about the riders ability no and not so much about the bike he is on.

Im not saying dont go out and buy a crazy bike. I understand people like nice things, pretty things, new things. Im that kind of person, just look at my camera bag. But im just curious if there is THAT much of a difference between bikes.

exactly!!! Its like alot of things, skiing for example. There are guys out there on ski's that were purchased in 1989 that can ski circles around most guys on brand new $5000 set up's.

Prince9931

Why are you even worried about that????
Man find a nice steel frame get a good group and ride the wheels of the thing.....
And when you feel the need to reward yourself ................. the join the ranks of the OCP

Prince9931

If you suck at taking pictures ... it doesn't matter if have the Hubble .... you still suck @ taking pictures that aspect will not have changed.

Buy what bike you want and do some research and make an informed decision.

zpl

It's all a matter of perspective...the perspective of how much disposable income you have.

I remember in the late 80s/early 90s when I was obsessed with mountain biking, worked in a bike shop, etc. In my area, it seemed like in the mid-90s cycling became a popular thing and it was trendy to have an expensive bike as a status symbol.

The one thing that bugs me about the bike industry is that since I got into cycling, Shimano (in particular) has really refined their "planned obsolecence" business model which makes it hard to get replacement parts, and engineers many components to wear out after a few years, pushing consumers into an upgrade cycle. They've had a few bombproof groupsets over the years (anyone remember Deore DX?) but while shifting technology and smoothness has improved, you just can't keep a bike in heavy use maintained in the long term.

Scott

ri_us

I spend a lot of money on cycling because it's like tithing. It gets me closer to god.

Seriously, the answer is no. The difference between a $6k and $10k is almost zero. A very successful custom frame builder once told me, "Some of the people who buy bikes from me think that these things are magic - like they're going to pedal themselves. You've still got to pedal!"

What you should spend money on depends on you and the kind of riding you're doing - not unlike photography equipment choices. For example, I use a pair of Campy Neutron wheels because they have a nice weight to stiffness relationship and the tires are very hard to get off the wheel. I rolled a few tires back in the day and have decided that I've had enough stitches. I know that those tires are going to stay on there.

DrPete 

Holy crap. Have people really not figured this out? It's the same reason that people buy Porsche 911's when the Toyota Corolla will get them to work just fine. Or why a musician would buy a half-million-dollar Stradivarius when some other cheapie violin would work just fine. The list goes on.

The good news for you financially is that, if you don't understand why someone would spend that much on a bike, you don't have to, and you won't be missing anything.

gear

I think the real question you should be asking is: Why am I concerned with how other people spend the money they earned?

twahl

Probably not. You see a lot of the high end stuff posted because that's the bike porn part of the forum. My guess would be that most people that participate here ride much less expesnive bikes.

However there is a certain standard in the tidbits that make a bike work really well, and those tidbits dictate that the cost of admission is in the ~$1500 - ~$1700 range.

Mine is in the ~$700 range. It fits well, it rides decent, and I have over 3000 miles on it. Not a huge amount, and if I were riding more, like I'd like to, I'd be riding a more expensive bike because there are things that I'd like to be better about my bike.

But I'm not posting pictures of it. Everyone has seen an Allez triple.

Namenda

Desire, lust, greed, envy...the answer is in there, somewhere.

Or, maybe people work hard to make a decent living, and provide for their family, then reward themselves after all they've done for others. I don't find that to be a strange concept. You only live once, right?

Az B

It's because we don't live in a society, we live in a cult of consumption. Most people are judged by how much money they have and they spend. (Or appear to) Success is determined by wealth. Other factors like loyalty, justice, truth, reliability, efficiency, selflessness, hard work, creativity, etc have little or no value.

The bike I ride cost me $300.

Az

DrPete 

Wow, what a sanctimonious, self-righteous post.

I sure hope that you don't own the computer you're posting that on--that is, after all, a luxury item.

Make sure you don't own a car worth more than $1000--Wait, what am I saying. All cars are luxury items. Make sure you don't own one.

Make sure your home isn't one single square foot bigger than it absolutely has to be. If you have a pool, satellite dish, nice garden, landscaping, etc. just make sure that's all burned down, because that's all unnecessary.

And the real question is, why did you spend $300 on a bike when there are plenty that you could've gotten for much less?

HWS

+1

Walter

Hmmmm

I don't have a $6-7K bike but I do sorta collect them and if you add them all together the total $ investment is probably getting close.

My main ride would've probably retailed for well over $2K maybe close to 3 (I pieced it together myself over a long period of time and didn't keep a running tab). I readily admit it's "more" bike than I "need" but I could afford it and I really like riding it. There's the best answer I got right there.

It's like the car analogy above. I recently bought a new(ish) Mustang. Not really more expensive than the Toyota from that comparison but certainly "less practical." However, it makes the drive to work a bit more fun and that makes it "worth it."

Now as to why I own several bikes........?? I'll leave that alone except to point out that lotsa people collect things and that bikes from the 70s and 80s are not one of the more expensive "collectibles.





edited to clean up last sentence

Az B

I see you've missed the point. Apparently though, I've hit a nerve.

The price of the bike was not meant to be a demonstration of how much better I am because I didn't spend as much money. Although, in retrospect, I could see how that could come across. It was meant simply to point out to the OP that not everyone that enjoys riding spends an enormous amount on thier bikes. Money doesn't equal happiness.

I still stand by my thought that our society worships consumption. And that this is, at the very least, an underlying reason many people buy expensive bikes. Can you disagree with that, without bringing our personal incomes into the discussion?

Az

DrPete 

No, no nerves struck here. I just always find it amusing when the "cult of consumption" posts come up when it comes to bikes because it's so ridiculously easy to discredit these statements.

Honestly, I don't think that spending a ton of money on a bike is any way to show off your affluence except to a tiny group of people. If I ride down the street on my CF Pinarello, 99% of those who see it will have no idea how much I've spent. Maybe I should've put that money into upgrading my Honda to a BMW or something much more understandable.

I bought my bike because I've always wanted a pro-level bike (and yes, the ride is sublime) and had the money to afford it. Nobody looked at me differently after I bought it--except, of course, the people on this very forum who called me elitist, accused me of hating poor people, etc etc. for owning it.

What's particularly amusing, though, is that giving your sermon about consumption, etc. is all an effort to make you look like the better person--the very same thing you're accusing the expensive bike crowd of doing.

bpohl

Probably true to some extent, although I'm very thankful for that, since these are next year's great deals on ebay and craigslist.

DrPete 

You're a good, good person. Good thing you're not stooping to the level of the expensive bike crowd and trying to make yourself look better than anyone else.

picorod

these companies, just like every other company, work to make you want things you don't need. it's that simple. we all get sucked into it, it's all about degrees. i personally would feel physically ill if i spent over $1000 on a bike. which is ironic, in a way, because i know a few guys who feel physically sick when they ride their $2000+ bikes - not because they're thinking of the money they shelled out, but cos they aren't fit enough to get up the hills!

DrPete 

What about the guys who spend $5K and ARE fit enough to drop your azz?

Again, masking the jealousy as something else--in this case, it's the fallacy that someone who owns a more expensive bike than yours isn't as strong a rider.

Walter

I thought the question was answered early on by a number of posters. Basically the bike we ride is something we can afford, wanted and enjoy riding whatever the $ value of it might be.

All hobbies/avocations/activities (unless you're a full-time commuter that fits most of us) have different levels of expense. My wife and I got into SCUBA shortly after we met in college. All sorts of ways to spend "extra" money there too. Why use a computer when you can take out a pencil and do the decomp tables? Why buy Jacques Cousteau's regulator when you dive 30 foot reefs and ones costing half as much are perfectly safe? Because you want to and you like using the better equipment. Actually, we never bought a dive computer but many people who have the same amount of experience we have spend 1000s more. Assuming they're feeding their kids, there's nothing wrong with that. At least not IMO.

Doesn't seem that hard...

Namenda

Exactly. Once the "needs" have been met, there is nothing wrong with addressing the "wants". Irresponsible people don't understand this, but most folks do.

asmallsol

I think its one of those where's your prioritys. For a car, most don't bat an eye to drop an extra 3 grand when buying a new car, spending on stuff they really don't need (GPS, heated this and that, ect), but spending an 3,000 on a bike seems ridiculous. I have a 3000 dollar bike, but my car is probally only worth 2-2500