Hope refunding price difference on their HB.160

Hmmm...

Our first bike, the HB160 was successfully launched last August and received praise from all who rode it. An asking price of £7500 certainly put it into the Superbike category, but given the quality finish, attention to detail and uniqueness, it’s not unjustified.
However this price didn’t really sit well with one of our founders, Ian Weatherill. He’s been quoted many times stating that UK manufacturing can easily compete in the global market, but initial pricing for the HB160 didn’t really reflect this.
Over the Christmas break we spent time reassessing our Carbon bike program and finding ways to bring a UK manufactured bike to the market at a more affordable price.
We have managed to recalculate the absorption of the R&D costs for our whole Carbon bike development program. This has enabled us to drop the retail price of our HB160 to £5500. We realise this is a major shift in pricing, but there will be no compromise in quality. The frames will still be meticulously manufactured in Barnoldswick by the same craftsmen.
What about the original customers who paid £7500? We have committed to refunding the difference in purchase price to all these customers and will be in touch over the next few weeks.

This has been possible due to our initial and ongoing commitment to keeping production in the UK, enabling us to pass on all cost savings directly to our customers.

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Something isnt quite right there?

https://www.facebook.com/hopetech/?hc_r ... 28&fref=nf

Seen this on another forum.
At least now it's more affordable.
Apparently.
Just not for me.

Facebook has gon a bit mad with it.

£5500 is unjustifiable with me.

My Zaskar would 'only' cost £2700 in today's money, would the Hope bike last 25 years with all those bespoke parts & standards?

Havent got fb but agreed, £5500 is still too much. They shouldnt be passing their costs/wages onto the buyer

Re:

Don’t really understand the fuss tbh. The original price was huge but not unusual when compared to other top end bikes. See Santa Cruz, Yeti, etc.

Dropping it to £5500 brings it to another level and market altogether imo. You’d pay the same for some pretty run of the mill competitors. I paid £2000 for my Orange in the sale. At full price and with top spec the same frame would cost the similar. You could easily pay more for a mass market plastic bike.

Bravo to them I reckon. By all accounts they were selling well at the higher price so don’t think many others would do the same.

I don’t think I will ever spend that amount on a bike but if they lengthen the top tube a bit I may consider cashing all my bikes and parts in to see how close I can get. In the meantime i’m Off to look at the Hope lights, stem and brakes I recently got :xmas-big-grin:

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Whole page more than the original price.

https://www.evanscycles.com/bikes/mount ... ce_inc_vat

Compared to bikes at the same price it actually looks a decent deal!

https://www.evanscycles.com/bikes/mount ... ayout=grid

if i was spending that sort of money then i'd rather buy British

tintin40":19s4btcy said:

if i was spending that sort of money then i'd rather buy British

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Have you seen the price of the Orange T7? Or any other top end Orange build for that matter. :shock:
Probably get the hope bike and have change for a holiday abroad.

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Agree with Ed.

I wouldn't [or couldn't] spend that much money, but if you compare it to more mainstream mass-manufacturers' products / prices / hype it doesn't seem at all outrageous really.

I think Hope should be commended for using the skills available here, rather than outsourcing to cheaper labour areas - and then charging the same amount!

For me, what they're doing is completely the opposite to what, say, GT did with their reissue Xizang. They [GT] made the frame in Asia, where labour and manufacturing is cheaper, and then sold it here for the price of a hand made Ti frame from the USA - where labour and manufacturing costs are higher.

I'm not being at all jingoistic [or rather, I don't mean to be] but it is nice to see a UK made carbon frame instead of the usual jelly mold branded imports.

The way I understand it, they've sold well, so they've managed to spread / offset costs over increased production and a larger spectrum of future products. To actually come out in the open and reduce their selling price in such a public fashion is commendable.

Or, I'm just a happily naive fool!

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Out of interest [I'm completely and utterly out of the loop with modern bikes] how much would all the kit on the HB160 retail for?

ie. what would be the total retail of everything EXCEPT the frame? £3.5K maybe as a stab in the dark?