|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#111
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
!Jones' Sock Puppet wrote:
In '70, one could buy a decent bicycle for $20 - $30 at a hardware store. I paid $48.33 in '68 for my '66 Schwinn equipped with a Bendix kickback and that was considered extravagant. In '70, I was in Vietnam, so I didn't have a bicycle; however, in '72, I was driving a cab and considered 40 bucks to be a decent night's book... I probably averaged $30 to $35. I was in Georgetown, DC in October doing a little urban hiking... granted, that's a pricey neighborhood. We walked by a bike shop and their window display bike had a $22K price tag!!! Sheeze! That's more than I paid for my first *house*! But your house wasn't made from carbon fiber. |
Ads |
#112
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
!Jones' Sock Puppet wrote:
On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:00:42 -0800 (PST), in alt.war.vietnam " wrote: On Jan 15, 7:06 am, !Jones' Sock Puppet wrote: In '70, one could buy a decent bicycle for $20 - $30 at a hardware store. I paid $48.33 in '68 for my '66 Schwinn equipped with a Bendix kickback and that was considered extravagant. In '70, I was in Vietnam, so I didn't have a bicycle; however, in '72, I was driving a cab and considered 40 bucks to be a decent night's book... I probably averaged $30 to $35. I was in Georgetown, DC in October doing a little urban hiking... granted, that's a pricey neighborhood. We walked by a bike shop and their window display bike had a $22K price tag!!! Sheeze! That's more than I paid for my first *house*! It's even a fairly large part of it when adjusted for inflation. When you put multiple thousands of dollars into a bicycle, what you have is a fetish, not transportation. Jones You can buy a $70 bike at walmart, target, kmart. they'll ride fine and can be used to commute. Oh, in today's market, methinks I'd budget about $500 or so for a decent commuter. Then about half again for the racks, fenders, and panniers... those accesories ain't cheap! True, by the time they are marked up from the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer, they aren't cheap. In reality, they are all extremely inexpensive when included as part of the bicycle. A rack costs the manufacturer under $2. As do fenders. |
#113
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:06:14 -0800, in alt.war.vietnam SMS
wrote: I was in Georgetown, DC in October doing a little urban hiking... granted, that's a pricey neighborhood. We walked by a bike shop and their window display bike had a $22K price tag!!! Sheeze! That's more than I paid for my first *house*! But your house wasn't made from carbon fiber. Seems like that bicycle used fertile whooping crane eggs in its production. Jones |
#114
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:10:08 -0800, in alt.war.vietnam SMS
wrote: True, by the time they are marked up from the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer, they aren't cheap. In reality, they are all extremely inexpensive when included as part of the bicycle. A rack costs the manufacturer under $2. As do fenders. Well, that's true of almost any consumer product. The actual fabrication cost averages around 5% of the retail cost. The high-end stuff has a much greater profit margin; however, that's driven by fad and carrys the risk pf being stuck with lots of product that's no longer in fashion. As I recall, there are several LBS owners herein... ask them about the huge profits they make. Jones |
#115
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
!Jones' Sock Puppet wrote:
On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:10:08 -0800, in alt.war.vietnam SMS wrote: True, by the time they are marked up from the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer, they aren't cheap. In reality, they are all extremely inexpensive when included as part of the bicycle. A rack costs the manufacturer under $2. As do fenders. Well, that's true of almost any consumer product. The actual fabrication cost averages around 5% of the retail cost. It's really annoying have so few bicycles come standard with basic accessories, especially on commute and touring bicycles where it's pretty well accepted that the buyer will be adding things like racks, fenders, bells, bottle cages, etc. $100 worth of retail accessories would cost the bicycle manufacturer about $8, which would end up adding maybe $22-25 to the retail cost. I was kind of impressed that the Raleigh Sojourn comes with most of that stuff. |
#116
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
SMS wrote:
It's really annoying have so few bicycles come standard with basic accessories, especially on commute and touring bicycles where it's pretty well accepted that the buyer will be adding things like racks, fenders, bells, bottle cages, etc. $100 worth of retail accessories would cost the bicycle manufacturer about $8, which would end up adding maybe $22-25 to the retail cost. I was kind of impressed that the Raleigh Sojourn comes with most of that stuff. Bike manufacturers have a symbiotic relationship with bike retailers, which are usually service shops as well. Retailers depend heavily upon accessory sales. When I was in the bike shop business, markups on complete bikes ran in the 35% range, while markups on accessories were usually 100%. The margin on bikes might cover the cost of keeping bikes on the floor, but it was the margin on everything else that made it plausible to do business. If bikes in the US market begin to come well equipped with accessories, then the markup will have to increase as well. That might prove to be more economical for those riders who were going to buy all that stuff anyway, but it would surely cost more for the folks who would have bought only a small subset of the accessories, or none at all. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad idea, but it's something to consider. On the other hand, there is the possibility that more comprehensively spec'ed bikes would sell to more people, and economy of scale would make it a net win for everyone. I'm not at all sure what it would take in terms of accessories to get non-cyclists to buy in, though. Maybe something that pedals for you. :^) Chalo |
#117
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:45:36 -0800, SMS wrote:
It's really annoying have so few bicycles come standard with basic accessories, especially on commute and touring bicycles where it's pretty well accepted that the buyer will be adding things like racks, fenders, bells, bottle cages, etc. $100 worth of retail accessories would cost the bicycle manufacturer about $8, which would end up adding maybe $22-25 to the retail cost. I was kind of impressed that the Raleigh Sojourn comes with most of that stuff. This is all fine if you like what is already on the RS, but if you do not, then it is just wasted money. When I look for accessories, then I have very specific requirements about their construction as well. So different folks, different accessories. |
#118
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
terryc wrote:
On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:45:36 -0800, SMS wrote: It's really annoying have so few bicycles come standard with basic accessories, especially on commute and touring bicycles where it's pretty well accepted that the buyer will be adding things like racks, fenders, bells, bottle cages, etc. $100 worth of retail accessories would cost the bicycle manufacturer about $8, which would end up adding maybe $22-25 to the retail cost. I was kind of impressed that the Raleigh Sojourn comes with most of that stuff. This is all fine if you like what is already on the RS, but if you do not, then it is just wasted money. When I look for accessories, then I have very specific requirements about their construction as well. So different folks, different accessories. True, but it would be nice to have an "out of the box" fully functional transportation bike, then you could always customize it later if you wished. which reminds me... new year's resolution, I WILL gear out my bike so that I can actually use it to go shopping. Gotta get on that. Right after I fix the oil leaks and battery tray in the truck, and clean up the house. Yes, my resolutions are boring. nate -- replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply. http://members.cox.net/njnagel |
#119
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
On Jan 24, 8:25*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
True, but it would be nice to have an "out of the box" fully functional transportation bike, then you could always customize it later if you wished. In his magazine Bicycle Quarterly, Jan Heine sings the praises of "constructeur" French touring and randonneur bikes of the 1930s - 1960s. As he says, if bike and accessories are well designed to work as a unit when the bike is built, quality and reliability should be higher, and weight a bit lower. But I agree that riders may want different choices. Maybe the ultimate is a custom bike with all accessories you want designed and built as a system... for those who can afford such a thing. - Frank Krygowski |
#120
|
|||
|
|||
How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?
On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:53:04 -0800, Frank Krygowski wrote:
But I agree that riders may want different choices. Maybe the ultimate is a custom bike with all accessories you want designed and built as a system... for those who can afford such a thing. Different people, = different touring = different bicycles. The Q is "Is there enough people who want a particular combo to justify it being prebuilt"? I'd suggest that if it was, then it would have been already done. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Best Bike Buys searches online bike stores to help you find bicycles,bikes, bicycle parts, bicycle clothing, and bicycle accessories | [email protected] | Marketplace | 0 | May 14th 08 09:58 PM |
Best Bike Buys searches online bike stores to help you find bicycles,bikes, bicycle parts, bicycle clothing, and bicycle accessories | [email protected] | Rides | 0 | May 14th 08 09:56 PM |
Best Bike Buys searches online bike stores to help you find bicycles,bikes, bicycle parts, bicycle clothing, and bicycle accessories | [email protected] | Australia | 0 | May 14th 08 09:55 PM |