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| Titanium, one gear, $8700.00 |
Back when I got into a bike shop job in the early 90's my old boss, Tom, used to tell me that "Cycling is the only sport where you can use what the Pros do." You could buy the best Tour de France type road racing bike, the best NORBA, World Cup XC bike, just like your favorite cycling heroes rode. You still "can", sort of.......if you're well heeled.
My old boss would take those words back if he was still alive, I think. Because even though these Pro level, Tour and World Cup bikes exist to be purchased by the unwashed cycling proletariat, the price of entry has risen astronomically. Before I ever worked at a shop, I saved up to buy the very best XC hard tail I could buy. I had to really skrimp to, because my wife at the time wanted the same thing. I ended up buying frames and forks and having custom builds done on two top of the line Klein Attitudes. Bikes that were Pro level XC sleds.
Sure, you have to account for inflation, but let's take a Trek 9.9 Superfly XTR bike as an example. This bike goes for $7300.00. My custom built Klein, with hand built wheels, went for $5,000.00 in today's dollars. That's handpicked parts folks. An XTR Attitude model straight from Klein would have cost me less.
Then there are road bikes. Just this week Trek announced the new Emonda, (Apparently deriving from the French, "to prune"), and the top end model goes for $15,000.00 plus. Apparently the Emonda prunes your wallet as well as weight from the frame. Not to be outdone, Specialized only a day later announced a $20,000.00 McLaren S-Works Venge. Yep, you'll see lots of commoners like me riding those.......ha!
Okay, that's it for this edition of News And Views. Happy 4th folks! Have a safe and fun holiday!!!
4 comments:
I blame dentists.
I love my steel Singular bicycles... And they are a bargain.
How much does a $20k bike depreciate after you ride it? That just seems like a silly purchase.
I distinctly remember the carbon S-works hardtail with ti lugs only being like $2,700 in the 90's. That was fully built with like XTR stuff.
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