Where will it all end?

Lester Cat

£900 for some forks, can i really feel the difference against my £250 forks, my headset is fine after 4 years of shit and grit, do i need a King?, are we being bled dry, where will it all end?
Does anybody else think the industry is out of hand, we all like shiny things but for flips sake......................... :shock:

Monkeypump

Can of worms...

supersonic

Which forks are we comparing here?

Lester Cat

I'm talking about, riding down a bumpy slope, for the first time, and not caring about the damping f'kin circuit, or how it would feel if i'd spent another £500 on my forks, wheels, or how my Oakley Genital cuff was holding up, as MTB Rider said they were 10/10.
Which forks are we comparing here? i rest my case.

supersonic

So which forks?! How can we give an answer or have a debate if you won't tell us?

You get a lot more form your fork when the damping and settings are correct for you.

Lester Cat

you're missing the point supersonic, don't concentrate on fork brands, are you that analytical when you're just riding you're bike. ie, this hill would be alot more enjoyable if this fork was the 2008 model rather than this 2006 model, the damping system is playing havoc with my ability to enjoy bike riding, dirt, my special odour, this hill/part of the world etc.

supersonic

To an extent, yes. Maybe not with 900 quid forks, but a £250 Marzocchi with it's basic damper and top out is a world away from the smooth Motion Control fork of a Recon 351.

I get what works well, and ride it. Some stuff doesn't work well. Some stuff is very overpriced for what it is.

I do think Fox top end stuff is overpriced. And King, Hope, Orange, Thomson! And I don't buy it because I know there is alternatives that are better for less.

OH NO Dan

I think what Lester is getting at is why dont people stop worrying about brands and the latest expensive gear, and just get out and ride.

How is the industry getting out of hand though? Most things have increased in price just the way it is at the minute.

Lester Cat

Have i touched on jumpers for goal posts here :!: ? i 'm at a funny age.

supersonic

Apart from my frame, most of my kit is fairly budget - and good budget stuff. My Zaskar LE weighs 22lbs and cost about 500 quid.

But some people will pay a lot of money for what they believe to be differences in performance. I can see it more in forks upto about 400 quid but over that I agree it is hard to tell; but with stems, seatposts and bars it much much less, just a few quid. And some people do pay for premium branding and looks.

With frames, the law of diminishing returns sets in quick, as it does with full bikes over about £500.

RealMan

A fork for £900?? Sounds good, where can I buy it..?

Might be the new rockshox sid xx thing they're making to get with the rest of sram xx.

Joe_Pineapples

OH NO Dan wrote:

I think what Lester is getting at is why dont people stop worrying about brands and the latest expensive gear, and just get out and ride.

What if I just get out and ride AND like to buy top drawer kit from cutting edge companies that allow me to ride better/faster/harder/safer than ever before?

lesz42

Asda bike FTW!

welshkev

i sort of get where you're coming from. i used to ride cwmcarn before there was a trail centre there on a fully rigid GT!!!!! i loved it at the time, but looking back at it now and riding cwmcarn on my full susser felt, i'd take the full susser anyday. it's so much more enjoyable

grumsta

Depends really - most stuff is overpriced at RRP but if you shop around there are some good deals to be had.

I just bought some new 09 Fox 36 Van RC2s for £450 and they are spectacularly good. If you ride hard on rocky stuff etc and jumps you will definitely notice a difference, even over the Pikes they replaced which are pretty good forks.

I can't see that I would EVER pay £900 for the same forks though (which is pretty much what the 2010 ones cost).

bomberesque

The real answer to your question though is .... never

it will never end. Not while we have an open market at least. Producers will always be looking for new ways to separate you from your money, sometimes with better product but often with promises.

The only way to stop yourself being totally consumed by it is to educate yourself so that you see through the hype to the product and make your judgements from there. As Pineapples says; nothing wrong with wanting to ride the best kit and it's your own value judgement as to what it's worth to you to have it. This can include any number of factors including paying double for the same product because this colour suits your eyes better. It's up to you. What is daft, I agree, is paying a premium for a promise which isn't backed up in reality but these choices are for you to make. The market owes you nothing beyond what the law (which your representatives write) demands of them.

It's true that there are some examples of blatant overhype in the market and cases of perceived value being greater than actual, work to see through it and you'll find that you no longer worry about where it might end ... because for you it will already have done.

scale20

£900 for forks? DT Swiss EXC 150 by any chance?

I run them and love them. For me they are better than any Fox fork I've ever had.

I love to get out and ride but I also like to treat my bike to some hot new finishing kit. Infact I think its turning into an obsession.

Funnily enough I bough the other half some Hope QR's this week and we were lookning at them this morning after they arived in the post and you think '£27 for them?? :shock: :shock: ' But they are so nice

For some reason i draw the line at buying expensive headsets and BB's when there are cheaper alternatives out there that do a cracking job.

Doombrain

Lester Cat wrote:

you're missing the point supersonic, don't concentrate on fork brands, are you that analytical when you're just riding you're bike. ie, this hill would be alot more enjoyable if this fork was the 2008 model rather than this 2006 model, the damping system is playing havoc with my ability to enjoy bike riding, dirt, my special odour, this hill/part of the world etc.

pics, or it didn't happen

bay73

Yes there are £900 forks, but there are also £200 forks.

Marketing exec's will try to tempt you to buy the £900 model and if you can afford it then why not, but no-one is holding a gun to your head to do so.

People like, no demand choice and if there were only £250 forks available most people would bemoan the inability to choose exactly what they want or are told they should want.

In summary Lester Cat, chill out... 8)

Joe_Pineapples

Lester Cat wrote:

£900 for some forks, can i really feel the difference against my £250 forks?

In a word, yes.

Doombrain

I'll swap a pair of shocks that are now worth around £250 for your new £900 shocks you don't like.

Deal.

paul.skibum

Peopel are magpies for shiny stuff and will get it if they have the money to spend on frivolity - personally I dont so I buy the best I can on a budget and make do - hence I run 2003 MX Comps on my hardtail and all deore kit - it all works and it does what I need but its not light and its not bling.

If I had 500 notes to blow I'd have a nice shiny reba race and matching bolt through wheel but I dont.

jayson

I do think manufacturers have kind of lost the plot of late though with the ridiculous prices for their products, dont they realise theres a huge world wide recession on and people cant afford to pay hundreds sometimes even thousands of pounds for their products as nice as they may be.

Ive NEVER and i do mean never met anyone yet who had £7k+ to throw down on a new bike as nice as it would be, do these manufacturers live in an alternate universe where everything is rosy? makes me wonder sometimes.

Joe_Pineapples

We have a dealer who regularly visits my work who shelled out £42,000 for a Ducati Desmosedici hyperbike, so there's no shortage of people who'll pay to have what they consider to be the best.

The Merida 96 is a perfect example of a 'halo' product. At £7500 they'll sell some but that model will cast a rose coloured glow over the rest of the range.
Every manufacturer has a similar model that they don't expect to sell many of but is more a statement saying "look at what we can do".

3110neil

manufactors make them ,because thers always some one who wants them ,no matter how expesive the product is

racefaceec90

you would think for £8000,that scott could put the shock in a better position on that genius ltd

MacAndCheese

I upgraded from Marzzochi MZ's to Fox F100 RLC, A massive improvement - but that s hardly a comparison as thats a cheap as OEM fork to a top of the range £600 XC race fork....could I have got away with something a little cheaper, a Rockshox Reba perhaps?? Probably, but, as with all my upgrades, I try and get the best I can afford at the time (plus the reba's didn't come in white )

Northwind

Lester Cat wrote:

are we being bled dry

Don't want it- don't buy it. /thread.

Lester Cat

Constructive.
I do want it, can't buy it.
I just think that there must be a performance curve, and it must be getting increasingly harder to notice any significant improvement.

bomberesque

Lester Cat wrote:

I just think that there must be a performance curve, and it must be getting increasingly harder to notice any significant improvement.

You're right, there is, it's called the law of diminishing returns.

get used to it most of life seems to be made of stuff that follows this rule

adb1006

I noticed a massive difference when i replaced my original Suntour piece-of-sh1t fork with a £400 Reba Team Dual Air! In fact, it's probably the most noticeable upgrade i've made to date (which includes v-brakes to hydro discs, and substantially lighter wheels). However i doubt i'd notice the difference in replacing the Reba with, say, a SID - or if i did it would be a much less noticeable difference - again, the law of diminishing returns. If i'd had the money at the time though, i'd have gone for the SID over the Reba. You always buy the best bit you can afford IMO.