I really enjoyed this video breaking down some of the new bike offerings from the major brands. It was super interesting to hear Peak Torque’s thoughts on the bikes, right up to the point where he started waxing about the beauty of rim brake bikes, and banging on about how top-end bikes are too expensive.
The first thing is mostly rubbish; although, if you like your rim brake bike, that’s totally cool. It works just as well today, and tomorrow, as it did yesterday. Go out there and ride the heck out of it. It’s also true that disc brakes are fiddly, but they work better, so…
Now on the “too expensive” thing. Do I like it that the top-end bikes are stupid $$$? No! Of course not. But, ultimately, they are priced where they are because of basic economics. Bike OEMs are doing market analysis and figuring out that there are plenty of people willing, nay eager, to hand over £10,500 (or $12,000) for a Specialized Tarmac SL7, or frankly it wouldn’t be priced where it is. It’s fundamentally no different than whinging about how a Porsche 911 is “too expensive”. The market is there. OEMs maximize profits, if you don’t think it’s worth the price (I don’t either), don’t buy the bike, 911. It’s really that simple.
As harsh as might be to say out loud, the “too expensive” argument about was is very clearly a luxury good is just a bunch of childish prattle. It’s code for “I don’t like that I want something that I’m not willing to pay for”, and I get it, but that’s marketing at work. Again, I don’t like it either, but my desire for something doesn’t change the facts about how pricing works…
