high end carbon

mountainroadie

there are a few people on this fourm with what i would class as ultra high end bikes
can those people justify a bike that costs over three grand.

only to be used at the weekend or on summer holidays ?
as they use a hack/commuter during the week whilst the bikes are very nice {and very expensive} if you dont race are you just a poseur ????
i can see the point of getting a road bike that costs two grand {carbon/campag} i also see peoples point of them saying two grand well that would be a high end bike for me

really at the end of the day its all about the frame ,components wear :?

fossyant

Not necessarily....... I have a 'super bike' but from the early 90's - it's 17/18 years old and still a delight to ride. It's had 1 new BB, 1 new headset, new chains/sprockets and chain rings. Had a few pairs of wheels as well, plus 'spares'....... folk thought I was crazy when I bought it....!

I've never used it for commuting, but it's been raced and weekend ridden in all sorts of weather. It's looked after as it's a total one off, custom built, and custom paint scheme (designed by me). It's still my best bike...........

Why not.....if you have the cash, and are that keen then go for it. You do need a good frame though - that pays off, but so does a good level of components.

My commuter is a £1k fixed.....

simon_ramsey

I have a £1500 Hardtail MTB (that I spent another £500 getting it set-up right - and I'd still like to buy some new wheels for it ). I only use it at weekends , holidays etc but I ride it all year in all weathers & keep it well maintained. £2k for an MTB may seem like a lot of money (in fact it is a lot of money) but I use it a lot & get a lot of enjoyment from riding it - but could never justify spending £3-4k on a bike. I guess everyone has their own limits. What I think is tragic when I see a really nice MTB that is so clean & you know it has never been off-road & will never be ridden off road - tragic no life for a decent bike.

fossyant

PS my best bike at the time was worth about 4x my car's value..... - I was 20 ish when I got it.......

gtvlusso

I guess you justify what you want by the enjoyment you get from it.

Why buy something you don't want, you won't use it as much and will be constantly looking to upgrade or buy what you initially wanted (DDD is a classic case of this - Want Kuota, goes and buys Kuota!)

I guess you will always buy to your budget and hey, not all of us earn a 6 figure salary and can afford it, so we do the best with what we have and upgrade when we can afford to - I owned a beautiful Cervelo P3 - my ultimate Tri bike, ultimately I sold it as I was not getting the use from it and needed a new kitchen...I also sold a Ducati motorbike too, it is an expensive kitchen!

You might say, The person who goes and buys a BMW M3 - are they gonna drive to work in it, pose around or use it, as it was designed initially, as a race car?! Well, I don't really care - someone just bought what they wanted and enjoys it!! I guess if you think someone is posing, you are probably quite jealous.....

I do about 100 to 150 miles at a weekend (when I get the oppotunity!), mostly on a £899 Boardman Team with some basic mods, I also use it on wet days for commuting and distance commutes. Serves me well, but I would rather be riding a Pinarello or a top end Time carbon frame....but thats life!

My fixie was a hand built TT frame, reynolds 531, in it's day it would have been pretty modern - now it is my sunny day fixie for town and commuting....and I love it!

I say - chapeau to the people who have the financial might and the passion in cycling to go and buy an amazing piece of kit that they really want (chapeau - even if they are not mad keen cyclists - we all love to see an amazing piece of kit on the road as we go by!)!

Don't really care what they do or don't do with it.....Ultimately, no one takes £3000 + likely, so the people with these bikes are gonna know what to do with them!

simon_ramsey

Now that's funny - lol

mountainroadie

YEAH just wanna get some feedback i may sound a bit of a bike tart as i have probably the most expensive mtb on the forum
i am the same as you i use it in any weather even snow and ice, it is well looked after although it does have stonechips etc
sometimes have my doubts when i think of the price it cost me .
my kuota kebel cost me £1800 campy centuar,fulcrums and couldnt be happier with it
i had a pinarello f413 that cost twice this and didnt get any more enjoyment out of it :?

gtvlusso

More importantly it is justifying to the wife why my bicycle would be more expensive than the family car....

Gussio

One man's high end is another man's small change. I read an article today about someone with a house in America that had several hundred listed trees in the grounds. He wanted a tennis court so removed the trees without consent and took the ensuing $6m fine in his stride. Not sure that he would consider £4k (or £40k) as anything other than a tiny footnote on his credit card bill.

Not sure why I shared that, but if I had the money I would spend it on things that I like, use and appreciate. This would most certainly include a "high end" bike. I would probably also upgrade my low end missus

simon_ramsey

What amuses me is when you see a couple out on their matching his 'n' hers high end bikes. I bet the bike shop owner leapt for joy when they said well have two of those - but if your spending that kind of money wouldn't you want a bit of originality ??

mountainroadie

gtvlusso wrote:

I guess you justify what you want by the enjoyment you get from it




i agree


.












Don't really care what they do or don't do with it.....Ultimately, no one takes £3000 + likely, so the people with these bikes are gonna know what to do with them!

mmm not sure about this :roll:

Lysander

Buy what will give you pleasure. I have a De Rosa King 3 which I love and gives me so much pleasure. It was a lot of money and I'm never going to race on it as I'm middle aged.
Cycling is a very personal thing to me. Its difficult to put into words but for a few hours every weekend when I'm out on my bike I become someone else.

mountainroadie

yep im with you on that one lid on..... sunnies on....
you ,the bike, the road or the munro

but wouldnt you get the same pleasure on a cheaper bike ?

fossyant

Lysander, is that the Matt Black version - love the bike, but the colour is definitely an individual taste.

I have target's on one of three 'super bikes' in the next couple of years - I plan on keeping it for years, like the other 4 bikes..... either a Wilier Cento 1, Colnago EPS, or Brian Rourke Custom 953, all with Fulcrum Zero's and Campag Super Record

fossyant

mountainroadie wrote:

but wouldnt you get the same pleasure on a cheaper bike ?

Of course you do........ even an 'older' bike..... so long as it's not much heavier etc. then the enjoyment is the same......I love riding all my bikes, but the best bike and training bike are very similar in performance, although it has the 'edge' and is much prettier.....

mountainroadie

brian rouke custom 953 .........googles


wilier cento 1 dont bring italian bike porn to this thread.

Lysander

Hi fossyant,
Yes its the matt black version with Campag record 10speed and Campag Neutron wheels. I think the old King X Light was prettier but the King 3 feels faster.

greg66_tri_v2.0

mountainroadie wrote:

there are a few people on this fourm with what i would class as ultra high end bikes
can those people justify a bike that costs over three grand.
only to be used at the weekend or on summer holidays ?
as they use a hack/commuter during the week whilst the bikes are very nice {and very expensive} if you dont race are you just a poseur
i can see the point of getting a road bike that costs two grand {carbon/campag} i also see peoples point of them saying two grand well that would be a high end bike for me

mountainroadie wrote:

i may sound a bit of a bike tart as i have probably the most expensive mtb on the forum

my kuota kebel cost me £1800 campy centuar,fulcrums and couldnt be happier with it
i had a pinarello f413 that cost twice this and didnt get any more enjoyment out of it :?

mountainroadie wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

I guess you justify what you want by the enjoyment you get from it
i agree
Don't really care what they do or don't do with it.....Ultimately, no one takes £3000 + likely, so the people with these bikes are gonna know what to do with them!

mmm not sure about this :roll:

How bizzare.

You've had a £3600 bike that you didn't think was worth it.

You want others here who have £4k bikes to justify themselves to you.

You're not sure that people with £3k+ bikes know what they're doing with them (excluding, I assume, you, who knew what to do with your F413).

First, no one here has to justify what they spend their money on. Not to you, not to anyone else.

Second, your basic premise - that people only deserve a set level of bike is just bollocks.

Third, for every uber-bike you see here and get chippy about, someone's rolling around on a £400 bike looking at you on your Kuota in precisely the same way.

Fourth, why £4k? Is it because that's more than you've spent? Why not £2k? Or £5k? Is this really all about what you feel you can't afford?

Fifth, I wouldn't race on my bikes for the simple reason that cat 3/4, which is where I'd start, is a cross between Whacky Races and demolition derby. I like my bikes in one piece. To say that you should only own an uber bike if you race it is also bollocks. You think pros race on their own bikes?

Sixth, speaking for myself, I ride my bikes every day of the week, and at weekends, week in, week out, throughout the year. I look after them accordingly. You assumption that the uber bikes you see here are kept for Sunday best, when they're taken out to be shown off on a slow ride with a bunch of fat dentists, doctors and bankers is just wrong.

So here's a thing: do you look at anyone driving a fast car in the same way? Or living in a big house?

Stone Glider

It is still a free country. You pays your money and makes your choices. no one is going to throw rocks at you (hopefully). I am saving for a Carrera racer, but don't begrudge the next person having any piece of "bike porn" they can afford. If it gives you pleasure, and you can afford it, feel free.

The pleasure is proportionate, not a direct ratio to the amount expended but real enough. Go for it!

mountainroadie

GREG 66 you didnt read the thread did you
where did i say 4k ???
i had a pinarello f413 and it was £3500 new but i didnt buy it for that i bought it second hand you assume i bought it new

my mtb was £ 3500 also but got this second hand too £2000

couldnt tell the difference between the pinarello and the kuota that is why the pinarello had to go .the kuota is half the price and it was bought new . you have misinterpreted the thread :roll:

i feel the same about someone who builds a cheap bike from scratch
or someone who buys a £6000 bike and has no mechanical knowledge

the above thread is is mearly an open question

Chaz.Harding

I for one (picks up the handy sh1t stirring spoon ) LIKE that people buy uber, silly expenisve bikes.

It's exactly these people, along with the elite racers, who push technology boundaries. See that carbon frame you got, and super light wheels? They didn't do their own R&D, and pay for themselves. People buy expensive bikes, as they are better in their eyes.

When I'm out on my bike (an early 2009 Specialized Tarmac Elite), MY bike is the best bike in the world. However, it's really nice to see other, more expenisive bikes around too! I've just about finished the Army cycling championship, and there are a few bikes that cost wayyyyyy more than mine, but mine's still better, 'cause it's MINE!

Even uber bikes that aren't raced. If I see the (for example!) fat, old, s-u-p-e-r slow guy riding his £8,000 uber bike, I may be jealous, but he's having fun, enjoying the sport, so well on him! It's always good to see super-special bikes out. I'm a MTB'er too, and some of the tech on the high end bikes is almost unreal. My bike may not be as good, but it's always interesting, and exciting to see new, expensive bikes, regardless of how they are ridden, or by who.

Always! 8)

[/gets off high horse]

mountainroadie

my point exactly :roll:

Chaz.Harding

Why would you buy a super expensive bike, and NOT ride it though? Some people do, but I can't understand it!

I bought my race bike, and frequently do time trials (did one tonite, actually!), road races, crits, sportives, and training. No 'special' wheels, no swapment of gears or tri-type bars. Just as it is.

And I love it. My point being, if someone on a £1,000 bike see's me, and thinks ''tw@t, he's got a better bike than me, and he's not racing it'', why? Unless you KNOW them, you'll never know for sure. And speed - you weren't all born fast enough, and awesome enough to challenge Mark Cavendish for his place in the Colombia Highroad team were you?

So just enjoy your ride folks!

Chaz.Harding

Oh yeah, the main reason (really) we all buy expenive, extoic bikes, is 'cause they look well coooooooooool

8)

mountainroadie

on this forum peps say they commute on there hack/old roadie/mtb during the working week and use there uber bike mostly road bike at the weekend .
of course there are exceptions
my point is that five grand bike in the shed/garage/house is as good as a two grand bike some might say even cheaper {not me}

the thing thats going through my head is there are guys in the local LBS who ride on sundays/tuesdays and there are boys who have alu ridley,spesh etc and they hammer guys on carbon wiliers ,colnagos mmmmmmm

mountainroadie

bigchazrocks wrote:

Why would you buy a super expensive bike, and NOT ride it though? Some people do, but I can't understand it!

I bought my race bike, and frequently do time trials (did one tonite, actually!), road races, crits, sportives, and training. No 'special' wheels, no swapment of gears or tri-type bars. Just as it is.

And I love it. My point being, if someone on a £1,000 bike see's me, and thinks ''tw@t, he's got a better bike than me, and he's not racing it'', why? Unless you KNOW them, you'll never know for sure. And speed - you weren't all born fast enough, and awesome enough to challenge Mark Cavendish for his place in the Colombia Highroad team were you?


So just enjoy your ride folks!

i would have said sir chris hoy {knight of the realm}

biondino

Greg 66 on the money.

Stone Glider

+1 Greg66. Itype too slow :oops:

mountainroadie

nice editing greg

stuaff

I'm inclined to agree with Greg 66 too. My 'best' bike (the Jetstream XP) cost a mere £400 or so on eBay- plus a fair bit after on upgrades. The '09 model (with mega suspension upgrade plus 30% increase on '08 spec) costs £1700 or so imported from Germany- not available in the UK, and plenty would baulk at that. But if I had the dosh, I would quite happily buy:
a. Moulton New Series Double Pylon (a mere £7950 for typical DuraAce build spec).
b. Maxima/Storck/other carbon/titanium/steel uberbike (£5-10k+). I'd probably have the Maxima, and make my LBS's day/week/month.
c. Whatever I felt like buying as well. Bike Friday speeding Tikit, a nice recumbent trike...
And would I really care whether or not I was getting the best out of them? No. Would I care that someone thought I was a pillock for buying them? No. They'd get the best out of me, I'd want to ride them for longer, faster, etc.
Even my mere £600 or so second hand bike makes me want to get out and ride more, so I have and I do. I couldn't ride twenty times more on the Moulton, and it's not twenty times better. But rational arguments (apart from the actual budgeting of course!) go out of the window when you're talking about high end anything....they've got nothing to do with buying them.

mountainroadie

How bizzare.

You've had a £3600 bike that you didn't think was worth it.

1.it cost £3500 new ibought it second hand for £2700
You want others here who have £4k bikes to justify themselves to you.

2.NO where did i say that
You're not sure that people with £3k+ bikes know what they're doing with them (excluding, I assume, you, who knew what to do with your F413)
.
3.im sure there are exceptions. i sold my pinarello
First, no one here has to justify what they spend their money on. Not to you, not to anyone else.

4.this is true but why is it aimed at me
Second, your basic premise - that people only deserve a set level of bike is just bollocks
.
5.EH YOU READING THE SAME THREAD LOL
Third, for every uber-bike you see here and get chippy about, someone's rolling around on a £400 bike looking at you on your Kuota in precisely the same way.

6.i already made this point ?
Fourth, why £4k? Is it because that's more than you've spent? Why not £2k? Or £5k? Is this really all about what you feel you can't afford?

7.4k inever mentioned 4k ?
Fifth, I wouldn't race on my bikes for the simple reason that cat 3/4, which is where I'd start, is a cross between Whacky Races and demolition derby. I like my bikes in one piece. To say that you should only own an uber bike if you race it is also bollocks. You think pros race on their own bikes?

8.DUH
Sixth, speaking for myself, I ride my bikes every day of the week, and at weekends, week in, week out, throughout the year. I look after them accordingly. You assumption that the uber bikes you see here are kept for Sunday best, when they're taken out to be shown off on a slow ride with a bunch of fat dentists, doctors and bankers is just wrong.
9.GOOD FOR YOU
So here's a thing: do you look at anyone driving a fast car in the same way? Or living in a big house?[/quote]thats your interpretation