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Both camps are right!
Cheap bikes just don't ride nowhere as nicely nor do they last as expensive bikes do.
BUT! The worst thing about owning an expensive bike is owning an expensive bike.
It's a thief magnet and source of envy of other riders.
You really need to find a sweet spot between a quality bike and being able to leave it locked in the city without having pangs of anxiety of it being stolen.
Bike recycling is probably the answer. Cheaper, worse looking, but you can often find high quality parts and frames and repair it yourself
10k? 1k? What??? 😂
When I arrived in that country, I bought a 2nd hand bike, for daily commute. I overpaid. A lot.
That bike cost me 300 😅
I think you're both idiots wasting money when you can get a perfectly good bike for like $200?
If you are doing any serious distance and/or are older there is a noticeable difference in comfort and efficiency over $1k. I rode shitty bikes my entire life. When I hopped on a $1500 bike I couldn't believe how much faster I could go and how comfortable it was. The transfer of energy into forward motion was wild. That being said I bought my bike for $100 off of Craigslist 10 years ago.
I actually think throwing a lot of money into a bike isn’t a bad idea. They easily last a life time; and if having a really nice bike incentives one to use it more; it’s totally worth it. Whatever it takes to keep you out of a car is good in my eyes
The only problem preventing it lasting a life time is that they easily get stolen.
Damn. I have been spending so much effort trying to convince myself NOT to buy a new bike. Then this guy comes along.
My gravel bike and all the safety gear totaled $600, it is my primary transport across my mountain town. We are not the same.
I refuse to believe hobbyists are spending $10K on bikes, or commuters are spending $1K.
I can barely accept that the going rate for used bikes is over $200.
The bikes I am looking to buy for the purpose of commuting over mixed terrain is in the $800-$1,400 price range (as of last year before tariff stuff). I don't currently own a bike but I have owned and ridden a number of bikes in the past. The couple of hundred dollar bikes from like Walmart are just trash that don't hold up. They fall apart pretty quickly under heavy riding.
All of this assumes one is buying new. If we are talking used then all of the above is somewhat a moot point.
Even within new the kind of riding matters a lot. If I know for a fact that I would only ever be riding on smooth paved roads then an old fixed frame street bike with skinny tires and very basic brakes and gears would make a lot of sense. There is zero chance that bike is going to be switching between road, grass, gravel, mud, and some of the other terrain I would be commuting across though.
I couldn't believe it either, so I went to the Trek.com site.
I hate this decade.
1k for a new high quality bike has been normal for 10-15 years. Anything beyond that has hugely diminishing returns.
If you want everything for a full shimano 105 set, that alone will cost you like 600$ or more. Then you still need a frame and wheels and saddle etc
Buying used is really the best play with bikes.
If you want an electric bike, the price goes up fast.
If you want one with a belt so that it won't take crazy maintenance not to degrade over the winter, it goes up faster still.
If you want storage for your purse and whatnot, a bit more expensive still. A good large basket is more expensive than you'd think.
As someone who repairs bikes for a hobby this all sounds insane. I paid like $10 for my back rack with folding baskets
I can easily believe a commuter ebike hits a grand.
I just never assume anything with a motor when I encounter the word "bicycle".
why am I still faster than u
I dunno, mostly strength, endurance, lung capacity, heart strength, blood pressure, weight, general outlook on life…
I love general outlook on life. Mine always peaks at about the fourth mile on a bike, and hits the lowest valley at the fourtieth mile in a car (though in a car worse means faster.)
I think a bike should cost $100
Mine cost like $200
Fixed speed, it's ok i guess
You don’t ever have to wonder if someone ~~is vegan~~rides a fixie…
Yo! Fellow $200 fixie enjoyer?! Where’s the fixed gear lemmy community?
I knew I'd be a summer casual rider so bought a 2nd hand road bike for €300 18yrs back.
Still have it, can't justify getting a new one as it just.. works
Kinda sad that e-scooters (as of like 1-3 years ago), are now cheaper than a decent bike for the same price.
Are more portable tbh. (Especially on the train)
I bought my bike for $800 in 2008 and it has followed me around the country. I'm hoping to add some power to it this summer, lots of life left in her!
I'm living in Denmark. When You walk out the door, you have to watch Your step, not to trip on a bike. When it's windy, the bikes roll around the streets like tumbleweed.
As someone that has a $11k bike I can clarify some things.
I have a Wilier Granturismo SLR. About ~90% of the components are carbon fiber. Carbon Fiber, especially high end carbon fiber isn’t cheap. Besides the bike; my wheels, pedals, parts of the cranks, handlebars, saddle, saddle post, and probably some other things are carbon fiber.
I always hear people talk about getting carbon fiber components for cheaper because you have a shit tin of Chinese companies come in and steal these bike companies IP and make shit frames. Look at Chinorellos, shit ton of Chinese companies steal frame designs and re-make them with shit metal and the bike falls apart after a year.
Another thing…why does any give a fuck how much my bike costs? My dad is an audiophile guy and my bike costs as much as 1 (not a pair) of his speakers, and he has a mid-range system. Cycling is something that I love, I ride almost everyday and will spend hours and hours on the bike. I’d gladly pay less than $11k on my next bike but when you get into the higher end market you’re going to pay more, that’s true across almost ALL sports or hobby activities
Look I get it, I love cycling and own a few nice bikes ($1-4k) but let's not pretend that the value is there at $11k. Outside of world tour riders, there's no way you're actually faster or more comfortable at $11k than about $5k. You already get carbon frame/wheels and near top of the line components for $5k-ish. So to OPs question, to me that's the upper limit for what fancy bikes should cost for actual normal humans. Realistically 2k for road/gravel, maybe 3k for MTB is jusy barely slower and almost imperceptively less nice than 5k bikes. "High end" is only meaningful if there are actual tangible benefits that come along with the price tag. I support anyone out there on bikes, i just think $11k is a bit silly in a world with this much wealth inequality. I'm sure some folks think the exact same thing about me and my bikes tbf. Have fun and be safe out there.
So, I’ve also ridden a wide range of bikes and prices. $11k Wilier Granturismo is 100% more comfortable than Canyon Endurace (at least the CF SL Di2 I use to ride) and the Dogma I rode in Italy was oddly more comfortable than the Canyon (but I don’t own the Dogma, just rented for a few months). The Canyon was 100% more comfortable than the Trek domaine (entry level).
As for speed, high end bikes have more carbon components than a $4-6k bike, so naturally when you ride a lighter bike you’ll increase your speed to a point. But yes, the thing that makes you faster is you and not necessarily the bike, but having a bike that’s lighter sure does help.
I’m not totally disagreeing with you btw, I think if I could start all over again I would get fitted, buy a carbon frame + fork + saddle post, Ultegra Di2, carbon wheels and handlebar, like $150 saddle, and I’ll be set. Probably cost around $6-8k, and if I went used I could probably get it for $4k.
At the same time, why do people buy a BMW? A car just gets you from point A to point B, why would you spend significantly more when a Honda is more economical and reliable? My point is, people can spend their money how they want and that’s okay. $11k got me the perfect bike and there’s nothing I would change about it and I’ll have it for the rest of my life. It’s just odd to me that people get so abrasive (not you, just in general) about the cost of high end bikes, but a $120k car or truck that’s used to go to the grocery store, nobody bats an eye.
Appreciate the conversation, and I definitely bat an eye at the overpriced mall crawlers people blow absurd amounts of money on to get groceries. I actually do think a $50k car is generally a bit nicer than a 20k car, so in my analogy that could maybe be justified, but $120k is getting a bit silly with marginal gains that are not meaningful (to me at least).
But back to bikes, curious of you're actually able to compare these bikes you mentioned apples to apples. Same geometry, saddle, tires, grip tape, etc? If it's frame compliance you're after, I'm curious for your thoughts on some of the higher end steel frames out there. I ride mostly gravel and am large, so e.g long setback seatposts and 45mm tires soak up everything to the point that frame compliance matters less (but still some of course). I could see that being a bigger deal for smaller/lighter riders though. On the other end of the spectrum for trail bikes the frame just needs to be stiff, so I see zero benefit to carbon there (outside weight of course, but thankfully people learned to care less about weight in the MTB world finally). Back to road I'd also argue aero matters more than those last few grams for just about everything outside of massive climbs. I recall hearing that on any road below 7-8%, aero is still "more important" than weight, meaning you should spend your money there instead. Who knows though, every few years there's a new trend and every few years I find I value comfort over speed even more.
I just love riding bikes and I spend way too much time learning about tech I have very little desire to actually buy. I'm glad you found a bike you're super stoked to ride, that's what that matters at the end of the day!
You’re username matches your perspective on life
You and your dad have extravagant hobbies and live in a world most people cannot relate to. The vast majority of people on earth will never enjoy spending so much money and free time on their hobbies.
Yeah, it's just a silly meme. I would spend a lot of money on a bike if it was my hobby. But here I am getting shamed for spending as much as 1k for a bike, which I thought was the bare minimum for a daily driver.
either of those cost more than my motorcycle.
why the fuck are you guys paying so much for pedal bikes.
I have a fixed gear from state that cost a bit over $500 3 years ago.
It's my beer and dinner fetching machine. I ride it everyday (the longway) to my local store for ingredients for dinner
3 years and 3000 miles later
I have had to replace 2 chains, 3 rear hubs (my own mistakes... check your lockring or blow up a hub), saddle, grips, cog, lockring, Pedals (went from flats to cages and am now on SPD), replaced original brakes with Shimano brakes and have gone through A LOT of tires.
I think I am in it at like $1500... Tools I don't want to calculate but building and truing wheels is a very relaxing thing to do
Here's a picture of it loaded up. I think that I was getting ready for a party
Its pretty anti-fixie
My bike was like 50 bucks. It’s shitty but it gets me there. And no one tries to steal it.
It’s definitely not as fast as a fancy road bike though lol.
Mine was $20 from a thrift store, plus maybe $40 in parts. Also a pos, but it's a pos that will get me there
