Priced out of mainstream mountain biking?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Now this isn't any kind of moan it's more a general observation. Looking through the catalogue of a national bike chain I suddenly realised that I can't afford to mountain bike ... or to be precise, I couldn't afford to mountain bike if I do as the bike and componant manufactures plus the mainstream mags tell me.

Some of the prices are simply crazy ... honestly, are any forks worth £800 plus or £95 for flat pedals?

I know there's good deals and bargains to be had but for anyone entering the world of mountain biking it must seem like the domain of the wealthy.

[gairym]

it's not moaning - you're right!

i remember when £1000 (not a small amount of money) could buy you a humdinger of a bike but now that kind of money will only get you something mid-ranged (and that's for a hardtail!).

as you say there are lots of bargains to be had and i don't know of anyone personally who would walk into a shop and buy a full-priced bike (maybe via the bike-to-work scheme) these days.

it all seems a bit daft to me!

[Brothersmith]

You think Mountain Biking is bad, just look at the road biking scene. £500 on a set of wheels is considered by some to be bargain basement and you can easly spend a couple of grand on a frame : :?

They may be expensive but at least you can see where the money goes on a set of sus forks :D

[Dan_K]

I think it's one of those things where you can spend as much as you want.
£400 for a road or mountain bike will get you something that'll work and give you plenty of fun.

The media will always want us to spend more and buy often as they're fuelled by the retailers who are fuelled by our consumerism.

Are the items Stu mentions worth it? Probably not. They're manufactured at a fraction of the cost but all the time people are prepared to pay those prices and clever marketing continues to push them in our direction, they'll continue to be priced at that level.

My first bike was a second hand Raleigh BMX. It made me smile.
Since then, i've had 5 mountain bikes, 2 road bikes and a hybrid ranging from £300 to £2300 and every one of those has made me smile (and some grimmace and almost cry).

Moral of the story? Spend as much as makes you happy.

[Blackhound]

It depends. My second mtb in 1994 was a Kona Kilauea. £850 for fully rigid, Velocity headset( not A-head), canti brakes that the shop I bought from said were not very good. So I upgraded the brakes and paid just over £900.

Bike still in use though after a couple of re-sprays and upgrading everything except the frame.

A couple of years ago I picked up a damaged Voodoo Aizan 29er frame from Sideways for £90 and spent a year getting stuff for it. Reba forks, Bonty wheels, Chris King headset and a few bits I had and it cost me about £650-£700 for a nice bike good enough to complete the Tour Divide on.

Looking around there are bargains to be had if you are not in a rush. As nice as it would be to own carbon/ti/xtr etc it is not really needed for the majority of riding we do. Fine is you have the cash but if not very possible to get on a bike cheaply.

In addition by the time you attach bags, camping kit, water etc a little extra weight on the frame is not really significant. Can't help but feel it is a lot of advertising and the internet. Before the internet I had 1 road bike and 1 mtb and riding mostly on my own rarely bothered about upgrades. With the forums there is a lot more perceived pressure that what you have is not good enough. It probably is. I now own 7 bikes!

[johnnystorm]

While you can spend more than is strictly necessary mountain biking has never been cheaper for the performance. Remember Ringlé skewers at £50 a throw or RockShox Mag 20s for £350 with 50mm travel?

£1000 buys you an amazing bike, either a cracking hardtail or a well performing full susser. Just do your homework and buy in the sales getting stuff that's well made and you're laughing.

[Ray Young]

In my opinion far too many people are taken in by the hype believing that the expensive/newest/best stuff will make you a better faster rider and are then prepared to lay out ridiculously large amounts to buy this stuff. Chainrings are a pet hate of mine, alloy ones don't save much over steel but just you try getting your hands on decent steel rings at a reasonable price. But it's not just bikes, if you aint got the latest, flashest gizmo wotsit then your sh#t and all the massed ranks of idiots out there believe it. Average amount of debt per person in this country........£35,000, I kid you not.

[Matt]

if you aint got the latest, flashest gizmo wotsit then your sh#t

me and Steve were keeping it real and 26er at the back on the Winter Bivi.

Hype! what hype :D

[gairym]

£1000 buys you an amazing bike, either a cracking hardtail or a well performing full susser. Just do your homework and buy in the sales getting stuff that's well made and you're laughing.

true, true.

but.....if you were (dumb enough) to buy simply pay full price from a 'mainstream' bike shop (as many unsuspecting beginners are likely to do) you'd get screwed spending that kind of money.

one example of price inflation is my old bike a Marin 'Mount Vision'. when i bought one new (my one and only full/new bike purchase ever) in 1998 it cost me just over £1000 (incl. fork upgrade to a lovely Pace beauty) and had full XT kit and a fox rear shock - not too shabby!

today a 'Mount Vision' will set you back £2250 and come with a few XT bits but mostly SLX gear.

i know it's an unreasonable comparison as the technology has moved on and is more 'advanced' etc... but my drive-train worked for years (unlike the feeble 10sp rubbish doing the rounds now), the cranks are still in use and the front wheel is still true and fully functioning (also, to the best of my knowledge the frame and forks are still in use too!).

i doubt the same will be being said about a modern 'high tech' bike/bits in another 15 years!

[johnnystorm]

Using an online calculator it seems that £2250 is about £1500 with inflation from 1998 so it's not a million miles away. Pop along to Halfords and a grand gets you a Boardman hardtail with x9 or a full-susser with x7.

I bought a Sunn Urge XC Un in 99/00. Full RRP for the team rep bike with xt was £1300. For a rigid steel bike, albeit with proper syncros/race face/DT hugi kit. Naturally I didn't pay that for mine but some poor sod probably did.

Thinking back to what I see as the "golden era" there were cook bros cranks, bullseye cranks and hubs all of which cost eye watering money back in 1990 something. I think what I'm saying is that you could always spend stupid money, what you can buy now for sensible money is better on the whole.

[johnnystorm]

Using the calc again it suggests £350 equates to £630 In today's money. My brother in law has a Raleigh Discovery that cost about £350 in 1991. I promise you that *anything* you bought today, be it niche or mainstream for £600 would ride better than a 501 frame and 200GS!

Gairy, I'll agree that in 15 years time I wouldn't relish the prospect of finding a compatible headset or BB for some of my bikes....

[gairym]

johnnystorm,

i'll not fight you on this one!

you're absolutely right in that there were, are and always will be cheaper options and hideously expensive possibilities but I do think that, whilst the notion of a 'golden era of mountain biking' is silly and unrealistic, there was a technology-vs-longevity (and performance-vs-price) high-point which (in my opinion) occurred around that time (late 90's) and has since been in decline (diminishing returns on money invested, built-in-obsolescence etc...).

does that make any more sense?

[johnnystorm]

I see what you mean. Another thing to take into consideration is how much you had to spend BITD. I had a Claud Butler Pagan. Essentially the same as the Raleigh, 501 & 200GS. At that time, 1990ish, the next bike down would've been something like a Raleigh Mustang! Now you don't have to spend that much (comparatively) to get a decent bike, but if you do you get something tasty.

In 1999 I bought a Spesh FSR and I didn't really get on with it. I swapped the frame for a Chameleon (which I still have) and everything bar the Seatpost transferred over. I don't think I could do such a complete swap between anything I've got currently! Looking at innovations like external BBs & BB30 I don't honestly know what they hope to achieve over a square taper. Well I can in theory, but practice suggests otherwise!

[Anthony]

Somethings are good though. Circa 2002 I bought Hope Mini's for £120 an end and folding Conti's for £30 an end. A decade on and I bought the much more developed equivalent for the same price.

I blame the trail centre. For everything!

[Bearbonesnorm]

I blame the trail centre. For everything!

Think you might be onto something there ... however, they do keep the riff raff off the mountains

[Taylor]

I blame the trail centre. For everything!

Think you might be onto something there ... however, they do keep the riff raff off the mountains

Where the two wheeled tramps live?

[Ray Young]

[/quote]
Where the two wheeled tramps live? [/quote]
Who seem to be rather fond of meths!

[Ian]

Going over to singlespeed made a huge difference in terms of "essential" running costs (cassettes, chains, chainrings etc, fork/ shock/ bearing service), on the full sus/ hardtails I used to run.

I think some of the UK-made stuff is quite down to earth price-wise, Hope brakes being a case in point.

As an aside, I like also that most of my bike is specced with UK components, that a) work really well, b) look good compared to some other high end tat out there, and c) don't necessarily cost the earth.