[VTSession]

I read a lot of the latest gear reviews and I'm noticing trend of the the bike industry testing and praising absurdly priced gear. In the past few months these products are the ones I hear about constantly:

$3000 Santa Cruz Nomad frame
$1500 SRAM XX1 drivetrain
$9-10,000 carbon Enduro bikes
$2,000 Enve Carbon wheels
$2500 DVO forks

and the latest

$1900 Rock Shox RS-1 fork

Who is buying this gear and why does the bike industry put so much attention on the most expensive gear on the market? I'm pretty sure most riders are not willing to pay for this stuff, so why focus on it so much?

I understand its fun to read about this type of gear once in a while, but it seems to be the central focus of every gear test.

Is the bike biz really that out of touch with regular people with day jobs who just like to ride bikes?

End rant.

 

[car bone]

I read a lot of the latest gear reviews and I'm noticing trend of the the bike industry testing and praising absurdly priced gear. In the past few months these products are the ones I hear about constantly:

$3000 Santa Cruz Nomad frame
$1500 SRAM XX1 drivetrain
$9-10,000 carbon Enduro bikes
$2,000 Enve Carbon wheels
$2500 DVO forks

and the latest

$1900 Rock Shox RS-1 fork

Who is buying this gear and why does the bike industry put so much attention on the most expensive gear on the market? I'm pretty sure most riders are not willing to pay for this stuff, so why focus on it so much?

I understand its fun to read about this type of gear once in a while, but it seems to be the central focus of every gear test.

Is the bike biz really that out of touch with regular people with day jobs who just like to ride bikes?

End rant.

ppl with money I guess. Highend stuff is always expensive, always have been. Personally I wouldn't buy any plastic 2k wheels. never ever. Nor any plastic disposable frame for that matter.

But if people want to buy this crap, let them.

 

[MTBeing]

Trying to recoup engineering/tooling costs asap. I make it a personal policy never to buy first gen stuff at all.

Sent from my mountain bike while crashing

 

[DiRt DeViL]

I make it a personal policy never to buy first gen stuff at all.

Me too, I never buy the first gen of anything; wait until is proven and bugs fixed then consider it.

The inverted fork has always been interesting to me for an unknown reason, Marzocchi and Maverick tried and both failed so wonder why RS would even give that a serious shot.

 

[Ironbar81]

I think it might have more to do with technology moving forward. The research and development, engineering and manufacturing time as well as the cost of materials that goes into the latest MTB components causes the price to be necessarily high. It then takes a few years for that tech to trickle down to more affordable parts. The MTB Mags are always looking to be the first to bring you what's new, not a rehash of last yrs tech and what's new is only going to become more and more expensive as the tech continues to progress.

 

[7daysaweek]

Who is buying this gear and why does the bike industry put so much attention on the most expensive gear on the market? I'm pretty sure most riders are not willing to pay for this stuff, so why focus on it so much?

Don't know if you've been to any bike races in a while but there are PLENTY of people buying this stuff. I bet there was more money in bikes than the cars that brought them to the race I was at this weekend. There's no shortage of money around to scoop up these parts.

 

[pulser]

I kind of feel like the bike industry has a bit of a problem right now. It has no direction companies just keep throwing stuff up on the wall to see what sticks. Its why we keep getting new standards every 2 years. The inverted fork is not new and will continue to fail to catch on till its made affordable. Personally I would buy a lefty its liter stiffer and cheeper.

 

[moefosho]

People who want to win races.
Anyone who is sponsored by those companies or partially sponsored.
Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers.

Basically, it will sell even if you dont buy it. The trickle down technology will come down to lower level stuff.

 

[dirtdawg21892]

I kind of feel like the bike industry has a bit of a problem right now. It has no direction companies just keep throwing stuff up on the wall to see what sticks. Its why we keep getting new standards every 2 years.

Yup.
I love mountain biking, but i hate the industry that drives it. i think that the reason that they focus so much on selling us new expensive stuff is that affordable stuff that is properly standardized and lasts a long time really isn't a good business model. running a business is expensive, and if we could all just buy a durable new frame that lasts 10 years and have all our old part swap directly to it, the company wouldn't even make enough profit to keep the lights on. with all the marketing, new standards, and incompatibilities they have a lot of us buying a complete bikes every 3 to 5 years.

 

[Ironbar81]

Yup.
I love mountain biking, but i hate the industry that drives it. i think that the reason that they focus so much on selling us new expensive stuff is that affordable stuff that is properly standardized and lasts a long time really isn't a good business model. running a business is expensive, and if we could all just buy a durable new frame that lasts 10 years and have all our old part swap directly to it, the company wouldn't even make enough profit to keep the lights on. with all the marketing, new standards, and incompatibilities they have a lot of us buying a complete bikes every 3 to 5 years.

This is very true and it applies across al industry, not just the MTB industry. Products are designed for consumers and are made to be consumed and replaced within a certain time frame, cars, computers and everything else. You can also bet that they are years ahead with technological development and are drip feeding the market with each artificially created stage between the actual advances they have made. Unfortunately it is the reality of the consumer based market model world we have created in Western culture.

 

[car bone]

The fork is crazy priced though, not to mention , today, SRAM just released the wheels the will fit that fork for $2715 and they use tubulars. I think their only market with this is the World Cup Circuit.

LOL. I wouldn't pay 2700 for anything made by sram. Not even 270 to be honest.

 

[Bro]

The fork is crazy priced though, not to mention , today, SRAM just released the wheels the will fit that fork for $2715 and they use tubulars. I think their only market with this is the World Cup Circuit.

SRAM is also selling the hub/axle system alone, in 28h or 32h, for anyone who wants to use the fork but not carbon tubulars.

I think it's an interesting development. You don't get innovation and forward progress without throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks.

 

[rallymaniac]

there always be snobs that will buy a $5k bike for their first season of riding.
I personally can't spend this kind of money and would buy other toys if I had the cash.

i'm on a budget, 2 kids, wife, home priorities and so on and so forth.
Bought racing bike in 2011, upgraded few parts, upgraded frame this year and now I have sub $2k carbon bike with Reba fork that's relatively light for what I need it to do and for how long I need it to last.
That's all I can afford for next few years.

It's all about priorities and individual situation. I can see a college kid living with parents, driving a beat up civic dropping $10k on a S-Works Epic rather than new $30k car. Reality is that not everyone can do it.

 

[7daysaweek]

Yup.
I love mountain biking, but i hate the industry that drives it. i think that the reason that they focus so much on selling us new expensive stuff is that affordable stuff that is properly standardized and lasts a long time really isn't a good business model. running a business is expensive, and if we could all just buy a durable new frame that lasts 10 years and have all our old part swap directly to it, the company wouldn't even make enough profit to keep the lights on. with all the marketing, new standards, and incompatibilities they have a lot of us buying a complete bikes every 3 to 5 years.

Can't you still buy threaded bb's (or square taper for that matter), v-brakes, tubes, qr hubs, etc. I don't think anyone is forcing it on you.

They might force you to if you want a new frame but that's what happens. New stuff comes out. You probably won't find manufacturers throwing a ton of money at designing the latest in super light, aluminum, v-brake, threaded bb, qr dropout, 26" frames... That's cause it's old technology and the market has moved on.

If you're still riding a 10 year old frame though I'm pretty sure you can still buy parts to keep it running. How long would you like them to keep going though? Is it 10 years? 20?

 

[Iamrockandroll13]

First gen stuff is wicked expensive, its a like a law of bikeology. It will trickle down if it works. Not stoked on the proprietary hub idea. I think that's born to fail. People like handbuilt wheels and aftermarket hubs...like way more than some new fangled upside down fork that's way over priced. Predictive steering? are you serious RockShox/SRAM? it's lateral flex, and we don't want any.

 

[juan_speeder]

Good thing we're not into track days with our cars, or heaven forbid, car racing. Sailboats, powerboats, buying $2-3K skis every few seasons, golf!, etc

Lots of stuff is expensive, but biking can be done on the cheap, or you could take up trail running. Shoes are pretty inexspensive.

 

[006_007]

there always be snobs that will buy a $5k bike for their first season of riding.
I personally can't spend this kind of money and would buy other toys if I had the cash.
.

So just because someone has potentially worked hard and has extra cash spending $5K makes them a snob?

This could be a good MTBR poll - at what price point for purchasing a bike is the line for snobism?

 

[Ladmo]

Mountain biking isn't an expensive sport relative to what else is out there to spend money on, even if you are riding a $5k+ bike. If you add in the health benefits of regular cardio workouts and the mental health benefits that come along with the sport, I think it is one of the better bargains around.

On topic, I have a RS Revelation on my bike. If I ever need to replace it, it won't be a RS-1, but I will definitely take a hard look at a Pike or similar. I acknowledge there is diminishing returns for dollars spent after a certain point, but if a person can afford it, why the hell not?

 

[davec113]

Good thing we're not into track days with our cars, or heaven forbid, car racing. Sailboats, powerboats, buying $2-3K skis every few seasons, golf!, etc

Lots of stuff is expensive, but biking can be done on the cheap, or you could take up trail running. Shoes are pretty inexspensive.

Exactly

I don't get these threads, the price of mt bikes has not gone up that much, there are simply more expensive options that did not exist previously.

I've bought 4 bikes brand new... 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2014. In that 10 year timeframe I don't think price has gone up much for similar bikes, but the bikes are about 20 time better. I don't see the bike industry as bad guys either, I mean they are probably saints relative to Monsanto, BP, etc and they seem to be doing a good job of improving bike parts. My 2014 is an INCREDIBLE bike compared to the 2004 I bought and they are the same travel and occupy the same place in the market segment. And they are available for near the same price... The bikes are an '04 Giant AC vs a 2014 Trek Slash.

 

[Rockrover]

Those that have not will always look down on those that have.

Bikes are expensive to be sure, but has anyone looked at buying a Porsche? Rolex Oyster? 1 week ski vacation with the family? 1100sf apartment in San Francisco?

Simple supply and demand dictates why manufactures produce and display their top tier products. Not some evil corporate conspiracy designed to milk money out of the oppressed 99%. If we weren't buying, they wouldn't be selling.