Originally Posted by
retswerb
Yep, and ultimately I think this is the argument
vonfilm is making, right? - that the returns have long-since diminished by the time you get to $14k. I tend to agree, but whether or not others agree with the specifics of that claim, each of us recognizes diminishing returns as a real concept.
The
overton window expressed by the majority within this thread includes $14k as a "reasonable" price for some folks to spend on a bike, but for most of us there's a number out there at which we would say that spending that on a bike is ridiculous or even immoral - it just may have a lot more zeros on the end for some than for others (and may be a number significantly larger than whatever the world's most expensive bike currently is).
Don't even get me started on the circularity of the Overton Window concept, but I think that making the issue a moral one rather than just an economic one is really a p&r topic.
The point is that from the consumer perspective, the value of any given marginal improvement is subjective, as is the willingness to pay the price for that improvement--I could believe that a $14k bike is "worth it" but that I'm not willing or able to pay that much. Frankly, I'm not sure why anyone else should care if that's what I think unless they want to know if they should invest any effort into trying to sell me a $14k bike.
Obviously, enough people will pay $14k for a bike for a handful of manufacturers to produce $14k bikes. Equally as obvious, the vast majority of bikes sold are sold at prices significantly below $14k. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anyone on this thread has said they've actually bought a $14k bike, they've just stated that the premise of the op question is really beside the point since "worth" is subjective and $14k bikes are obviously being sold to someone. Inevitably, people who are invested in the idea that their sub-$14k value is somehow "objective" will then attack the motivations/judgments/morality of the people who actually buy such bikes, but it's just silly nonsense.