The modern day cost of mountain bikes

jaybee

jaybee

jaybee

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I'm starting to see more and more often people listing mountain bikes for sale on facebook groups/forums etc second hand for thousands of pounds. I know this is not a new thing and has happened over years, but it occurred to me the other day that I actually can't afford a brand new (full suspension) mountain bike even at what I would consider low to medium specs now.

When I look at what some of them cost, I can't help but think that the mark up is higher than any equipment associated with any hobby/interest I have ever had, by quite some way.

So how and why did we get to this state? I know it doesn't cost £5000 to make a carbon fiber full suss mountain bike, so what does it cost? :)

Are there bargain 26 inch second hand MTBs out there or are they still selling well? I'll be looking to buy something newER next year, which will basically be a more aggressive trail bike but still second hand for preferably as cheap as possible.

Do you think it hurts people trying to get into the sport?
Do you think the prices are fine?

It's not just the bikes. Component cost and accessories are also very high.
 
The gap between top end equipment and budget has grown for sure, but i wouldnt necessarily agree that MTB is on the whole massively more expensive,I mean back 17-18 years ago when i was starting out, prices for budget bikes etc werent massively different to what we have now, ok to time and inflation maybe looking at a little bit more, but what you also have to consider is that you get a lot more bike for your money these days, even low spec equipment is actually not that bad in the grand scheme.
I'd agree prices at the top end are getting a bit out of control, but people are prepared to pay.
but that dosnt stop those who have lesser budgets from enjoying the sport, what you have to realise is that you dont have to spend Huge amounts to get a great performing bike, there are plenty of brands doing mid range specs that are only marginally lower performing than the top spec rides, lets face it majority of us wont be racing, majority of us probably would notice the difference, most of us only going out for a laugh at the weekends, we dont need the best of everything.

again for components and accessories you dont need the latest and greatest, you dont need to splash out on a full XTR groupset when deore or SLX will perform flawlessly, latest dropper posts? do you need it, yes they make life easier, but you have managed to go so far with a standard post, see what i'm getting at?

Yes spend as much as you can to get the best spec you can, but just remember the amount you spend on a bike shouldnt equate to how much fun you have on it.

The used market is as strong as it ever has been, so much choice, be patient and buy carefully, I wish the used market was this good when i was starting out.
 
We had this thread with road bikes a while ago.

You can get a full suspension bike from decathlon for under half a grand. I don't know a thing about modern mtbs, but if they're anything like their road bikes it'll be perfectly serviceable for the casual rider or someone just starting out.
 
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steve45 said:
The gap between top end equipment and budget has grown for sure, but i wouldnt necessarily agree that MTB is on the whole massively more expensive,I mean back 17-18 years ago when i was starting out, prices for budget bikes etc werent massively different to what we have now, ok to time and inflation maybe looking at a little bit more, but what you also have to consider is that you get a lot more bike for your money these days, even low spec equipment is actually not that bad in the grand scheme.
I'd agree prices at the top end are getting a bit out of control, but people are prepared to pay.
but that dosnt stop those who have lesser budgets from enjoying the sport, what you have to realise is that you dont have to spend Huge amounts to get a great performing bike, there are plenty of brands doing mid range specs that are only marginally lower performing than the top spec rides, lets face it majority of us wont be racing, majority of us probably would notice the difference, most of us only going out for a laugh at the weekends, we dont need the best of everything.

again for components and accessories you dont need the latest and greatest, you dont need to splash out on a full XTR groupset when deore or SLX will perform flawlessly, latest dropper posts? do you need it, yes they make life easier, but you have managed to go so far with a standard post, see what i'm getting at?

Yes spend as much as you can to get the best spec you can, but just remember the amount you spend on a bike shouldnt equate to how much fun you have on it.

The used market is as strong as it ever has been, so much choice, be patient and buy carefully, I wish the used market was this good when i was starting out.
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A refreshing read. Yeah.
Dropper posts though....I really want one but I do think they are a lot for what they provide. Everyone I speak to says to just get one already! :) It transforms the ride supposedly.

What I found hard when I was looking for second hand bikes, were two things:

1: You sort of need to know all the bike manufacturer names and model names to search for the right stuff on ebay that would be appropriate for you.

2: The amount of people that forget to list size of frame! Then when you ask, it's 90% of the time a medium. ;)
 
Vonhelmet said:
We had this thread with road bikes a while ago.

You can get a full suspension bike from decathlon for under half a grand. I don't know a thing about modern mtbs, but if they're anything like their road bikes it'll be perfectly serviceable for the casual rider or someone just starting out.
Click to expand...

Link please? (It will be terrible)
 
But you could apply the "how much does it cost to make" argument to anything..

It doesn't cost £1300 to make a macbook. It doesn't cost £40 to make a T-shirt.

Brands need to make money to survive, expand and develop new product.
 
neil_g said:
But you could apply the "how much does it cost to make" argument to anything..

It doesn't cost £1300 to make a macbook. It doesn't cost £40 to make a T-shirt.

Brands need to make money to survive, expand and develop new product.
Click to expand...

Yeah..... My point was that with Mountain bikes, or road bikes come to that, are VERY heavily marked up. Do you disagree? Maybe they aren't.

Some high end full suspension mountain bikes (not even downhill bikes) are selling currently for over £4000. If you look at a highly profitable device like an iphone 5, Apple sell them for approximately 3 times the cost to manufacture. Applying that logic to a MTB that costs £4000, that would indicate it costs £1333 to manufacture. I can't see it.

Is it to do with Shimano and SRAM charging excessive amounts to manufacturers for the bolt ons that make up a bike? i.e. Drivetrain, wheelsets, gears, brakes etc? I know it's not as simple, as a lot of bike "manufacturers" are making the frame and bolting other peoples bits on to it.
 
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The markups are ridiculous I agree. £4-5k for a push bike? £500+ for a group set that is 100 grams lighter than one at £100... Bear in mind the retail markup in shops is probably 30-50% plus the manufacturers markup / margins.

Most/all hobbies are expensive but biking has got to be up there. Aslong as people pay it though why would it change
 
If you think shops are making 50% on these parts, you're out of your mind. They have to compete with online retailers, who will frequently sell items at or below the costs that shops can even get the goods wholesale.
 
I think manufacturers rather than shops are the ones taking the pee. My perception is that comparable spec bikes have increased in price significantly in the last few years, certainly quicker than inflation. I may of course be wrong but that's how it looks.
 
What inflation? ;)

The obvious answer to this question is that if you don't think a several thousand pound bike is worth it, don't buy one. Nobody expects them to be bought by the average consumer, they're for pros or rich amateurs :p

There are still lots of options at the budget end, obviously prices can't decrease indefinitely because the costs for materials, for the manufacture of all the parts and for the skilled workforce required to do it aren't going to go down. You're looking at about £300 for a basic, entry level road or mountain bike and that's been more or less the same for decades. Just what you get for that money has improved because of all the R&D put into those high end bikes.
 
jaybee said:
Yeah..... My point was that with Mountain bikes, or road bikes come to that, are VERY heavily marked up. Do you disagree? Maybe they aren't.

Some high end full suspension mountain bikes (not even downhill bikes) are selling currently for over £4000. If you look at a highly profitable device like an iphone 5, Apple sell them for approximately 3 times the cost to manufacture. Applying that logic to a MTB that costs £4000, that would indicate it costs £1333 to manufacture. I can't see it.
Click to expand...

Bike companies may charge significantly more than the pure cost of manufacturing the bike or putting it together but you're not accounting for economies of scale - Apple can spread the cost of R&D for the iPhone over millions of units (and is one of the biggest companies in the World so has greater resources than any bicycle company). Specialized (for instance) is a big bike company but how many units do you think it shifts? How many of those will be the bikes that cost £4k+? Since they've got a smaller base to spread the cost over it means they'll need to do so at a higher percentage cost than for other products. I'd fully accept that an iPhone will cost more in R&D but it's the principle of apportioning costs over a wider base that is important.

And although I think biking can be hugely expensive I'd argue that to get a decent bike now is probably about as cheap as it ever has been. The trickle down effect does actually seem to work for biking so what was on the top end bikes 3-4 years ago (say) will be appearing on the mid range (or even low range) bikes. Buying a top end bike will always be expensive and if you either need or want one then I'm afraid it's a cost you've got to pay but for most people a bike in the £500-1,000 range will probably do 90-95% of what they actually need (or have the skill to take advantage of) - that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to get all the fancy stuff on it or designed into it that you want but it'll be pretty good.
 
A £600 bike will also last you a hell of a lot longer than a £600 phone if you make even the slightest effort to look after it.

With expected lifetime in mind, I think it's probably worth considering usage and how much you can get out of a bike. My best (road) bike cost £600, and it's got £300 wheels and maybe £100 of accessories on it, so it's worth about a grand all in. In the past 18 months of owning it, I've cycled nearly 4,000 miles on it, in about 254 hours. Call it 250 for the sake of the maths. That's £4 per hour of enjoyment, and that cost will continue to go down over the life of the bike, subject to repairs, replacement parts, etc. That's really not bad value for money at all.
 
For me the real change has been from people being happy with more modest gear to everyone wanting the latest super bike because otherwise they won't be able to match joe nobody's time on strada! The number of fatties I see slogging round the peaks on uber expensive road bikes is hilarious they have clearly spent thousands for an ultra light weight bike when they could save much more weight by dropping the burgers!

Look at what you need as opposed to what you want and I bet the cost of a bike is much more reasonable!
 
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