When did this thread turn into a scooter discussion?

nathanm

Eats Squid
Im guessing in the last 5 years.

So I'm driving behind some NSW terrorists (tourists) heading to Maydena. They're travelling in a van with a vertical rack with a couple of $5k Bikes hanging off of it.

20 years ago you started on a $400 hardtail you shoved in the boot to get to the trails.
10 years ago you bought a $1000 Dually and stuck it in your gripsport rip off tow bar mounted rack or stuck it and 5 others over the tailgate.
Today you drop $7-10k on a 160mm travel, do it all, bike preferably in carbon and carry it on a $700+ vertical carry bike rack.

Yes the cost of living has increased but this seems disproportionate especially considering the tech hasn't really changed. Realistically the biggest change is geometry.
 

Paulie_AU

Likes Dirt
I would argue doing MTB on big hills has always been expensive.

15 years ago we piled $25+k worth of bikes into the back of utes and shuttled the shit out of them. MTB has always been expensive to if you want to ride fast good trails all day and have your bike back it up they need to be decent.
 

FigBo0T

Puts verniers on his headtube
Im guessing in the last 5 years.

So I'm driving behind some NSW terrorists (tourists) heading to Maydena. They're travelling in a van with a vertical rack with a couple of $5k Bikes hanging off of it.

20 years ago you started on a $400 hardtail you shoved in the boot to get to the trails.
10 years ago you bought a $1000 Dually and stuck it in your gripsport rip off tow bar mounted rack or stuck it and 5 others over the tailgate.
Today you drop $7-10k on a 160mm travel, do it all, bike preferably in carbon and carry it on a $700+ vertical carry bike rack.

Yes the cost of living has increased but this seems disproportionate especially considering the tech hasn't really changed. Realistically the biggest change is geometry.
Most of the young blokes around here buy MX bikes because they're in the same price range now.

But the little bastards won't sell their DJ bikes to me. :mad:
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
Bikes on offer hasn’t changed price wise

In 1993 you could buy a 100 buck huffie, or a 10 grand Foes LTS with XTR. Fuck I wanted one, my first car was 1500 bucks, no way I could afford a Foes back in the day.


Popularity of MTB has grown a lot in 27 years. This I feel is the difference.
 

FigBo0T

Puts verniers on his headtube
Bikes on offer hasn’t changed price wise

In 1993 you could buy a 100 buck huffie, or a 10 grand Foes LTS with XTR. Fuck I wanted one, my first car was 1500 bucks, no way I could afford a Foes back in the day.


Popularity of MTB has grown a lot in 27 years. This I feel is the difference.
Back then the $100 Huffy was a lot tougher than the $200 Huffy is now.
 

EsPeGe

Likes Bikes and Dirt
It's funny cos I'm usually the cycnic but lately I've been the one defending the bike companies. Yes it can be hideously expensive just look at anything with S-Works on it or anything with Specialized in general. I have a mate who is a Specialized brand ambassador which essentially means he's pretty fast so they give him a discount on his bikes. He recently got the spanky new Enduro 29er one model down from the S-works. It's an insane bike and the reviews are glowing but the spec it comes with is garbage, I mean total shit. For the price that bike retails (I think slightly north of 10K) the spec is simply insulting in my opinion, so yes I agree it can be expensive.

But....

Another mate just got into MTB and bought a Giant Reign 2 29er 2020 model and its a really good bike. He picked it up for $3.6K and they even speced it up for him (funnily enough very similar spec to the Enduro mentioned above) and he's super happy. Now Ok I guess for a lot of you used to "the good old days" $3.6K is a lot but when you look at that bike closely, I think it's pretty good value for money. It's a bike that a first timer is loving riding but he will "grow" into it and be able to do some seriously gnarly shit on it when he gets to that level. Unless it breaks (which looks very unlikely) he'll have it for many years, slowly upgrading as things break along the way. I don't see that as expensive.

So I guess I'm sitting on the fence a little, sorry. I can see it is expensive given I have a garage with around $40K of bikes in it currently. But I look at that Giant for $3.6K, if he has at worst 5 years and god knows how many K's or good times on it, he'll be happy and to me that's real value.
 

Boom King

downloaded a pic of moorey's bruised arse
Im guessing in the last 5 years.

So I'm driving behind some NSW terrorists (tourists) heading to Maydena. They're travelling in a van with a vertical rack with a couple of $5k Bikes hanging off of it.

20 years ago you started on a $400 hardtail you shoved in the boot to get to the trails.
10 years ago you bought a $1000 Dually and stuck it in your gripsport rip off tow bar mounted rack or stuck it and 5 others over the tailgate.
Today you drop $7-10k on a 160mm travel, do it all, bike preferably in carbon and carry it on a $700+ vertical carry bike rack.

Yes the cost of living has increased but this seems disproportionate especially considering the tech hasn't really changed. Realistically the biggest change is geometry.
OK Boomer.
 

nzhumpy

Googlemeister who likes bikes and scandal
So I'm driving behind some NSW terrorists (tourists) heading to Maydena. They're travelling in a van with a vertical rack with a couple of $5k Bikes hanging off of it.
What's not to say that those guys were the blokes that started 20+ years ago on that $400 hardtail.

We need to draw up the MTB equivalent of the hot vs crazy matrix
Shit yes, or if that won't happen we need a good ol' Hitler rant.
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
OK Boomer.
Boom-er King.

God that saying has gotten old quickly. Almost as stupid as the old troll argument of "You triggered bro"

Particularly as the actual boomers have so much to answer for in the current state of affairs.

Anyways back to the point. Perhaps the continual rise in popularity of mountain biking means that both people are more prepared to pay higher amounts of money for better bikes and greater levels of disposable income to do so.

I for one am not in a position to dump 10% of my annual gross salary on a bike, nor would I want to.

The rise of boutique brands is also an interesting one.
 

safreek

*******
Bikes on offer hasn’t changed price wise

In 1993 you could buy a 100 buck huffie, Fuck I wanted one, my first car was 1500 bucks, no way I could afford a Foes back in the day.


Popularity of MTB has grown a lot in 27 years. This I feel is the difference.
Damn
 

nzhumpy

Googlemeister who likes bikes and scandal
The rise of boutique brands is also an interesting one.
As @EsPeGe touched on above some of the boutique bikes can work out a much better $/spec ratio than something off the floor from one of the more established brands, I know mine with XO1 Eagle/Fox Factory comes in well cheaper than that Specialized with GX/Fox Performance. And although Giant aren't the bargain they were a few years ago it still shows that you can still get a bloody good bike for not a stupid amount of coin. If someone decides to spend X amount of their salary on a bike it doesn't really matter as long as it's being used and not sitting in the garage after 3 rides.

The other side of the coin is with the popularity of mtbing skyrocketing it also gives us new trails and a larger voice, those tourists you were following might just be the reason places like Maydena/Derby are there in the first place...glass half full/empty
 
Last edited:

Sethius

Crashed out somewhere
Eh. Top end bikes have always seen big numbers, 5 digits have been around for a long time. Between inflation and greater exposure we're just more aware of the hyperbike options globally.

Unnos take that they are the Tesla/ferrari of cars made me lol.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
The prices of bikes haven't really changed all that much across the range over the years. What has changed over the years is what you get for the coin. Where you now have 12-sp. cassettes, 20 years ago you might have been getting early-issue 9-sp, and mid level stuff that is now 10 or 11-sp. was 7 or 8-sp. Hydro disc brakes, which we now take for granted and are found as low as $600 bikes, were once only found on bikes ten times (or more).the price, and they were nowhere near as good as even basic models now.
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
The rise of boutique brands is also an interesting one.
They have always been there and top end bikes have always commanded high $$$. MTB'ing is the new golf and guys like their toys and some willing to pay loads for it.

I think brands now put out a top end halo bike just to see how it will go. They need to keep up with the competition and if they sell a few then great. The price of the top end stuff vs. mid range and amount of differences between is debatable.

So we have a much more popular sport with bikes that have evolved and always something 'new' around the corner. It sure helps the second market become very competitive.

The power of a strong brand brings in more dollars.
 

moorey

call me Mia
The prices of bikes haven't really changed all that much across the range over the years. What has changed over the years is what you get for the coin. Where you now have 12-sp. cassettes, 20 years ago you might have been getting early-issue 9-sp, and mid level stuff that is now 10 or 11-sp. was 7 or 8-sp. Hydro disc brakes, which we now take for granted and are found as low as $600 bikes, were once only found on bikes ten times (or more).the price, and they were nowhere near as good as even basic models now.
Strong agree
 
Top