Chris_F

I'm helping two new cyclists get in to the sport. My local bike shops carry all the regular brands: Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, Giant, etc. Here's the odd thing: they all have hardtail mountain bikes from these brands starting in the $350-$500 range. But the cheapest road bikes are $800-$1000. Why? Why don't we see major brands with $500 entry level road bikes? Why are the bike store racks filled with $500 hardtails but only one or two $800 road bikes (and none at the $500 price)? Is this our sick little way of keeping the rif-raf out of our sport?

I know I can get road bikes from bikesdirect at this price point (and may go that route), and I know that I can get used bikes at this price. But why don't bike shops and bike companies make their entry level price points equal to those of mountain bikes?

RC5AL Rider

my theory is supply and demand

8ounce

I agree..demand. Pretty much every person I know that goes out to buy a casual bike for occasional use always wants a mountain bike. People who are more serious and want a road bike tend to want a NICE road bike.

Hot Potato

Hell, up until a few years ago, several shops in the area didn't even sell road bikes. They said nobody wanted them anymore. Those were the dark days, dark indeed.

BarracksSi

Demand, probably, but the cost of the parts -- specifically the shifters -- is a big difference. As an example, my Bianchi Valle was about $800, and the Volpe is about $1000-1100. Almost everything is the same between the two bikes -- I swear that they use the same frame, too -- except the Volpe has Tiagra shifters instead of my Valle's trigger shifters.

At retail prices, the shifters nearly account for the difference in total price by themselves, or even better than paying for the shifters and shop labor to do the conversion. Granted, OEM cost of the components to the manufacturer are a lot less than what we could pay, but I don't think they're willing to reflect that savings in the bikes' retail prices.

roadiejorge 

I agree and the fact that most people who start cycling prefer to do so on something more comfort oriented than road bikes so by the time they've sorted out the kind of riding they want to do they want to do, they're more inclined to spend more money on something better.

BarracksSi

(adding on, just to illustrate)

One option that pavement riders often use for MTBs is to change to narrower slicks. Following that, you could imagine changing parts to switch to road handlebars and shifters, 700c wheels (fairly easy if you use disc brakes, but harder if you have a frame & fork with V-brakes), and maybe a new drivetrain altogether (including derailleurs, crank, cassette, and maybe even a rear hub or whole wheel, if you're switching to 10-speed).

All of that stuff, if bought new, will easily exceed the price of a new, complete road bike. You could get lucky in your conversion and score secondhand parts, saving a good amount of money, but you'll either need to know how to build a bike (not too hard, really) or be wiling to pay someone who already knows (negating much of that savings).

BarracksSi

I think so, too. I don't have any problem with people buying a hybrid as they get back into riding, because they'll inevitably figure out where they like to ride the most often. Plus, if they ride to get places instead of driving, they can save enough cash to buy that second (or third) bike that they really want.

AEO

there are road bikes in the $300-500 range, but the components on it are really basic, like 2200 or sora.

the minimum I would use is tiagra or veloce.

ls0725

The reason your getting prices of $800 plus for the brands you mentioned is that you are buying into the high-quality brands. These 4 brands are known for making good road bikes and has a history/track record to back them up.

Is there a difference to saying how come Benz, Lexus, Porsche, BMW, etc are darn expensive? Again quality and history/track record for making good quality automobiles for decades. These companies (both bikes/autos) spends a lot of time and money in R & D that they have to recover that cost too.

Now the thing is that you have a choice for your price range, like bikedirects as you mentioned, there are also Schwinn, or department store brands. In comparison to automobiles, you have a choice too that are cheaper like those Japanese or korean or other US brands.

Try looking at any of those 4 brands you mentioned side-by-side with a department store bike and you would understand the difference, or better yet test ride them both and it becomes crystal clear.

Banzai

A $350 MTB weighs as much as a boat anchor and works about as well as you would expect a $350 bike to work.

The same would be said of a $350 road bike. There is (blissfully) very low demand for road bikes that weigh as much as a boat anchor and function like dog poo.

grovestreet

You can find some sub-$200 Giant roadie in China

RC5AL Rider

would disagree somewhat with the quality based off the name.. the top end bikes of these companies is just that but there intro bikes are overpriced for what you get.. IMO

BarracksSi

A good amount of the difference between a shop-built bike and one via mail order or at Wal-Mart is the cost of running the shop itself. Given the same parts (which actually doesn't happen that often; I've never seen a Wal-Mart bike in person that had Sora, let alone anything nicer), the bike shop has to pay for its employees, electricity, water, the lease on the building (if it's in a decent location, it costs more, too), parts and supplies, on and on and on.

Mail order outlets like Bikes Direct don't have those costs. They can have a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, and they save a bit more by not fully assembling and testing the bikes they sell.

That's when we're getting into another topic -- are you willing to subsidize your local shop, or not?

ls0725

as compared to what brand and model of the same quality?

if it could not be compared to a same bike of equal components/quality, then it can't be said that it's overpriced. there is no benchmark.

the term 'overpriced' unfortunately is subjective.

RC5AL Rider

trek 1.1 vs felt z100 or f95

LesterOfPuppets

I think it's because brifters cost $300. Of course they don't cost bike companies that much, but they still cost them much more than MTB shifters.

I wouldn't advise anyone to spend less than $500 on a MTB. Good road bikes can be found for around $600, no need to go up to $800

These prices are MSRP, might be able to find them cheaper on the floor. Also keep an eye out for last years models still on the floor:

KHS Flite 220 $550
Fuji Newest 4.0 (DT shifters) $550
Specialized Allez Steel around $600 (DT shifters)
Jamis Ventura sport $625
Trek 1.1 $660

It could be that dealers aren't interested in stocking these models, they might be able to order them, however.

ls0725

the Felt Z100 or F95 is even MORE expensive that the Trek 1.1 which in your opinion is overpriced.

RC5AL Rider

which comes with a carbon fork

RC5AL Rider

i personally wouldn't get either one but im just trying to say that if you go with a brand that doesnt have as much marketing costs to recover you can get more bang for your buck

ls0725

this we can agree on. but going back to the OP, all these brands including Felt has a valid reason for their higher prices compared (overpriced or not) to bikesdirect or dep't store bikes.

the nice thing is that we have a choice.

Chris_F

Then why can these same shops afford to sell $350-$500 mountain bikes, and $300 comfort bikes?

Chris_F

But how can these brands afford to sell $350-$500 mountain bikes but not $500 road bikes?

Chris_F

Let's not forget who actually buys bikes: bike shops. A customer who comes in not knowing what they want to ride can be steered in to a mountain or a road or a comfort or a hybrid by the salesman, depending on what kind of riding they want to do. Bike shops could easily steer new riders in to a $500 road bike over a $500 hybrid if there was such a thing for them to stock. But a bike shop isn't going to stock a Mercier or Schwinn line just so they can offer a cheap road ride. IMO there's a lot of "build it and they will come" or more accurately "don't build it and they'll go somewhere else" at work. The big name makers (Trek, Giant, et al) don't offer $350 road bikes because they don't sell any, because they don't offer any, because they don't sell any. Chicken and egg.

I think there's an un-tapped market here. Heck, this may be why (at least around here) mountain biking is so much more popular than road riding. It's simply cheaper to get in to mountain biking.

LesterOfPuppets

I'd say because these shops and their suppliers perceive there to be more of a market for low end MTBs and hybrids than low end road bikes.

Most people loathe low end brifters. 2200s are generally hated. Sora can be tolerated by some of the budget conscious. Tiagra is ground level for most road bike enthusiasts.

I'd say it's WAY easier to get a flat bar road bike off the floor than a drop bar with 2200 shifters.

DT and barend shifter equipped bikes is a bit of a niche market in the 21st century.

Demand for frames equipped to handle DT shifters is waning, and it does cost more do make a frame with shifter bosses, so they don't save as much money of the cost of a bike as they once did.