Groupset prices

MidlandsGrimpeur2

I was going to praise Sram as I had just seen they are due to release a new Mechanical Apex groupset. Then I saw it was 1 x only and starts at over £1k! I had Rival 1 x put on my gravel bike about 5-6 years ago and from memory it was less than £600 at the time.

With campag eps wireless starting at £4500, I really am unsure how manufacturers think these new price points, from entry level to to the top spec are sustainable?

I wonder if the increase in popularity of Chinese components has meant that the traditional big players have abandoned budget conscious stuff and are now just going to focus on these over inflated prices?

joeyhalloran

Do groupset pricing even mean anything? Most of the time older ones are discounted and what really matter for the majority of people is the cost differential against other groupsets when buying a new bike. i.e. for £300 I can get the electronic version. After the groupset has been factored in to the suppliers bike as whole with discounted and economies of scale on both sides it's hard to be exact with what most people actually pay for a groupset.

super_davo

+1 to this, RRP is meaningless when everything is discounted by 50% or so.

When we had the big Brexit devaluation price hike, in practice it was that the 50-60% discounts we were used to dropped to 30-40% so an Ultegra groupset that cost as low as £450 went up to at least £600; but still way under the RRP.

Things have been very up and down with COVID supply issues and Brexit but even with that, I got an R7000 disc brake groupset for £350 earlier in the year when Wiggle had some amazing prices (rim brakes were £300). If you need something right now, or something fairly new, it's likely to cost you, if you can wait for a deal, bargains still come up.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/c/bike-parts/drivetrain/groupsets?brandName=Shimano looks pretty decent still for 105 rim or hydraulic, been around that price for a lot of this year (no idea if it's the cheapest these days).

MidlandsGrimpeur2

I agree with regards rrp, but I think my main concern is the ever increasing price points. Yes, prices will come down, but 25% off a group that retails for £1200 is still a chunk of change.

Also, with the move to complete bikes becoming the norm, I can see less and less groups and individual components being available through general retail in future. As such, that is likely to keep discounted prices higher as demand will outstrip supply.

It just seems that components, like with complete bikes, are getting ever more expensive and more limited in choice.

I may just be doom mongering though!

pblakeney

I’m thinking smaller companies will benefit from those wanting custom builds. You don’t “have” to buy Shimsno/SRAM/Campagnolo.