the price of bikes - getting better or worse?

Courage Monsieur

Hi

Am thinking of a new bike. Although I’ve kept an eye on tech developments and enjoy ‘burping the worm’ to bike reviews as much as the next guy, it has been a few years before I’ve really looked at the price tags.

WTF happened?

Remember when (2007?) you could get a carbon Focus Cayo with almost full Ultegra for a grand? I remember the year after it crept up a bit but these days it seems £1375 gets you a carbon Cayo with a few bits of 105.

I know the pound has been up and down (but it’s stronger now – things should be cheaper) and Mamils have helped fuel prices for nice road bikes, thus manufacturers bleeding demand, and wage costs in China are up etc, but come on. The cost of, say, consumer electronics, hasn’t climbed by that kind of margin.

My question is, and as 2013 gets underway: are prices getting higher or have they stabilized? Do you think they will head lower?

I’m going to struggle to feel good about spending £2K on a bike that was so much cheaper a few years ago, but can’t see a way around it.

Further question – Canyon, Rose, Planet X, Ribble, Jamis @ Evans – are these the best ‘value for money’ options out there?

Cheers

GavH

What happened? Inflation still exists, exchange rates aren't as strong as they were in 07 and Demand has increased thanks to the increased popularity of cycling so I suppose it's pretty basic economics that in the current climate, bikes will not be getting any cheaper. Evans have a Di2 equipped Jamis for £2k though.

cougie

Also Focus are more of a known brand - so they will cost more ?

Bikes are pretty good value for money - you can buy a decent bike for not a huge amount of money. If you're after value though I'd probably not go for Ultegra - 105 is 90% as good - and you can go lower still.

tiredofwhiners

GavH wrote:

Demand has increased thanks to the increased popularity of cycling

and the little fact of demand for carbon fibre for the construction of two of the most recent large aircraft in the last few years..... the A380 and the 787. This has cut up the supply chain something rotten with all suppliers diverting weave and components to airframes than cheap bikes.

ademort

In the UK the prices have risen enormously over the years. I,ve lived in the Netherlands for 20 years now and quite often used to buy from Ribble, PBK, Goeff Butler, Wiggle and CRC as they were cheaper than here. These days i hardly ever buy anything from the UK unless it,s on special offer. Prices in the Netherland and Germany are much cheaper these days than UK prices. How this can happen is beyond me.
Ademort

tim_wand

ademort wrote:

In the UK the prices have risen enormously over the years. I,ve lived in the Netherlands for 20 years now and quite often used to buy from Ribble, PBK, Goeff Butler, Wiggle and CRC as they were cheaper than here. These days i hardly ever buy anything from the UK unless it,s on special offer. Prices in the Netherland and Germany are much cheaper these days than UK prices. How this can happen is beyond me.
Ademort

ademort you ever used these guys or know anyone who has " Vos Fiesten" looks good to me

Also considered D.E Bikes but after the fun of Patseys Cube Lightening I dont know if I dare.

I used to live right on the Dutch/German/Belgique border and did some Kermis in Limburg about 20 years ago, I ve always fancied going back and picking up a bike if only a Canyon or a Rose on the cheap.

ademort

Vosfietsen is by far the cheapest place to buy a high end bike as you can see by the website.They are very well known in the Netherlands, the owner says he sells 2000 Pinarello frames alone every year.However the Dutch cycling forums are split in there meaning of Vos. For every good posting with a story of how much they saved or how helpfull the staff were during a visit, you have another posting with a story contradicting that, saying the staff were pushy and unhelpfull. The way i see it is this. If you know what you are talking about then you will be fine but if you have no or little experience of bikes then either take someone with you who does know what they are talking about or avoid Vos like the plague.If you do go to Vos then go early because there selection of bikes/ frames is enormous and you could easily spend half a day in there, so be warned. If you are looking for a particular bike with spec etc you can email them or call them for a quote.
Also Hopmans in Bergen Op Zoom is cheap and have some great bargains. Online you can also visit www.mathsalden.nl i use them regularly, again they are cheap. Got my Giant Defy 4 for €435 from Salden, 2 years ago. An absolute bargain.
Ademort

tim_wand

ademort, Thanks for the reply, Think I know what I m doing when buying a bike.

My Knowledge is of the Roermond Venlo and Eindoven area, Where abouts are VOS based as I d definitely like to visit. a friend has just move to Den haag to take up a massive job with Starbucks, Once they are settled (Summer time) and I ve had chance to save some money I definitely fancy a trip over.

ademort

Vos are in Zwanenburg, Amsterdam if you look on there website you can get a detailed map of the area.Also you can only pay with a Dutch bank card or with Cash. They do not accept foreign bank cards or mastercard etc.
Ademort

tim_wand

Thanks Ademort, My friends actually going to be working in Amsterdam but living half way between there and Den Haag so her kids can go to international school in Den Haag.

Shes got the job of controlling all Starbucks for Europe and Africa region so hopefully she'll have quite a healthy Dutch bank account. Probably ask her to pay on card for protection and give her the cash.

Courage Monsieur

GavH wrote:

Evans have a Di2 equipped Jamis for £2k though.

Cheers for the pointer.

Inflation and carbon aside, I am quite amazed by the price rises of bikes in the UK though.

I guess price falls are very unlikely but hopefully things have peaked.

heavymental

Take advantage of all the people who have 'got into' cycling only to find it's hard work or they are skint and need to sell something. I imagine there must be hundreds of barely used nice bikes going cheap second hand. Building a bike from parts is also cheaper and more satisfying. You could be finished building by spring if you look out for bargain parts now.

Courage Monsieur

Heavymental wrote:

Take advantage of all the people who have 'got into' cycling only to find it's hard work or they are skint and need to sell something. I imagine there must be hundreds of barely used nice bikes going cheap second hand. Building a bike from parts is also cheaper and more satisfying. You could be finished building by spring if you look out for bargain parts now.

Good point. I also wonder if Di2 is going to spark a load of people dumping groupsets or nice bikes so they can upgrade.

squeeler

Not sure about this, in my experience building a bike from parts is only cheaper if you are prepared to spend a serious amount of time researching, comparing and have a stock pile of ingredients in your garage, in "real" life the best deals are packages. It's buying the random stuff that gets you, handlebar tape, brake pads, QR skewers etc

Monty Dog

Buying a bike complete is cheaper unless you're looking for something specific / significant variations to the spec. This is because manufacturers buy groupsets at far better discounts and shops generally don't make the same margin on bikes as they do on spares e.g. you'll typically pay 20% more for components from a shop than they would cost if attached to a bike. The only exception is if you judiciously buy deep-discount parts in the sales - I just put an XT drivetrain on my MTB for about £300, whereas retail would have been double that.

pliptrot

Someone mentioned increased demand - the more the demand the greater the chance of a manufacturer breaking the link between cost of manufacture and the selling price. Bikes are no longer just tools, they are fashion accessories. QED. Add to this moronic scribes across the entire cycling media and their penchant for the use of press releases and empty platitudes about value and performance, and hey presto, the bike becomes a designer item. The Europeans have a wider utility cycling culture which leaves many in Europe incredulous at the way cycling exists in the UK, and helps keep their industry grounded. They're not above infatuation with expensive trinkets though, and as a sport there are followers there too who think a Tour de France replica is good value at the price of a decent car.

rrsodl

Heavymental wrote:

Take advantage of all the people who have 'got into' cycling only to find it's hard work or they are skint and need to sell something. I imagine there must be hundreds of barely used nice bikes going cheap second hand. Building a bike from parts is also cheaper and more satisfying. You could be finished building by spring if you look out for bargain parts now.

That sounds awful, I must say.

I don't think it works out cheaper to build your own bike but it's very satisfying though. If you don't have the tools then I wouldn't even consider it unless you are not trying to save money. Sometimes one can make serious savings by buying second hand parts with very little use from people that are upgrading but it's painfully slow to build a full bike with that strategy.

toasted whippet

buy a frame from our Chinese friends, you won't believe the prices if you've got used to Rip-off Britain.

(ducks, expecting a flaming)

pliptrot

toasted whippet wrote:

buy a frame from our Chinese friends

And why not?

There is, I think, a deliberate attempt by most manufacturers to obfuscate. If brand-name frames really are worth the money asked, why don't they tell us why? In the absence of Colnago, DeRosa etc. volunteering the cost behind their extortionate products, the cheap alternatives look increasingly attractive.