What prices are you seeing? For me in Europe, the single speed is only €240 cheaper than the cheapest Aluminum bike.
€3990-€5200 Carbon €1590-€1990 Designer €1490-€1990 Aluminum €1250 single speed
Re:Stringbike: Benefits (2020)
by InitialLastName on Wednesday August 10, 2022 @02:51PM
(#32416754)
In the US:
Carbon: $3478-$4553
Aluminum: $3100-$3800
Designers: $1386-$1909 (many priceless, presumably expensive)
Single Speed: $1090
Wow that is a big difference on Aluminum. I was looking at the US prices myself, and my first thought was I bet I could add shifter levers on that single speed myself and save 2 grand. The EU prices make much more sense.
Esoteric gearing/hubs are really expensive. I have an internally-geared bike, and the rear wheel/hub is already 1/2 the cost of the entire bike... and that's more or less using tech that was originally developed in 1957.
Are they saying their adjustable gear mechanism accounts for $2000 of the price?
Look again: the "single speed" includes the gearing:
"The gear shifter was removed however gears can be changed manually pulling or pushing the pulley up or down when the bike is stationary."
You're paying $2000 to not have to stop and change gears manually, or saving $2K by doing without the gear shifter, which ever way you wish to look at it. I almost think the price is a typo.
Good aluminum bikes can be nicer than cheap carbon.
Absolutely! And rim brakes with new break pads can work better than disc brakes. Besides you don’t need to refill brake fluid in rim brakes.
Re:Stringbike: Benefits (2020)
by rich_sasha on Wednesday August 10, 2022 @02:23PM
(#32416380)
You can definitely find two fairly priced frames, where the better/pricier one is made of aluminium and the cheaper one is carbon. It helps carbon fiber prices have gone down substantially in the last decade.
Still, it is a bit odd...
The prices on their different lines seem way out of whack though. Carbon and Aluminum cost basically the same? Aren't carbon bikes usually much more expensive than others?
Single speed is _way_ cheaper than the rest. Like unexpectedly so. Are they saying their adjustable gear mechanism accounts for $2000 of the price?
And Designer is in the middle?
I really don't understand the pricing scale here.