Hello Vital MTB Visitor,
We’re conducting a survey and would appreciate your input. Your answers will help Vital and the MTB industry better understand what riders like you want. Survey results will be used to recognize top brands. Make your voice heard!
Five lucky people will be selected at random to win a Vital MTB t-shirt.
Thanks in advance,
The Vital MTB Crew
Chain devices , always been over priced and now there is so little material in them to be light and trendy yet the prices don't seem to reflect that to me , they can't argue the ' technology/devleopment ' argument there because well.. there is none to be done. not to mention most of them are wrecked on one hit.
None of us need factory one-by setups, adjustable seat posts, carbon rims, or a specific brand or model of tire. Home-made one-bys or last generation two-bys work well enough; a fixed seatpost and quick release seatpost clamp is an effective and dirt cheap combo; aluminum rims aren't that much lighter (and usually don't fail destructively either); and there are some cheap tire options floating around that will get the job done. In other words, almost all bike-related items have an effective, value-focused alternative, yet very few of us choose to pursue those options. Instead, the items we want but cannot afford are negatively branded as "over-priced" and criticized for it.
In the case of SRAM one-by, Enve, and most adjustable seatposts, those items are advertized as high-end products, so it's no surprise that they are expensive. Likewise, Porsche is considered high-end, so it is no surprise there are priced accordingly, yet they are rarely criticized for it. You don't hear Hyundai owners angrily criticizing Porsche because they couldn't afford a Carrera and had to settle for a Genesis. So what makes mountain biking different? I think the better question is not "are there bike-related products that you feel are just way over-priced," but "why do mountain bikers criticize expensive high-end products they want but cannot afford?" I honestly would like to know why that is specific to mountain bikers (or at least mountain bike forum users).
I agree with Bigburd on chain guides being a bit steep for what it is.
And I'll throw in any rebranded products. Catalog picking is not innovation. Price accordingly.
P
You may not believe me, but I went of a tour of a hose fitting company who made their attachments out of plastic, cost absolutely cents to make, cheaper than a dollar for each fitting, however their market research said that they had to charge more than a normal reasonable profit margin, that's because that price was so low consumers believed 'for that price this product can't be any good'. So they then spend some their excessive products into advertising and R&D.
Shorts... wtf people, GFY
Tires. My dirtbike tires cost less, and I dont get cost on dirtbike tires.
Crankbrothers.
Also pretty much everything else. Back in 08 or so, you had to be trying to spend 6000 dollars on a bike. 5000 was super high-end. Now, you can hit that with totally middle of the road components.
Bicycles are not rocket science.
The stupidly large amount of companies which are effectively not in competition but should be because they are only separated by marketing, and as such, perceived performance.
We are the suckers that drive the price because we keep buying into it... It's no wonder the industry is worried about YT.
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