this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2024
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What is optimal price category for bike? (sopuli.xyz)
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/bicycling
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So I have "new" bike (subjectively) about 9 months. And I spent about 2000 € on it (bike, and some accessories - rack, bags...) and I can tell that it is lot of bike for not that much money.

So now when I look back I can't see it as "expensive" bike, just as reasonably priced for its purpose. I use it every day to commute and as bikepacking/touring bike so now it has ~6000 km.

So how much are you willing to spend on bike?

Edit: So I read your comments and I probably need to clarify little bit.

  • I use the bike for everything instead of car so even nicer more expensive bike for me is justifiable.
  • I also think that the bike industry is bonkers right now about shiny new expensive things.
  • For me there is few types of riders and all parties try to upsell them some shit, there aren't any 500€ bike with flat bars and rigid fork where I am. All of the bikes at this price point have shitty suntour fork, bad saddle, useless pedals and shitty tires. From my perspective they are expensive on the parts that don't matter and cheap out on stuff that matters. If someone sell something like that (flat bar gravel with quality parts where it matters) it would be gamechanger.
  • I had to build my bike, nothing like that (full steel gravel/bikepacking/do it all bike) wasn't on the market/second hand market. It add to the price a bit. And it was about month before the prices get down to reasonable levels after pandemic.
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Disagree on carbon. Unless you're in a pretty gnarly crash, the odds that you're going to break the frame are quite low (unless you're talking about some of the ridiculously expensive frames that have disclaimers about not being suitable for riders over 160#). Carbon has the benefit of being entirely immune to corrosion of any kind, although the resins can, eventually, weaken from UV exposure. I would not suggest steel at all; it's entirely too easy for the frame to start rusting. That's a real problem for something that you commute with, and even worse if you live in an area where they salt the roads. Aluminum should be great for most people. Be warned though - aluminum can rot out via galvanic corrosion if you ride on salted roads in the winter and there's another metal (brass, steel) in contact with the aluminum; I lost a few wheels that way. If you really love the way that steel feels, but don't want to worry about rusting, and you have very deep pockets, consider titanium. Titanium is also very resistant to corrosion.

For something that you're going to ride every single day, $2000 US seems about right. My last bike was about $1700 as a model-year closeout, about a decade ago, and was in the 18# range. Coming from a 26# 29er that I'd set up for road use, it felt fantastically quick and nimble.