big john

Some people might race a $15k bike but most of the people I know who race will use a cheaper bike for racing and not risk their expensive bike.

There may be people who buy things to impress others but there are also plenty of people who buy things that you or I may consider too expensive but for them it's just something they want and can easily afford.

A friend of mine who is quite well off buys lots of bikes and when he wants a new one, he sells the old one to someone in our club for a low price, like half off. If I could fit his size I could have had one of them. He, and other people I know who have money for nice things, is humble and doesn't try to impress others with his wealth.

DiabloScott

"Tons of cash" sounds a lot higher on the wealth scale than just having $15k to spend on something they enjoy.

I know lots of people that have spent more than that on a single vacation or a landscaping project or green fees.
Lots of hobbyists would have that much invested in photography or computers or woodworking or music equipment... and yes some of the appeal is showing it off to others who appreciate gear.

A $15k bike is extravagant... so what? The proper response when you see one is either "nice bike", or nothing at all.

jaxgtr

My wife has spent more money on her arts and craft addiction than I spent on my last 3 bikes combined and that includes my Domane SLR 7 Project 1. But she is passionate about it, it gives her joy in making things, and she is quite talented on some of this stuff she makes. One of the things she make is her own cards, (greeting, birthday, holiday, etc.) and I am blown away by some of the ideas she comes up with. She take plain white card stock, then paints, inks, draws, and makes things that our friends and family look forward to receiving each year. She even does things for my co-workers and has people hire her to make them Christmas, Holloween, etc cards each year. Does she make enough money to cover the expense, nope, but who cares, she enjoys it. No one knows how much this stuff cost, it does not matter. I spent 7k last year reconfiguring my son's bedroom when he moved out to make it work better for her efforts. Custom built a walk in closet, removing about 3 ft of my laundry room space.

I ride bikes, I wanted a bike with di2, did I need a bike with di2, nope, but you know what, we put two kids through college and they have no college debt, we both work full time and both of us deserve whatever he hell we want to spend our money on. I don't give a rats rear end what anyone thinks about my bike, how much I spent on my bike and if I want to upgrade or do something to one of my bikes, because its none of their business. I enjoy my bike and we have no plans to pass our money to my kids as my wife and I paid for their college. Our money is our money, if we have something left after we die, we have already earmarked that to the various charities of our choice. Our kids know this, and they have planned for this.

PeteHski

In my experience of various bike forums, there is usually a persistent under-current of jealousy lurking around ready to snark at anyone who has a nice expensive bike that isn't 15+ years old. I sense it here on BF too. I wonder if it's because cycling attracts an extremely wide demographic with vastly different income levels? Picture a combined Ferrari and Lada owners forum.

jaxgtr

yea I would agree... I mean 30 yrs ago, a really pricey bike like a project 1 would not have gone over well with 2 small kids and a wife still in nursing school. I was lucky to have a bike at all.

OldRailfan

Perhaps it's more a case of not putting the emphasis on the riding part. OTOH can you image how careful one needs to be to ride a very expensive bike? Crashing one would be a real drag.

PeteHski

I'm not sure there's much of a correlation between bike expense and the amount of riding people do. I'm pretty sure it's primarily driven by jealousy and reverse snobbery, which are basically the same thing.

fastcarbon

I have always purchased the best bike I could afford (for 40 years). I currently at 79 ride with riders in their 50's and early 60's who will try to hammer you to death. I have a coach and do lots of intervals on a smart trainer / Zwift. I have lots of "last" bikes; my current bike is an S-works Tarmac with disc brakes and Sram 24 speed. I do not believe you can buy a $200 bike and ride with competitive cyclists. Expensive bikes are light, strong and handle well and safely at high speeds.

632GT

Interesting topic a few years out of the bicycle scene and my sons needed to learn to ride a bicycle so I went to the LBS and found the 2013 Giant Revel new in the store 8x3, mech disk brakes etc. I bought two one in a small and another in a medium if I remember it cost less than $500 maybe even less than $400. Fast forward my sons learned and moved on to things like driving a car and going off to college. I was left with the Revel. I cleaned it and took it for a spin at the local trail, I saw some friends on the trail and they had bikes that would cost 4K+ and I told myself I would never buy a bike at that price I would rather buy me a used motorcycle or a car..... In 2021 during the pandemic my brother who was always into biking asked me If I would like to buy a bike and he would choose one for me so we can exercise together. He said if it would be okay to buy a 3k+ bike or a 5K + bike? I said what? he explained to me the components etc. I could not say yes on 5K but 3K I said let us see. I bought the 2021 Giant XTC Advanced SL1 which is the one model lower that the SL0 which is a full XTR bike. Mine was Deore XT equipped, I was happy after riding the bicycle for almost a year. It is light at less than 20lbs., since I have upgraded some components to make the bicycle lighter and makes up for the decline as I age in the physical ability. Price to impress others for me is not the reason price is immaterial if it makes you happy.

PeteHski

Like most things, bikes are very much a game of diminishing returns for their cost. I find there are huge gains going from low-end to mid-range gear. But once you get to Deore XT component level you are pretty much at the top of the tree. XTR isn't going to make any difference to your riding at that point, but it can almost double the cost! My bikes are expensive, but about half the price of the flagship models whilst giving virtually nothing away in performance. But if I halved the price again I would start to feel the compromises.

That Giant SL1 you have there would be competitive at national level XC racing. Actually great value for money.

Clyde1820

The beauty of being free is that a person can make a choice that's best for that person. A very great thing, that.

Myself, I don't "push" with cycling, so I don't particularly need top-of-the-line stuff that'll handle a downhill blast via MTB or a near race-pace clip on a road bike. I just plod along at the speed I go, on mostly pavement and light mixed-surface routes.

For me, a ~$300 pre-owned bike that's tougher than most, easily modified, and supportive of add-ons (like fenders, say) -- that's the sort of thing that works best for me. And I'm completely okay with the next dozen people who pass me on some expensive newer model that suits them.

Haven't had many bikes, over the years. My latest: a mid-90s Trek 970, configured with 2x11spd drive train and a custom wheelset. Works very well. Pricey add-on parts, all things considered, and didn't have a stash of older parts of this sort, so the overall build price went well over $1K, which was a far cry from the bargain-basement price for the original frame+fork. But then, everything was gone through and updated. Not cost-effective, but more bomb-proof than most and it's geared how I need it. Works for me.

Plus, with "expensive" options out there, it's always fun to see what people end up selecting.

My own imaginary "plus 1" bike, if I get to the point I want a hot little number hanging around: a custom UTB or Adventure model bike from Rodriguez (R+E Cycles) in Seattle. Custom-geometry, relaxed/slack fit, step-through format, low-geared, etc. Would likely be well north of $4K, by the time it's in my grubby little hands, if I were to pull the trigger on such a bike. Thinking about it.

rekmeyata

I hear you on that Rodruguez Adventure bike. But with me I weighed out the abuse that a touring bike gets, rain exposure that could lead to rust, and the expense of replacement parts. But if I was going to get a Rodriguez touring bike, I would pay the extra $100 and get the UTB that is all ISO compliant so you can find parts anywhere in the world, plus it's built more rugged so you could use it to gravel grind if you want to, or go off road camping. They make two types of the UTB, one is a Standard one and the other is a heavy-duty job for super heavy loaded expedition type of touring called the Extreme Journey, I don't see a need to get that radical, there are also two types of the Adventure as well, and again not sure the Plus model is worth it. But I think these touring bikes, including the Adventure, are too expensive for what you get. You compare those bikes to a Kona Sutra, or a Masi Giramono, and the parts specs are about the same, but the price is at least $1,600 less for the Sutra and about $2,100 less for the Masi! Of course, you can't get custom sizing done to the frame, but I don't have any unusual body properties that don't suit off the shelf size bikes. I also noticed that both the Adventure and the UTB come with cantilever brakes, not sure with disk brakes on the market that cantilever is the best choice these days for a touring bike, once you get the bike you can't convert it to disk if you change your mind.

I decided on the Masi because the Masi came with mechanical disk brakes, a lot easier to service on the road than hydraulic that the Kona and others use. But I do feel that both the Masi and the Kona are fantastic bikes for the money.

Clyde1820

That's a primary thing stopping me. I just have a hard time imagining that I need a $4-5K+ bike and that I'd ever notice the difference, as compared to a handful of quite-suitable alternatives (Surly, Kona, etc).

Love the offerings by Rodriguez, Thorn (England). A step-through frame design would aid these old bones. And I see the value of custom geometry, given that in 50+ years of cycling I have yet to find any frame that's a great match for my limb lengths and riding style (long-waisted, shorter legs, shorter arms, more-upright riding position).

Sadly, pre-owned models in custom geometry that'd fit me well are about as rare as diamonds in my back yard.

Still, step-through, great steel, custom geometry, quality components, geared as I need it, fit to a "T" ... hard not to like.

rydabent

The fact remains that bikes like most anything else reach their bang for the buck mark with the mid level choice. Cheap is unreliable, and high priced is a waste of money.

shelbyfv

That's a bit judgemental. Maybe more accurate to say returns are diminished. BTW, what's a "mid level" bike in your world?

DQRider 

I actually had to go back to the opening post to find out what the original intent was for this thread. @rydabent mentioned bang-for-the-buck, and my take on that is I cannot imagine paying four figures for a mid-range plastic bike that you know will wear out, when you can get a top-of-the-line steel classic for the same or less $, that you can ride until you can't ride any more. I acknowledge the weight difference, but for my style of casual touring, it's not that big a deal.

Of course, I've gotta admit that I will NOT allow myself to test ride a carbon fiber bike. Lead me not into temptation...
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big john

Maybe a waste of money for YOU. If someone wants a specific thing that costs more than mid priced similar objects its not a waste of money to THEM. Cars, bikes, jewelry, cameras, stereo equipment, whatever. Some people can afford whatever they want, that doesn't make it wrong.

edit: to be fair, there is definitely a point of diminishing returns with regard to money, but performance isn't the only criteria when shopping high end stuff.

big john

Four figures? Like $1000? How do you know the bike will "wear out"? I have broken 4 metal frames. I haven't put 50K miles on a CF road bike but I have smashed and bashed my CF mountain bike and it has withstood the test, so far. Almost all of the people I ride road bikes with (2 road clubs) ride CF bikes. It's rare that any have problems with their frames, but it does happen. It also happens that friends have broken steel and aluminum frames, too.

Yes, some of the classic steel frames are very beautiful but I think for many people it's easier to just plop down a wad of cash at a bike store and walk out with a race ready bike. I think for most of the people I ride with $5K is not a big expense for a bike. It is for me, but I'm an outlier.

DQRider 

Right. My opinion comes from the perspective of someone with limited discretionary income. I'm not trying to change anybody's mind about this, just expressing my own take on the subject. I agree that the new technology has yielded some incredible machines, but the prices I see down at my LBS are incredible as well. So I make my old premium steel bikes as nice as I can, customizing them to my own casual style of riding and unique aesthetic. It works for me...

Case in point:

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big john

I appreciate your opinion, your bikes are works of art. If I saw you out riding I would want to take a good look at whatever you were riding!

DQRider 

Thanks, I appreciate that. Nothing better than pulling up to a taproom and watching my bike draw a small crowd. Makes my day.
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