cbrstar

You can't really compare bikes to cars here. When I worked in insurance I was surprised to find out that Kia's were getting written off left right and center. The reason being is that they were selling the car at almost cost and then making the money back through overcharging on replacement parts. For example my client bought a brand Kia for $14k and a week later had a accident. The damage estimates were at $18k!!! Chrysler was notorious for doing this to.

I'm surprised that bikes are still so cheap. Way back in the early 90's I was asked to join a cycling team/club. I remember my LBS had a Kuwahara Newport left over from the 1980's which I was told was a "Mid level" bike. The regular price was $900 Cdn, but it was on sale at $700 Cdn. To get a Bianchi was $2500cdn. So close to 30 years later the prices hasn't shifted that much.

MRT2

It looks like you got your money's worth out of it.

wphamilton

That's kind of the point, for entry into the sport.

Most of that isn't the original bike btw. Yeah there's some rust on the crank arms, a couple of nuts, but I really don't get the whole "it can't be ridable" thing. Entry level is more a matter of attitude than dollars.

MRT2

My son rides a bike that looks similarly crusty, that I paid a bike shop not much for. I believe the deal was a trade for a kid's bike, plus about $100 or so in cash for an old Gitane frame that looked like it had seen better days. But on closer inspection, the bike had some nice parts. It had mismatched brakes, but the front ones said Ultegra. And it had 105 brifters. And one of the rims was a Mavic, laced to Ultegra hubs. Somebody built this bike out of some very old, but nice parts. The irony is, I bought this bike for my son because of a recent growth spurt, he was now too tall for any of the bikes in my stable, and I already blew the bike budget that year when I bought him a $1,100 mountain bike. As it turns out, 3 years on, it is a perfect campus beater. He can get around town on his college campus and not worry too much about the bike attracting attention (any more than usual), and now that spring is here, he can even take out and use it as a road bike.
Meanwhile, his formerly shiny new mountain bike is gathering dust in my garage.

Edit:
I wonder what that bike shop would sell that bike for now given the demand for used bikes?

Paul Barnard

Riding bicycles isn't a sport. It's an activity. Racing bicycles is a sport.

MRT2

Actually, no. Cycling can be a sport even it is not racing. I would make an analogy to running and swimming. All activities involving physical exertion that certainly could be engaged in competitively, but more often are not.

xroadcharlie

Actually recreational bicycling is an inexpensive activity. To put things in perspective.

For $200 Less then my new 18 - 200mm Nikon zoom lens for my aging D90 dslr I could by a new Giant Escape hybrid bicycle. An excellent bike all around. A decent bowling ball, bag and shoes could easily set you back as much as that new Giant bike. On top of the $35 - $50 a week to bowl including refreshments. I'm in Canada where everything is expensive

My friends old 29' wellcraft boat will burn up enough gas in a weekend easily to by a good new bike Thanks to feeding it's 2 x 5.7l V8 engines. To be fair though, boating can be insanely expensive even for the well too.

MRT2

There is an old expression about boating. If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it.

BTW, I don't disagree that the cost of cycling is fairly reasonable once you buy the bike. You do have repairs, and accessories, but again, once you have what you need, you are talking a couple of hundred dollars a year in an average year, and even if you have a big repair, it won't be as much as the cost of maintaining a boat., and there is not cost for gas (like you do with power boats, marina fees, club fees (tennis, golf), lift tickets, or plane tickets.

BCAC

Compared to other hobbies and interests I’ve had over the years from sailing, to Airstreams, scuba, competitive shooting, etc well, bicycling isn’t that bad.

You can do all those things I mentioned relatively inexpensively, or you can spend really big bucks. Companies want you to spend big bucks. Duh.

As an industry matures and to some extent commoditizes, brands can either compete on price or compete with exclusivity. There is always going to be someone cheaper. If a company can, competing on the high end is where it’s most profitable.

Gucci did this years ago. They limited their sku’s, cancelled all the licensing agreements and dramatically increased their prices to generate perceived exclusivity and profits. Worked great.

That’s what’s going on with bicycles. Leave the low priced bikes to entry level riders and jack up the price, features, etc to create an impression of value and exclusivity to the enthusiast rider. When the reality is, 99% of riders are the same speed on a $2k bike as they are on a $15k bike. What’s the difference? Features that make a difference to the top 1%. Other than that, mainly marketing and profit.

Of course, I’m the exception. I really am a better rider with my fancy bike.....

Russ Roth

You missed where I previously wrote that comparing my 1997 raleigh m55 which was 400 new vs my kids' 2019 410.00 cannondales the c-dales are far better from the quality of the suspension, the single wall rim compared to a double wall disc rim, ability of the brakes to stop, shifting quality. Looking at 550.00 treks for their growth spurt, probably they'll ride out the year on what they have, and the trek is way better then the raleigh. Now look at the rate of inflation from 1997 to 2021 and realize that the trek is a bargain in comparison. Your big issue is more to do with wage stagnation then the actual change in the values of the bike.

Possibly because he was worried someone suckered you into buying it like that at 129. Didn't happen often but sometimes we'd refuse to work on a bike due to the costs and we'd see the bike a couple weeks later with a new owner who is frustrated they just bought a "new" bike for 100 and we have to tell them we'd already told the previous owner why it isn't worth working on.
I've got a k-mart/ames/woolworth special in the basement to fix up, the truth is, if I wasn't doing it as a favor to the person it wouldn't be worth it. He bought it for 20.00, tires are dry rotted, brake pads are solid chunks of hard rubber on really cheap old canti's. Bring it to a shop and you're looking at 50.00 for 2 tires, 15.00 for tubes, 65.00 for a tune up, 20.00 for pads putting you at a 150.00 for a 20.00 bike that cost 100.00 30 years ago. Just not worth it. The thing is better then the average wal-mart special today so, being the bargain hunter I am for 60.00 total I've got new tires, tubes, v-brakes and levers arriving friday and will exchange labor for a haircut. His GF is my usual hairdresser which is how I got pulled into this. If it weren't for this connection the rant above about these style bikes going to the shop could have been their shop visit and they wouldn't understand why since they think bikes should still cost 125.00 in 2021.

Paul Barnard

People call fishing a sport too. LOLOLOL.

hubcyclist

Not having read all the discussion above, I have noticed, for example, that my base model Allez with Claris was msrp $750 in 2018 and now it is $1000, no changes in components or geometry. It may be my own perception, but 750 seems way more appropriate compared to 1000, it's a great bike but it kind of sucks if the entry into road cycling is $1k for folks. Even before the pandemic I was pretty disappointed at the high entry into gravel and especially CX, which is supposed to be a really grassroots sport (I got lucky and got a new CX with canti brakes on clearance a couple of years ago for 700). I think the cost is worth it, for me at least, given how much I ride bikes, but for a novice I think there's going to be some sticker shock keeping some from joining in

jon c. 

What constitutes "sport" is one of the oldest and most pointless arguments extant. Everyone believes the term means what they wish it to mean and no opinion will ever change.

MRT2

Well put. Maybe we got a little spoiled in the years between the 90s and the mid 2010s, with better features and performance going down the price ladder. I may have said this earlier in this discussion, but I bought my current bike in 2012, paid $1,200 for it. All steel bike, steel fork 9 speed Tiagra components, for the most part, and some stock wheels that I eventually had to replace. All in all, I was happy with the value I got. Just a few years later, you could get 9 speed Sora with steel frame and carbon fork for under $1,000, and for the $1,200 I paid in 2012, in 2014 could get upgraded Tiagra 10 speed.

Not anymore.

unterhausen

The people of Central Pennsylvania haven't really gotten the word that bikes are in demand according to my reading of Craigslist. Although it does seem like the asking price for a decent low-end used bike is $250 now, instead of $100. There is one bike listed that was bought in the spring of last year. Don't think it was bought in town though, don't know of a dealer here for that brand. Not nearly enough supply to meet demand. But State College is not a good place for a casual cyclist, have to be fairly athletic to go very far.

wphamilton

I understand, I am just taken aback by the assumption that my beater is like that. FTR, it has no mechanical issues, and would never see a shop mechanic regardless.

Point I was trying to make, which I lost somewhere when the moderator was hating on my ride (j/k Unter, it's no big deal 😂 ) was that it was a ridable entry level bike new at $129, and is still rideable 13 years later. Much improved, in fact. A similar quality bike, new, goes for $200 today. So I'm sticking to it: the cost of entry still isn't that steep if you have the right attitude.

unterhausen

My point that disappeared in the hate was that you are not typical, and the typical new bike buyer will not be able to tell that your bike is ridable without significant cost at a bike shop. And your bike looks like it was a pretty decent bike at one time. The typical new bike buyer would not be able to tell that, and knows it.

My long-time commuter was a 1985 spesh rockhopper. I kept it in pretty good condition for decades, even riding it to work all winter on the heavily salted roads. Then I gave it to my son to ride to class. He turned it into a rust bucket in a little over a year. I gave him my other commuter and he took it to California, so hopefully it won't be destroyed so quickly. I would say it was a pretty good entry level bike, but I imagine that a tune up at a bike shop still would have cost $200-$300. I have a high tolerance for things that mostly work. A good shop is not going to feel that way, and I agree that they shouldn't. In the condition it's in now, it's mostly a write-off, unless it's going to someone who does their own wrenching. I.e., not and entry level buyer.

Penn State salvage is selling all the abandoned student bikes. They wait a year after they tag a bike to confiscate it. Not sure if they do that with cars. Not too many good bikes in that collection though. They have an auction where the bikes are a big attraction. Most of those are uneconomic to repair. Wheels seem to be a big issue on those bikes, even the better ones.

MRT2

That is true. I had this conversation with an acquaintance last year as she had two old bikes. One was a Wally world special, maybe 10 years old, and the other was a 25 year old Trek. She was going to sell the Trek and keep the Wally world bike, since it looked a little newer. I convinced her to go the other way, and she took my advice. As it turned out, the Trek was just a little dirty, not especially hard ridden or in need of a major overhaul.

Germany_chris

I disagree it's an activity that can be treated as a sport and as a consequence will be raced. I ride a bike as transport, stress relief, and some fresh air not for sport/fitness/racing.

Germany_chris

I disagree it's an activity that can be treated as a sport and as a consequence will be raced. I ride a bike as transport, stress relief, and some fresh air not for sport/fitness/racing.

Reflector Guy

I am continually amazed by the large number of abandoned bikes there are around me. Some eventually disappear after several months but others stick around for years. I've had my eye on a pair of 70s-era 10-speeds (one Ross, one Fuji) locked up side-by-side for at least a couple years already. Their seats and tires have dry-rotted and I am sure there's a ton of rust so they would take a lot of work to be made rideable again. But I'd sure be tempted if they came up for auction.

Koyote

If a kid needs a "campus bike" that's going to be locked up to a crowded rack year 'round and rarely (if ever) receive maintenance, they could do worse than to buy a $150 walmart junker. Ride it to the end of the school year or graduation, then set it next to the dumpster.

Since I was the "bike guy" on my old campus, and ran a rental program, our facilities guys would bring those abandoned bikes to my operation. We'd strip off whatever was usable, which usually wasn't much, and scrap the rest.

rydabent

Low corporate tax on bike producing corporations is a good thing. They like all corporations just PASS tax increases right thru to the public that buys their products such a bikes. Increased taxes and wage inflation is why my $1200 bike of 2008 now costs $2200. Another example is the first little all brick two bedroom house we bought for $14500 now sells for $200,000 even tho it is now 54 years older.

Kapusta

Um, no. Corporate taxes in the US remained unchanged from 2008-2017, and then dropped drastically in 2018.

There are many reasons for inflation, taxes are not one of them.

Hypno Toad

I've bought most of my bikes new, but on sale late in the season or last year's model. I save hundreds of dollars doing this and get much more bike for my budget - most of them fit the OP's target price. To the OP, you can't buy last year's bike during the pandemic, my LBS is selling bikes before they arrive. I have a bike on order right now, I've been waiting 4 months for a bike that would've been a same day purchase in the Before Times.

If you're running a business, and you're selling product faster than you can get it ... are you going to mark down the price?

I expect you'll be able to pick up a quality bike in late '21 or in '22 for $500 to $750 again.