Commuters who want to spend less than $200 on just something to get them moving, parents riding with their kids are also here.
Cyclists who spent 10-20-40 hours per week on a bike. For a hobby that you spend 60hr/mo on it's reasonable to spend $1300 on an entry level road bike and much more as you progress. Especially because it's good for your health.
Obviously there's money to be made with cyclists, but commuters would be so cheap and budget concerned that there's no money to be made from it.
Amazon is perfect because you're not looking for quality. I use a rockbros sweat catcher for my indoor training bike setup and it's great because it's just fabric.
You want LBS to stock $20 pedals? Who is going to buy them? What would the margins on that be? I wouldn't trust $20 clipless pedals (because if they fail you will get hurt/injured) and if they're flat pedals then bmx people would buy flat, but they're going to be so heavy that it'll be bad performance wise. There's only broke students who would buy it, and at that point just get it from Amazon.
I spend a lot of time on a bike. I don't spend $1300 on bikes.
There are people who want the latest carbon fiber blah blah just because they are using it for sport. I have no problem with them. But I have my current $200 Craigslist bike, it would have been $900 MSRP, but it rides fine, it's a little heavier than those carbon fiber things but so what? I get more exercise, and worry slightly less about theft, which buys me a LOT of freedom because I can just lock it up in downtown San Francisco and enjoy my day. If it gets stolen I just buy another bike, no biggie. If my landlord confiscates it, I just buy another bike, no biggie.*
Yeah, I agree, it's reasonable to spend $1300. If you have $1300. But it's also okay to NOT want to spend $1300 and still want to take it up as a serious hobby. I for one am pretty happy with my $200 bike.
I don't use clip pedals, I just use flat pedals, and these $20 aluminum flat pedals are nice and solid. I tried SPD clips before and hated that stuff. To each is own.
I have done many long distance trips, and I avoid proprietary or hard-to-find components because it's awesome that I can find replacement components in some random village in rural China or rural Myanmar or rural anywhere I go.
*Saves me on rent anyway because apartments in my area with proper bike storage OR enough apartment sqftage to store bikes inside have rent rates higher than my current rent plus the cost of a new bike per month. It still saves me money to stay at my current cheap apartment, lock bike to the pool fence (because property manager refuses to install bike racks on the premises), get it confiscated every now and then, and keep buying new bikes.
You don't need carbon to workout or bikepack, but your comfort level increases.
I love SPD, but that's because I have had my feet slip on flat pedals and seen how close I was to getting injured because of it
If you're going bikepacking in a place where there's not going to be any high end mechanics then I agree that using the most common components makes sense because then anybody can help you. Although I've heard that to go bikepacking in China you need a local handler in a car following you, so I would probably just have them carry spare components there.
And yeah, I don't lock my bike outside, only in groups where we can maintain eye contact with the bikes while sitting down. If I commuted by bike I would use something much much cheaper.
I mean, I don't go to LBS, that's how I get carbon fiber at insanely cheap prices. People who are brainwashed into supporting LBS will get their carbon bikes for $3000.
Used that bike for a while, even checked it in on a plane to Taiwan, no insurance or anything, rode around for a couple weeks, didn't worry too much about handling by the airline since for $150 I could replace it if it got damaged. Worry-free is freedom at its best.
The bike got confiscated in California later on, then I bought a $200 used bike to replace it.
Interesting events
Working on actually interesting things
Availability of tech jobs
Good scenery
Lots of places to exercise
Somewhat decent medical specialists which don't exist outside of a couple of major metro areas in the US
Startup investment which is hard to get if you don't live here, but if you do take it they also expect you to pay yourself barely enough to live
Good Asian supermarkets and overall decent food
There is some basic disfunctional public transit here which doesn't exist in most of the US; US cities with good transit are equally expensive
how is using lighter expensive bike using fancy 0.5% less friction gearboxes better for your health? If you wanted health benefits you would be using the heaviest shittiest bike possible for more resistance.
Aside from that, the joy of riding is what gets me out. Many cyclists choose tough hill climbs for added fitness gains and challenge. There is a good kind of difficulty (steep grade somewhere picturesque) and a bad kind (unresponsive bike that doesn't roll well)
I don't usually go to the middle of nowhere, most often I'm going through a bunch of towns. In the worst case I can shove the bus on a bike to get to the next town.
Time and time again I have found that failure happens even with the best of components, and having standard components means you can find replacements more easily. Having a steel bike means the village welding expert in a random town in rural China can fix the frame, or fix your broken rack. Having standard spokes, tire, etc. means the LBS in Burmese village (who unlike American LBS, are actually reasonably priced) will have parts that work with your bike. Having standard brake pads and cables means you can get them anywhere when they wear down.
Additional point: shitty bikes usually have really terrible geometries and will fuck up your health if you decide to use them for sport. If your shitty bike calls itself an 'MTB' and you take it onto a trail, it is very likely for it to actually break if you catch even a tiny jump (let's say 20-30 cm root) because the welds are terrible, and the metal is brittle.
But also, a higher performance bike will help you go further & faster. It doesn't mean you will end up exerting less effort, it just means that you will go faster and you'll keep putting in the same effort. With this time saving you can try new routes, feel more comfortable going further or bike packing with higher quality gear. It wouldn't change how long I ride for, but it increases the options for where to go.
Yes there are diminishing gains as with anything, but an entry level bike is still going to be below the Shimano 105 point of performance vs cost.
Guess they're just a chinese integrator/reseller and quality may vary a lot among different products but I have to say I'm really happy with my backpacking bags (waterproof top-tube and frame bags) I got from them on amazon. I wouldn't trust them with anything "mechanical" though.
Pedals, especially flats (which btw are used by plenty of MTBers), are a breed of their own... they usually come from the same few factories and final price depends on who puts their logo on them. For a good while you could find the very same pedals from HT and from plenty of other minor brands for prices varying from 30 to ~150 euros.
Sometimes if it is just poor assembly quality you can patch it up yourself easily. If screws are unscrewing themselves out all that's needed is a little Loctite or lock nuts. The metal is still perfectly fine.
Sometimes it's just patents that drive up prices in the US, for some stupidly simple thing like a bike pedal patents shouldn't exist, and for practical purposes it would be laughable to have a patent on some low tech stuff like that in China.
Sure you can get various decent accessories from china, but for most of the basic maintainance you need to source proper components (drivetrain, brakes, tyres, suspensions) from respected brands. You can go to the LBS, let them do the work and pay a premium or you can do it yourself sourcing components online for half the price. You could also source the components to the LBS and do the work yourself but that's usually the more expensive solution. As it often happens the most ethical choice of willingly financing LBSs is only accessible to the rich.
Oh and trying to find one in stock is a nightmare in the UK most be even worse else where.
Pedals are a good example, ridiculously overpriced at the shops. Luckily we have a non-profit called "The Bike Collective" that strips donated bikes and sells parts super cheap, they also help with repairs.
RockBros is a Chinese brand. I have a few of their parts and in my experience they're pretty well made.
This is extremely myopic. The entire point of cycling-as-transit, is that, as an investment, it's by far the most inexpensive alternative. If you're under the assumption that you'll already have a car, or free access to transit, or live on campus, then I see your argument. However, cycling as an alternative to these things is wildly, wildly inexpensive, even factoring in bikes that cost thousands of dollars.
The cost of luxuriously maintaining a bicycle is about $100-$200 annually. The cost of maintaining an automobile is about $8000 annually, it's just that the costs are broken up into micropayments on things like fuel or hiding in the depreciation.
> The cost of luxuriously maintaining a bicycle is about $100-$200 annually
That's if you fix it yourself. I spent <$100/year on maintaining my bike.
Changing brake pads at a bike shop cost upwards of $60. Wheel truing, probably >$200. Attempting to buy brake pads and refusing brake pad changing service usually involved a stupid long conversation with them to convince them you didn't need service, and they would price gouge you on the brake pads. With Amazon it cost me a grand total of $8 for the new pads, shipping included, and not having to convince anyone that I'm competent at fixing my own bicycle.
I once had a pedal stuck in my crank and just needed a longer wrench with more leverage to get it out. Damn bike shop wouldn't sell me the wrench. They wanted to do it themselves and charged me fucking $40 for TWO MINUTES of work. WTF. Needless to say I never visited that shop again.
This is tragic but this is current state of western civilization. Bring Shop back to school.
On the other hand I've lived in places where truing wheels, servicing suspension fork and other regular servicing was really worth it. Prices were good, wait (1-2 weeks in the summer) decent and you were sure that they did a good job. No screwing around just to have the customer get wheel out of true 1-2 weeks later, they'd rather tell me to replace the spokes when needed instead of doing a crappy job. Whatever needed to be replaced (rotor, brake pads etc.) during the service was sold at online-like prices.
I completely understand that plenty of local bike stores offer no value to anyone who can do basic maintenance. I hope they go bankrupt as early as possible. I'm not scared I'll run out of good bike stores. There's plenty of complicated tech that requires good technician. E-bikes and other trend also help.
If they want my business, they need to match what I can afford somehow.
I'm talking about cost in relation to alternatives. If the cost in relation to alternatives is low, then you can easily afford luxurious maintenance, as you'd be spending the same money, and lots more, paying for any alternative.
Heck, that last one is true even if you aren't doing luxurious maintenance.
For a long time I was a student (yes, I did a PhD). I didn't have the cash for local bike shops.
Buying and supporting local is a luxury for the rich. I could not afford the $600 bikes they were selling. I bought $150 used bikes on Craigslist and repaired them myself. And no, not with parts from the bike shop. I could get the same parts at half price online, including from Amazon. Usually I could tune up a $150 bike for another $25 in parts and that's a lot cheaper than $600.
If local bike shops want my business, and pretty much the business of students in general, they need to get with the beat and be cheaper than Amazon.
Oh btw -- last week I changed my bike pedals for one that I got on Amazon for $20. I have never seen a bike shop sell such good pedals at this price point. I have never even seen a bike shop sell this brand ("ROCKBROS"). They usually sell some super expensive brand like Shimano only. They also seem to have politics against selling competing brands sometimes, and Amazon has none of that bullcrap, you see all the brands and you buy the best.