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holmeboy
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 228
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 Posted Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:12 pm |
******** here pissed, (12 hr shifts so it does'nt take much) but why is cycling so expensive? and how do all of you'se with a budget manage? Things i need which cost a lot :- Decent saddle (both bikes), Descent Lights (for commiting to and from work), not to mention tyres,inner tubes, brake pads, descent pump,new helmut. Worn out a few set of wheels, deraillers, cassettes, chains the list is fecking endless. Maybe I shouild have stuck to buying cheap second hand bike for 50 quid and just worn them out and then moved onto the next one, would be cheaper. 
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1footedninja
Joined: 03 Feb 2008
Posts: 131
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Geoff_SS
Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 1040
Location: Derbyshire UK
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Ph!l_GeeWhizz
Joined: 06 Nov 2009
Posts: 11
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Posted Sat Nov 7, 2009 10:32 pm |
It would be nice to have all the top gear and look like a pro, no doubt.
I ride a 20 year old hard tail bike which has had a few upgrades in those 20 years but still keeps going and going. I dare say that with better gear i'd ride faster and longer but hey, i'm still out riding and love it.
When it comes to buying gear, keep a look out for bargains in the shops and check out the classifieds and e-bay.
Phil .
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holmeboy
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 228
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Posted Sat Nov 7, 2009 10:34 pm |
| Geoff_SS wrote: | If you think cycling's expensive then you should try (say) golf, sailing, aeromodelling, motor cycling for example.
The last 3 I've tried (still do the toy aeroplane thing). I'm not old enough for golf yet 
In fact cycling doesn't need to be expensive. It's only expensive if you insist on the latest gimmicks. I was out today wearing a 30+ year old jersey and Sidi Winter boots I must have bought 20 years ago. If I chose I could build a perfectly good and lightweight bike for very little money. It wouldn't have indexed gears but it would still be perfectly rideable and good for 200km Audaxes.
Geoff |
How old are you?
I need a set of descent lights for cycling to and from work, a descent set ain't cheap. I need a descent saddle to save my aching ars*, they Ain't cheap Even if they were on a cheap bike. bike was 600 quid the other got 400 quids worth of groupset on it , probally regarded as cheap on here.
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brownleather
Joined: 03 Nov 2009
Posts: 107
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Posted Sat Nov 7, 2009 10:35 pm |
holmeboy
Define cheap, Define expensive
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ride_whenever
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Posts: 8255
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted Sat Nov 7, 2009 10:38 pm |
eeerm, cheap decent lights, P7 from deal extreme circa 30-40 pounds plus battery and charge £50-£60
cheap bike my singlespeed commuting bike cost £200 second hand it does need new wheels soon, but they wont cost me more than £150-£200 and that's after over a year's use
decent saddle: charge spoon £22.50
----------------------------------------------
456!
silly little bike |
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Frank the tank
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 990
Location: Hucknall Notts
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Posted Sat Nov 7, 2009 10:38 pm |
All hobbies/passtimes are expensive because the manufacturers of the kit know because it's a hobby the persuant will pay silly money to have the best kit. This they exploit to the utmost.
Cycling can be as cheap/expensive as you wish it to be.
Drinking in bars since 1977. |
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holmeboy
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 228
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Posted Sat Nov 7, 2009 10:43 pm |
| brownleather wrote: | holmeboy
Define cheap, Define expensive |
Cheap anything under 20 pounds
Expensive anything over 20 pounds
just spent best part of 50 quid on lights
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sonicred007
Joined: 29 Apr 2006
Posts: 1055
Location: Leyton
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Escargot
Joined: 04 May 2009
Posts: 294
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 2:05 am |
Cycling does not need to be that expensive at all. You can buy a bike for a few hundred ££ and if you buy other stuff online or at Halfords/Lidl etc. then it needn't cost much at all. In this day and age you can buy 80% of the things you need discounted either in a sale or if you ask for money off.
IMHO bike stuff can be expensive (relative to your disposable income) but then how much work do you think goes into designing/manufacturing/assembling/testing/developing/marketing/packaging/shipping an entire £400 groupset ? Many of the things you're talking about are luxury items after all.
Naturally there's markup on these items but if you haggle or buy discounted then you will have minimised this profit margin. What you're then left with is a fair price as far as I'm concerned and if you still think that's expensive then c'est la vie I'm afraid.
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Slow Downcp
Joined: 12 Jul 2004
Posts: 2477
Location: Walsall
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brownleather
Joined: 03 Nov 2009
Posts: 107
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 8:09 am |
| holmeboy wrote: | | just spent best part of 50 quid on lights |
To be totally fair £50 lights aren't expensive, especially if they are good ones like the Fenix.
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APIII
Joined: 16 Aug 2007
Posts: 897
Location: Leighton Buzzard
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 9:15 am |
Cycling is an industry like any other, with companies doing their best to prosper and therefore relieve your wallet of as much cash as possible. If I had any advice it would be to buy good quality, not necessarily the most expensive, nor the cheapest. If it lasts, the cost per year, per mile, or whatever isn't so bad. The inital outlay is the most painful part, I bet even Geoff_ss complained about the cost of those Sidis 20 years ago Just remember, last year's must haves are this year's bargains 
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sonicred007
Joined: 29 Apr 2006
Posts: 1055
Location: Leyton
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 11:01 am |
Stop buying Cycling Plus - it's like one long session of tease and foreplay.. only the money shot is buying cycling gear ... take away the temptation and you'll only buy when things go wrong... but how do discover innovation and changes in products ... back onto the subscription then and wasting money on novelty
My bike http://www.flickr.com/photos/68463844@N00/234032885/
Leyton Rocks |
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shouldbeinbed
Joined: 16 Sep 2009
Posts: 278
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 11:02 am |
| holmeboy wrote: | | brownleather wrote: | holmeboy
Define cheap, Define expensive |
Cheap anything under 20 pounds
Expensive anything over 20 pounds
just spent best part of 50 quid on lights |
realistically thats pretty cheap when you see sets for £250-400.
My main bikes have both cost me the price of a second/third hand car initially but have/will last far longer and wont need £150 odd tax disc and £750 odd insurance (my regular use bike's insurance is £120) nor costly MOT's each year and don't need to be filled up with £30 of fuel every single week, oil now and again, windscreen wash fluid etc. my bike tyres dont cost £60 and I dont need 4 or 5 at a time.
both have been my principle form of transort for years on end and now one is in semi retirement It's costing me nowt - transferred onto the house insurance with a riding it surcharge (costing me £ 20 extra p.a.). I've also got an old claud butler picked up for a tenner and built up from shed bits and scrounging.
I buy my bikes infrequently and carefully select them to be as bespoke as possible when I get them so not much extra to add. I've kitted my latest bike out to exactly what i want for £130 and that includes the price of the uber comfy and well worn in Brooks saddle and smart polaris lights I've transferred from the butler.
An annual bus season ticket would cost me well over £800 a year, its hit and miss whether I can use it on all of my deregulated connections so realistically £1000 p.a. and it takes 3 times as long to commute by bus as by bike or car so wasting huge amounts of my limited free time.
In what I would pay out for a car I could replace tyres & tubes as needed, a new helmet every year or two, cables and brackets as neccessary have the absoulute best kit and have most of it solid gold plated and still have money left over to pay a busty model to come round and wash my bike in nothing more than hotpants and a bikini top once a month.
in isolation they look costly, in comparison to the alternatives they're dirt cheap
FCN 7 & 9 |
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Geoff_SS
Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 1040
Location: Derbyshire UK
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squired
Joined: 06 Oct 2004
Posts: 473
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 1:32 pm |
Over the last 20 years the quality of cycing equipment (especially the clothing) has improved dramatically, but so has the cost. I think back to the gear I used to ride to university in and sometimes it makes me shudder, even more so when I think of the terrible (British standard) bike lights I used. These days I'm not sure if the quality of the cheap stuff is actually good value - if anything it has been made purposefully bad to get you to buy more expensive stuff.
Yesterday I almost died of shock when I saw that GB cycles is selling the new range of Campag Clothing. Almost £250 for the top of the range bib tights. How on earth can you charge that much for bib tights? Is the material that high tech and expensive?
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Frank the tank
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 990
Location: Hucknall Notts
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 2:21 pm |
| squired wrote: | Over the last 20 years the quality of cycing equipment (especially the clothing) has improved dramatically, but so has the cost. I think back to the gear I used to ride to university in and sometimes it makes me shudder, even more so when I think of the terrible (British standard) bike lights I used. These days I'm not sure if the quality of the cheap stuff is actually good value - if anything it has been made purposefully bad to get you to buy more expensive stuff.
Yesterday I almost died of shock when I saw that GB cycles is selling the new range of Campag Clothing. Almost £250 for the top of the range bib tights. How on earth can you charge that much for bib tights? Is the material that high tech and expensive? |
If nobody buys them they'll have to review their prices, but, I think enough people will buy them. Brand loyaoty and all that bollow.
Purchase a different brand, simple.
Drinking in bars since 1977. |
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jermas
Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 23
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 2:26 pm |
Why are 10 spd chains 3-4 times the price of 8 spd?
Why are cycle specific lubricants 10 times the price of "standard" oils?
How can gear shifters cost more than my laptop I'm writing this on?
Brake blocks £6.00 for a tiny piece of rubber?
Cycle helmets -made in China-flimsy bit of plastic and polyestyrene-lets say £80.
Wheelset-don't get me started.
The list is never ending.
I'm not saying that these products are poor quality, far from it but the price being charged for some items just can't be justified.
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