Are modern bikes overpriced?

I went modern 2yrs ago and was completely shocked at how much bikes had progressed, having done 1000's of miles on my old 98 spesh ground control (and loving every minute of it) but fed up of maintaining it. I bought a Boardman HT Pro which was the top of the range for a £1000, it was light, fast, agile, handled really well with brakes that worked but the best thing was it was pretty much maintainance free as in ride it, then throw it in the garage then every now and again give it a bath. I covered 3400 miles on that boardman and all it ever needed was tyres, brake pads, and bottom brackets. I changed bikes 4 weeks ago and went for another Boardman but this time the full suss (bad back) Team FS, £1000 bike, running air shocks front and rear, hydro discs, 10spd, tapered headset. Since getting the new bike i'm riding further and faster than ever because i dont get the backache or wrist ache that used to plague me at about 40 miles, infact i did my best off road ride the week after i got the full suss 69 miles and decided there and then to sell the HT Pro, I advertised it on Gumtree and within 24hrs it sold for £400. Me personnally i prefer modern and can honestly say that the 1st boardman was value for money especially after selling it on for a fair price, and i'm hoping the new one will be the same :cool:

Dont get me wrong though as i still love the nostalgia of retro and some of the builds on here are amazing but when it comes to riding i'll go modern all the time
 
I like the likes of the Surly Ogre, Genesis Fortitidue Adventure and the fat bike thing, revisiting adventure and exploration as the primary objective rather than speed. So modern is good in this area at least.
 
Good point..........adventure bikes are opening up new ground .......when i 1st got a mountain bike i tried to ride everything and everywhere, carrying the darn thing up the sides of mountains where no paths existed etc..........i like the idea of extra-fat tire adventure bikes.
 
Mallet...........i think Diamond back sorrento was cr-mo in 1990, for the next couple of years they were True temper AVR main frame and forks ! at around £250 then they went to cheaper cr-mo :cry: but not a cheaper price.

Poss Trek did one too for £300 and i bet Saracen might have. Claude Butler started to offer Reynolds 501 frames in about 91/92 ? under £300.

My 92 Sorrento had True temper frame and True temper forks ! they were a great deal at the time.

£250 was about two weeks wages for me then.......what could i get for two weeks wages these days doing similar work on minimum wage say ?
 
The sorrento i remember, and was the only one i could think of that may have had a full cromo frame, i remember the half page ads in mbuk but nobody near me sold them! (plus they were a bit on the touring sid) my mate had a trek 830 and it wasn't full cromo just main tubes £330 too. (and it was shit!)

The ascent was true temper but that was £500 odd +

£300 generally got a mainly hi ten frame with 300lx, steel bars, nutted bb mine didn't even have a micro adjust post. on some you were lucky to get a qr on the back.

Going by the RBRPI i would have a bit over £700 to spend on a modern bike, http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... p-10-39600 that's 26 lbs with erspenshuns and car stoppers. Even £530 gets you a bike thats under 28 lbs eg http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... y-10-35495.
 
My GT Tequesta was £400 in 1990 and was full tange MTB cro-mo with db main tubes. My mate had a Marin Palisades that was also cro-mo throughout with db main tubes and it was cheaper than my Teqeusta. 300 ish should have got you a plain guage cro-mo main frame back then. I'm sure the GT Timberline in 1990 was Ishiwata plain guage cro-mo main tubes, it was in '91 (according to the catalogue on this site it), cro-mo fork too.
 
My £299 Bickerton 'mean green ' was a full cro-mo wishbone rear stay with 200GS and thumbies. The GT Talera was Cro-mo, the Diamond-back Sorrento was True Temper AVR and was a very nice frame for the money.
 
FSR-Si":3jsxtbvx said:
I went modern 2yrs ago and was completely shocked at how much bikes had progressed, having done 1000's of miles on my old 98 spesh ground control (and loving every minute of it) but fed up of maintaining it. I bought a Boardman HT Pro which was the top of the range for a £1000, it was light, fast, agile, handled really well with brakes that worked but the best thing was it was pretty much maintainance free as in ride it, then throw it in the garage then every now and again give it a bath. I covered 3400 miles on that boardman and all it ever needed was tyres, brake pads, and bottom brackets. I changed bikes 4 weeks ago and went for another Boardman but this time the full suss (bad back) Team FS, £1000 bike, running air shocks front and rear, hydro discs, 10spd, tapered headset. Since getting the new bike i'm riding further and faster than ever because i dont get the backache or wrist ache that used to plague me at about 40 miles, infact i did my best off road ride the week after i got the full suss 69 miles and decided there and then to sell the HT Pro, I advertised it on Gumtree and within 24hrs it sold for £400. Me personnally i prefer modern and can honestly say that the 1st boardman was value for money especially after selling it on for a fair price, and i'm hoping the new one will be the same :cool:

Dont get me wrong though as i still love the nostalgia of retro and some of the builds on here are amazing but when it comes to riding i'll go modern all the time
Click to expand...

Tapered headsets are not good but what was down to 'modern' and what was down to simple bad seat height or handle bar height?

So many new frames wear out at their pivot points just as quickly as old. Shocks go wrong just as quick too.

Ok. it was only 7 months in a modern bike shop, but it was enough to put me off wasting money on buying new for a very long time - the bikes that I saw come through had been ruined very quickly by poor maintenance or over expectation - 'I was just riding along when...' It was carnage! Too much reliance on equipment over rider skills. The commuter carries on the same bike year after year, the trail centre rider comes in for new parts or bike every few months (so it seemed at the time). I've had enough of the bullshit. I've raced riders on my Zaskar that is older than they are and beat them fair and square when they should have left me crying - too much emphasis is on the bike and not the rider anymore.
 
JamesM":15uxaolk said:
My GT Tequesta was £400 in 1990 and was full tange MTB cro-mo with db main tubes. My mate had a Marin Palisades that was also cro-mo throughout with db main tubes and it was cheaper than my Teqeusta. 300 ish should have got you a plain guage cro-mo main frame back then. I'm sure the GT Timberline in 1990 was Ishiwata plain guage cro-mo main tubes, it was in '91 (according to the catalogue on this site it), cro-mo fork too.
Click to expand...

Your 1990 £400 would be £784 in todays money...

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bill ... -1900.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

jonnyboy666
1989 (i think) Muddy Fox Seeker! the prodigal bike returns!
2
Replies
12
Views
1K
elite504
elite504
Mangizmo
Mangizmos "Rant Of The Day"
7 8 9
Replies
85
Views
8K
Guinessisgoodforyou
G
C
Marin Team Marin DH (FRS DH) - my first DH bike
Replies
0
Views
471
Cloverleaf
C
allenh
Gravel Bike Genesis
Replies
7
Views
1K
allenh
allenh
C
1994 Cannondale M300 18" restoration - heavily upgraded with period parts
Replies
5
Views
419
Cloverleaf
C

Latest posts

Back
Top