Current bikes = huge rip-off

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  • redvision
    redvision Posts: 2,958
    bompington said:

    Has anybody ever done any blind tests of road bikes? It must be easy enough to hide the frames, and the finishing kit shouldn't give it away.

    The results might be interesting.

    Main difference is the stiffness and weight of the frames and is noticeable when in comparison to lower priced frames.

    I think gcn did a video a while back on this topic.
  • zest28
    zest28 Posts: 403
    bompington said:

    Has anybody ever done any blind tests of road bikes? It must be easy enough to hide the frames, and the finishing kit shouldn't give it away.

    The results might be interesting.

    It easy to tell which bike is which. My previous weight weenie bike was twitchy as hell so I know it will be the climbing bike.

    My aero bike is super stable with an aggressive geometry. So quite easy to tell.

    My endurance bike .... well, the geometry goes more towards my mountain bikes. I can feel that my leg muscles are recruited differently than my aero bike despite my best efforts to align the endurance bike to my aero bike.

  • def_defyr
    def_defyr Posts: 93
    amrushton said:

    It will depend on costs. A firm like Moots or Pegoretti or Enigma make frames themselves. Whose making Canyon,Specialized,Pinarello etc? they all look the same and are moulded in factories in the Far East using the same construction. But if you can charge £10k for a bike and get it then you will. Mysteriously all priced similarly.

    ^^This. There was a point at which bike makers realized they could charge whatever they wanted and people would throw money at them. For a long time, 3k pounds/eruos/dollars would get you a pro-quality bike, whether from one of the Italian guys or a hand-builder. I think margins were low, the technology had largely stagnated, and customers weren't wealthy enough to afford more than that anyway.

    But at some point in the 2000s, hedge funders/Silicon Valley types "discovered" cycling and bike companies realized they could push the tech aspect -- carbon/di2/disc brakes -- and prices shot up. The margins on a 10k bicycle from one of the big names must be insane.

    At the same time the handbuilt guys said "I want in" and they jacked up frame prices, too -- even if they're still using 1960s technology and materials...

    I think real "value" in bicycles comes from amortizing your investment, to be honest. If a 1k bike sits in your garage it's all the same as a 10k bike you ride 10,000 kms a year.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,347
    There is an easy answer to this. Do not buy a new bike.
    I last bought a bike in 2011. Your choice.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • yellowv2
    yellowv2 Posts: 282
    pblakeney said:

    There is an easy answer to this. Do not buy a new bike.
    I last bought a bike in 2011. Your choice.

    Couldn’t agree more.
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    Yes my best bike must be around that vintage.

    Not convinced that spending 3 grand or more on a new one would increase my speed at all.
  • darrell1967
    darrell1967 Posts: 477
    edited April 2020
    fenix said:

    Yes my best bike must be around that vintage.

    Not convinced that spending 3 grand or more on a new one would increase my speed at all.

    I spent just over 3 grand on a new bike last year and I don’t think it increased my speed that much. Certainly made me feel good though and in my view it’s money well spent.

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