Hyper bike inflation...?!

Surf-Matt

Not read an MTB mag for a while - they get a bit samey.

But just picked up a WMB and had a quick nose through the tests - was rather shocked at how poorly specced the £900-£1300 hardtails are!

Almost all have only Deore chainsets and finishing kit!

My £1200 (in 2007) Stumpy came with Stylo/X-9/X-7 and Juicy 5s. It's now much worse specced and costs £1499!! The £1200 contender is only the Rockhopper SL now (used to be under a grand)!

I must have had been out of the loop for a while but rather amazed. Will stick to upgrading my Stumpy as things break - seems to outspec most £2500+ bikes now (although iit's been heavily upgraded)!

supersonic

Yes, prices have steadily rose for the past two years (or bikes down specced). Some more than others.

Surf-Matt

Super - I guess to many it's been less noticeable but I haven't read a bike mag for a while.

Also just heavily upgraded my bike and all the parts seemed to be pretty cheap - I'd say cheaper than two years ago in fact - so this big rise in RRPs for complete bikes seems a bit odd.

Mind you cars have done similar in some brands - the latest model of my car has a much worse stereo, leather, plastics, etc yet the price has risen.

A bit annoying!

supersonic

The RRPs of many parts have gone up but Merlin and CRC are offering hefty reductions.

It was always going to happen with bikes - from about 2000-2007,and especially in 2007, the manufacturers were knocking out some bikes at unbelievable prices. The bubble has burst.

rudedog

Surf-Matt wrote:

Not read an MTB mag for a while - they get a bit samey.

But just picked up a WMB and had a quick nose through the tests - was rather shocked at how poorly specced the £900-£1300 hardtails are!

Almost all have only Deore chainsets and finishing kit!

My £1200 (in 2007) Stumpy came with Stylo/X-9/X-7 and Juicy 5s. It's now much worse specced and costs £1499!! The £1200 contender is only the Rockhopper SL now (used to be under a grand)!

I must have had been out of the loop for a while but rather amazed. Will stick to upgrading my Stumpy as things break - seems to outspec most £2500+ bikes now (although iit's been heavily upgraded)!

Remember though that they always list the RRP in these tests which is often a good bit higher than the price you will pay if you shop around.

Surf-Matt

Rude - I bet 99% of people pay RRP though.

Super - I bought most of my bits from Merlin and was astounded at the prices. In fact the people I know "in the know" can't understand how they (and CRC do it) - OEM parts taken off bikes maybe? Or mass imports from the Far East?

I bought my brakes from the bike mech I know but could have actually got them slightly cheaper from Merlin - £200 for a full set of Elixirs CRs - that's crazily cheap!

At the moment I reckon the way forward to to buy separately. Good frames are cheap, parts are cheap. Would be interesting to compare "build your own" stuff to ready built bikes - I reckon you could build a very decent hardtail for £1500 by doing it yourself - One that would outshine a 2010 Stumpy (or similar) by miles for spec.

itchieritchie

Supersonic, tis truth you speaketh!

Focus Izalco Expert bought in late 2007.

Full carbon frame
Full Chorus 10 spd gruppo
Full carbon fork and steerer
Truvativ carbon Rouler crankset
Mavic Ksyrium Elites
FSA Wingpro shallow drop bars
Selle Italia SLR saddle
Michelin pro tyres

Light and stiff, yet comfy, and goes like the clappers. Mad review from BikeRadar, which naturally, I completely agree with.

£850 delivered with a pedal spanner and Haribos! On sale, but still...even at the RRP of £1449.99 it wasn't a terrible deal.

They don't do this bike anymore and I can see why. They couldn't afford to. When I look at all the "deals" around me now, I know that I made a good decision. The recession has put the squeeze on all the manufacturers and it's filtered through to us....

We're getting rogered, and no mistake...!!

The Northern Monkey

It has got fiarly crazy.

Even last year, 500-600 quid would have got you a well spec'd HT with a faily decent fork.
Now the equivalent is more like 800-900 quid!

supersonic

Merlin and CRC massively bulk buy in OE parts (as do Halfords for the Boardman/Carrera/GTs/Voodoo). This allows a considerable saving on the after market prices.

A good eye for a bargain can spec a bike cheaper than an off the peg model (maybe not from Halfords!) and I have demonstrated this a few times in my 'budget build' threads. Prices change all the time though!

Yep, 2007 was THE year to buy!!!

nickfrog

The bike in my signature was built for £1,000 this winter.
The main culprit for bike price inflation over the past 3 years is a weak Sterling.

Surf-Matt

bigbenj_08 wrote:

It has got fiarly crazy.

Even last year, 500-600 quid would have got you a well spec'd HT with a faily decent fork.
Now the equivalent is more like 800-900 quid!

In fact Mrs Matt's Rockhopper 2008 (£600) is as well specced as many £1000ish bikes in that hardtail test - crazy!

Clearly we all justify our own purchasing decisions but I am definitely glad I got my "main" bike in 2007. I can add the latest parts as they improve (e.g. brakes, chainset) and keep a decent frame until it breaks. I used to think upgrading was a waste of time - now the tables have turned completely.


The 2010 road bike we got suffered from "downgrade" syndrome but TBH, it's fine for me - a total roadie noob. Also got 10% off.

GHill

Oddly, some bikes over here have come down in price this last year. Trek Fuel EX 8 and Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp are both a few hundred dollars less than last year, and the kit is slightly better.

Perhaps a weak pound is a major part of the problem?

Briggo

The £ is weaker, however theres still plenty of deals and money off the RRP so you'd be silly to pay full whack.

I got 20% off mine about 5 months ago

blister pus

you wanna see scary, check out the spec for a giant boulder and compare to 07/08 :shock:

The Spiderman

Giants in general seem to be no longer the bargain they were.I bought my XTC at something like 30% IN 2006 off even when it was still a current model.

I think mine and many were parallel or grey imports from one or two "rogue" suppliers taking full advantage of the strong pound.Mine was set up with the brake levers wrongly handed.

At RRP they are no longer as competive as they used to be either.It used to be the case the equivalent Specialized or Trek was much higher priced,but Giant have seemmed to have cottoned on to their fast growing reputation and now price their bikes accordingly.

In fact in many cases Giant seem to price higher than the equivalent Specialized,though for some curious reason the Anthem,seems to be alone in seeming to be superb value for money.

Still on the positive side, home grown brands seem to look better value than they did.