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Why the ripp-off prices for bicycles and repairs?

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jaymen

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
You can buy an enduro, dual sport or motocross motorcycle for less than a top line mountain bike, what is with that? The motorcycles have an engine which is far more complex and requires far more machining and labor to assemble. The excessive cost is not justifiable when you look at a motorcycle simply because there is far less technology, materials and labor in making bicycles, and they sell way more bikes that motorcycles. It is time people began demanding more for their money.

And I can get the forks on a Honda CR-125 rebuilt for a fraction of the cost of Marzocchi Bomber forks, and the CR-125 are also far more complex.

It is very apparent that bike shops way overcharge for very simple and easy work, especially when you compare that with the cost of having equivalent motorcycle repairs done. It appears it is simple price gouging as I see no extra value, especially since I just did a set of Marzocchis: they are child's play to rebuild compared to doing motorcycle forks.

I cannot get over the ridiculous prices and the shameless way that these bearded hipster so-called bike mechanics are taking advantage of their customers. I consider this dishonest because they are overcharging.

Even motorcycle shops sell bikes practically at cost, but they do not charge the exorbitant repair rates trying to make their rent. It high time we hold the bike shops feet to fire and start asking them to justify why they price gouge.
 
#3 ·
https://www.bicycleretailer.com/international/2008/05/02/team-bikes-are-mission-possible

In Taiwan, another kind of A-Team has been tackling another seemingly impossible mission: reviving the island nation's bicycle industry in the face of aggressive price competition from mainland China.

Taiwan's top two bicycle manufacturers, Merida and Giant, set aside their competitive instincts and invited 11 top parts and components suppliers to join a new association-the A-Team. Their mission was revitalizing the domestic bicycle industry by swiftly moving up-market and focusing on high-end products instead of chasing volume.

The A-Team philosophy has paid off big so far. In six years, Taiwan manufacturers have doubled the average value of every bicycle produced even as the total number of bicycles exported has stayed flat.

In 2007, Taiwan exported more than $1 billion worth of bicycles-the highest value since 1995.
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People advocate to keep this industry alive, afraid of what happens if it crashes... as if nothing better could replace it.

Organizations that were once great, built off of technocratic merits, renown for fine products that were meticulously designed to the smallest detail by visionary engineers, tend to get handed off to financial and bureaucratic types that bleed it off to fill their pockets, before being abandoned. People who've seen this pattern before genuinely worry when organizations "sell-out"... they pay the asking prices for certain highly engineered stuff to keep this spirit of technocracy alive, but the population in general only has so much discretionary spending money, which gets them to consider the undercutters that have sold out...

How much are they charging for repairs? A shop near me bases their rates off of a basic labor rate of $15-25/hr, plus extras like fluid change and parts. That's a lot less than other trade skills. If you can do it yourself, then good for you. Not everyone has a good mechanical IQ.
 
#5 ·
jaymen said:
I cannot get over the ridiculous prices and the shameless way that these bearded hipster so-called bike mechanics
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please stop before you hurt yourself. these are working people trying to make a living just like you. most of them are running small businesses that are being crushed by bigger businesses on one side, taxes on another, and unrealistic expectations from customers like you all at the same time. as someone who used to be one of these bicycle mechanics (a career choice I look seriously and did with pride, despite being poor the whole time), I've looked at the numbers, and most bike shops actually lose money on service.

if you think their prices are outrageous, learn to do it yourself. if bikes are too expensive, go manufacture parts in your garage. your attitude and reliance on stereotypes kind of make you sound like a jerk. it really set the tone for the kind of stuff you're going to post here, being your first post.

yeah, bike stuff is expensive. that sucks, we all get it. for the kind of riding discussed on this site, it's almost all for leisure. if you want to play with fancy toys, pay fancy toy prices.

I am very tempted to copy and paste your first post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChoosingBeggars
 
#6 ·
jaymen said:
You can buy an enduro, dual sport or motocross motorcycle for less than a top line mountain bike, what is with that? The motorcycles have an engine which is far more complex and requires far more machining and labor to assemble. The excessive cost is not justifiable when you look at a motorcycle simply because there is far less technology, materials and labor in making bicycles, and they sell way more bikes that motorcycles. It is time people began demanding more for their money.

And I can get the forks on a Honda CR-125 rebuilt for a fraction of the cost of Marzocchi Bomber forks, and the CR-125 are also far more complex.

It is very apparent that bike shops way overcharge for very simple and easy work, especially when you compare that with the cost of having equivalent motorcycle repairs done. It appears it is simple price gouging as I see no extra value, especially since I just did a set of Marzocchis: they are child's play to rebuild compared to doing motorcycle forks.

I cannot get over the ridiculous prices and the shameless way that these bearded hipster so-called bike mechanics are taking advantage of their customers. I consider this dishonest because they are overcharging.

Even motorcycle shops sell bikes practically at cost, but they do not charge the exorbitant repair rates trying to make their rent. It high time we hold the bike shops feet to fire and start asking them to justify why they price gouge.
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You are simply wrong.
Good luck.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
#7 ·
It is something called "economies of scale". Despite what the perception may be, very few high end bikes are sold compared to motorcycles. This means the cost of tooling, machinery, marketing etc. is spread out across fewer units. For a more thorough explanation check out the link. Educating yourself on how economics works is always a good thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economies_of_scale
 
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#9 ·
IMHO, professional services rates should be at least two times cost for a healthy business. That cost includes labor, but labor is not the only expense. The value proposition contains more than just the skill. You are also buying time when you take your bike to the shop. If you have the skill and the time, the value of labor is lower. Do it yourself in that case.

For goods, selling at cost is absurd. Depending on the arrangement the shop took on the risk of selling which needs compensation. Holding costs add up. Labor time to sell adds up. All that needs to be accounted for with the final sales price.

It is a business, and as mentioned above in many cases a VERY small one that is often core to the cycling community. People work there, people who are also trying to live a life and, you know, buy things from other businesses. Without a profit margin all of that is impossible and the shop closes.

Cycling is a low-volume sales industry with pretty decent-sized competition between manufactures, for frames at least. Prices will be higher than other verticals. 10k bikes dominate the shows and reviews, but those are not the majority of the sales.

If the cost of entry is too high, don't enter. If a shop overcharges for bad work don't go there. This is what the customer is always right really means. The market will tell the truth eventually regarding price and demand. I think most of us would love lower prices on parts and frames and have found mechanics we trust, or skills we can use at home.

Cycling is an expensive sport. It is definitely NOT a low-tech one, even for RSS29er wierdos. There are bad businesses and people in any industry. Find a good shop or stick to motorcycles. Broad generalizations don't get you down trail very far at all.
 
#10 ·
$15-$25 an hour?

Shops here usually have some sort of flat rate for common things like tune ups and brake bleeds but charge $80 an hour for other stuff.

When I worked in the auto industry we marked up parts 200% and charged $110 an hour.
 
#13 ·
Pretty sure the vast majority of bike sales are $500 or less. High end bikes are in the extreme minority of sales.

Also consider show room motocross bikes are basically the cheapest end of the spectrum like the $500 mtb is for us. The $7,000+ wonder bike is more equivelant to a $100,000 factory team motocross bike.
 
#14 ·
You can buy a squirrel, rat meat or roaches for less than a top line wagyu beef, what is with that? The squirrel meat has all the protein we need which is just as complex and requires far more hunting and labor to aqcuire. The excessive cost is not justifiable when you look at squirrel meat simply because there is far less work and labor in cutting squirrel meats. It is time people began demanding more for their money.

And I can get a pound of squirrel meat for a fraction of the cost of a cut of wagyu forks, and the squirrel is more abundant.

It is very apparent that butcher shops way overcharge for very simple and easy work, especially when you compare that with the cost of having equivalent squirrel meat prepared. It appears it is simple price gouging as I see no extra value, especially since I just cooked up a couple squirrels: they are child's play to prep and cook compared to doing wagyu.

I cannot get over the ridiculous prices and the shameless way that these bearded hipster so-called butchers bend over their customers and don't even offer them some Vaseline...it is just wrong and they are taking advantage of their customers. I consider this dishonest because they are overcharging.

Even hillbilly meat shops sell squirrel meat practically at cost, but they do not charge the exorbitant prep rates trying to make their rent. It high time we hold the butcher shops feet to fire and start asking them to justify why they price gouge.
 
#15 ·
Installing a pressfit bb for a customer takes me approx 10 minutes. You're not only paying for my time and know-how, but also for my tools - $200 MSRP for the Park Tool BBP-1.2 (obviously I get it at a lower cost).

You can pay the MSRP for the tools, and mangle the bb/frame yourself.

BTW, no beard...not a hipster :rolleyes:
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
Not a troll here, just an outside view from a motorcycle mechanic who knows how much harder it is to work on motorcycles and can't believe how much more the top end boutique bike shops gouge their customers for. Like I said, you can buy a dual sport for less money and get it repaired and serviced for quite a bit less as well.

That is why I do my own work on bicycles as the value simply is not there when it comes to taking it to a shop.

Far more bicycles are sold than motorcycles so it is impossible to justify the huge disparity in the pricing for service and parts.

Due to that, I am contemplating opening a shop and focusing on service only, and aftermarket parts. The bicycle service business if far more lucrative than motorcycle repair, and you can easily get around $125/ hour or more from what I see they charge for repairs. This would leav me plenty of room to undercut the other shops, make good money, and save customers a bundle when it comes to service.
 
#17 ·
Sickmak90 said:
$15-$25 an hour?

Shops here usually have some sort of flat rate for common things like tune ups and brake bleeds but charge $80 an hour for other stuff.

When I worked in the auto industry we marked up parts 200% and charged $110 an hour.
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When I worked at shops, it seemed the shop rate was around $60-$80+/hr depending on the location of the shop (more expensive location meant higher shop rate to cover expenses). And yeah, common services were often given flat fees, but those were all based on the shop rate and the expected/avg amount of time to perform those tasks.

Also, at nearly every shop where I have worked, service is what kept the place open because it was often steadier. Though some places with long winters also see marked drops in service, too, and this is why so many shops that experience that also sell things like ski gear and home fitness stuff to get them through the winter.
 
#18 ·
jaymen said:
Not a troll here, just an outside view from a motorcycle mechanic who knows how much harder it is to work on motorcycles and can't believe how much more the top end boutique bike shops gouge their customers for. Like I said, you can buy a dual sport for less money and get it repaired and serviced for quite a bit less as well.

That is why I do my own work on bicycles as the value simply is not there when it comes to taking it to a shop.

Far more bicycles are sold than motorcycles so it is impossible to justify the huge disparity in the pricing for service and parts.

Due to that, I am contemplating opening a shop and focusing on service only, and aftermarket parts. The bicycle service business if far more lucrative than motorcycle repair, and you can easily get around $125/ hour or more from what I see they charge for repairs. This would leav me plenty of room to undercut the other shops, make good money, and save customers a bundle when it comes to service.
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The two industries are not remotely comparable, except that both bicycles and motorcycles have two wheels.

Good luck in your endeavors, but you're going to need a better education in the bicycle industry if you expect to be successful.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Most people have no idea what is involved in fixing a bike, so I see alot of people getting taken advantage of in the bicycle service industry, nd it is a shame.

Most of the special tools can be purchased much cheaper from Motion Pro, as they are motorcycle tools but many will work on bicycles too.

An old fork seal can be used to drive in the new one, no special tool needed.

Most motorcycle mechanics are certified and have been to factory sponsored and/or certified trade schools, not so for bike shop wrenches in most cases.

Guys, the value simply is not there when compared to other industries. The professionalism is lacking, or all over the map, and pricing for repairs varies wildly for the same job, depending on who you go to. It is far cheaper just to buy a new bike in many cases due to the price of parts and service for the majority of bicycles out there.
 
#20 ·
jaymen said:
Due to that, I am contemplating opening a shop and focusing on service only, and aftermarket parts. The bicycle service business if far more lucrative than motorcycle repair, and you can easily get around $125/ hour or more from what I see they charge for repairs. This would leav me plenty of room to undercut the other shops, make good money, and save customers a bundle when it comes to service.
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with the attitude you expressed toward bicycle mechanics earlier, I'm not sure any will want to work for you. best of luck to ya. right now, no one who read your first post will believe that you're serious about this. when you open your shop, be sure to tell us about the experience. I have taken a screenshot of your first post, so I'll be sure to share that with your future employees and customers.
 
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