[Closed] £1800 for a frame......madness!!

Lots of mfrs up=price their frames as they CBA supplying them - a bike may be more representative of its value.

DrP I looked at the prices of new frames recently and it is ridiculous.

I was reading a mag article in this weekends Times about breaking/salvage of Boeing 737's and a 7yr old 737 can be worth 12m in one piece or 18m if broken up/sold for parts etc.

One of the smallest returns was the actual aluminium - apparently the whole lot can sometimes go for $3,000-4,000. 😯

Slightly OT but the majority of a frame is alu...the rest is marketing and markup after the shock is taken out of the equation...lets face it a 2k frame will have a £300-400 shock?

What have you been looking at hora?
I'm after something to replace my dead meta 5 - perhaps another meta, or something to use the shock in (200 x 51)...

DrP

I bought an Intense Spider fram used in 2005 for a grand with Hope h/set, seat pin and XT HR crank, total bargain as at the time they were something like £1600/£1700. So the pivot would seem reasonable given 7 years inflation.

I have come to the conclusion that buying frames alone is not economically viable - particularly if you end-up having to replace components that are not compatable with your new frame.

better to buy the complete bike and flog your old one - or swap your current (and compatable) components onto the new frame, and sell the parts it came with "as new".

I foresee a spreadsheet in your future....

filthy cheap aluminium, tubes & welding £2000 😯

CRC seem to sell off a lot of brand new old frames pretty cheap, I guess it just depends if their brand / model availability floats your boat.

Depends what brands you are looking at.

I suspect you are only looking at the brands with healthy marketing budgets and hype, hence the reason you know about them and hence why they are expensive, see the problem?

A few options around from the likes of On One and myself 🙂

I personally think bikes are a rip off, I just can't get my head around how they justify the price tags on times. I recently built a bike and made massive savings buying older parts still from the likes of CRC but to buy the bike new I could go out and buy a 2nd and 1000cc superbike which too as an aluminium frame, and allot more aluminium at that.

I was just being nosey/having a look. Seeing the prices stopped me.

Same with new forks. ALOT are close to 800.

[url= http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html ]ALOT are close to 800.[/url]

What's wrong with Boardman, Giant or Canyon bikes?

Seem to ride just as well as the boutique stuff at a fraction of the cost.

If you want a 2k frame, fine, if you like to be a bit different, express your personality through brand image and are willing to pay for it then go for it.

Bet most people couldn't tell the difference in a blind test. 😀

Not aimed at the OP by the way.

Yeah the niche North American (and some UK) brands seem to have a 50% minimum price premium (and often use out-dated suspension designs) yet plenty of people still seem to lap them up...

When I was looking at replacement frames, I was pretty shocked to see how short the warrantee's are - I would think that paying almost 2 grand for a frame would get you a bit longer than what lots of companies are offering.

Voted with my feet in the end, and bought a Rose

It is madness, agreed

yet plenty of people still seem to lap them up...

Thats the problem. You price to your market..

half that for a 2012 meta55 frame only on CRC...

Great link Toasty.... I like ALOT.

[img] [/img]

£20,000

I wonder what the economics of "donor" bikes are?

Eg: if you bought a basic spec Santa Cruz, and swapped the components with a high-spec, compatable Canyon. Leaving you with a high-spec Santa Cruz to keep, and a basic spec Canyon to sell-on.

I suspect you'd probably be a few hundred quid better-off. Anyone done this?

yet plenty of people still seem to lap them up...

And you also assume that by adding an extra £20 CNC'd lump of aluminium and 10 more bearings, justifies extra cost. Single pivot isn't out-dated, it's different, and sells a lot of frames on it's strengths. I've owned a DW link bike and a few FSRs, I like the single pivot lot the best.

Unless you meant elastomers on a unified rear triangle or something obviously 😛

Been looking at that meta on CRC......

So - what are your prices on xls at the mo? Looking for something for (cringe) 'all mountain' duties...

Also - I wouldn't say the likes of pivot/ ghost are that well known/widespread?

DrP

Just updated my frame to a Blur TRc, have to admit I was a little shocked at the initial price and if it wasnt for the fact I could swap 95% of my existing components across I would NOT have purchased it.
To make matters worst I could only get 500GBP for my 9 month old ASR-5 frame, so for best value my next purchase will be a nearly new second hand complete bike.

Ian if you're looking for the new meta it's going to be fairly expensive as it's a brand new bike and thus the R&D costs are being passed on the frame.
If you are looking for the same as yours, commencal could sell you the frame only for 800€.

ALOT are close to 800.

Toasty.. reminds me alot of the 'Things' in Viz

toasty, you own me a new laptop... Looks like I'll have ALOT of trouble to get the coffee of this one 😉

There was a place selling very reasonable Specialized frames on here recently, I guess they are all gone now though. Of course lot of people on this forum couldn't possibly enjoy themselves on such a mainstream bike brand anyway.

ALOT are close to 800.

I thought ALOT were closer to £2k, link please?

Damn it - I'd have given £550 for the Yeti (not paying for the shipping from HK mind you...) 😉

Ignoring the original topic and pretending it's purely about ALOTs. Everything on [url= http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.co.uk/ ]Hyperbole and a Half[/url] is ace.

Yeti 575 frame - 1499

http://www.wheelies.co.uk/p51225/Yeti-575-Frame.aspx

Orange 5 frame - 1395 (which surprises me as it's cheaper than many frames made in Taiwan)

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/125160.html

NS Soda - 1287 (For something a bit freeridey)

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=81429

Pace RC-606 18" frame - 1000

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/29085/Pace_RC506_All_Mountain_Trail_Frame_2010

Nukeproof Mega frame - 899

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=75355

Titus El Gaupo frame - 799

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FRTITELGUV2/titus_el_guapo_frame_and_monarch_shock

I was looking at lightville as one of my mates was raving about them (he had a go on one in the Alps recently), my 40th is 2 years away and I was thinking about treating myself to something a bit nice and their warrenty is a phenomenal 5 + 5 years on the bike (not owner) for manufacturing and crashes etc.

When I finally discovered the price for the Al frame in it's shortest travel version was 2K yoyos (price was hidden on the low left of the bumf list) I quickly went back to probably getting a Custom Ti Hardtail instead.

I'm surprised at the low price of the 5 considering it's built in the UK.

Grum, spec enduro floats my boat also - prefer the 09 models too.... Alas, missed that sale too!

DrP

Funny thing, I only paid 400 for my ALOT. From a well-know breeder mind...

Those Lightville frames look fantastic.... but holy cow: HOW MUCH?!?!?!

My second hand Heckler frame was £300 with a DHX5 coil shock :-)))

Ian if you liked the meta I am not sure you'll like the specilized. The SO has one and the cinematic is at the complete opposite of the meta.

I got a used 2010 Trek Fuel EX9 frame for £425 off ebay in good great condition, Love it!

Remember, everyone from the maker to supplier has to have their cut to make a living - that's life isn't it. There are bargains to be had if you look round. My 2010 5 Spot was just over a grand new but now they're up to over £1,500 for the same year!
Second hand year old frames make good sense as you can get them at roughly half price. If they've been well looked after then I'd go down that route which I have many times before.

@hora - the airframe is basically worthless as you say, partly as it's the component with the least durability and partly as to re-use it you have to spend money melting it down etc etc. The engines form the majority of a used airliners value as you can bolt them onto something else or strip down for components.

To OP there are plenty of great frames around the 1k mark

One of the smallest returns was the actual aluminium - apparently the whole lot can sometimes go for $3,000-4,000.

Slightly OT but the majority of a frame is alu...the rest is marketing and markup after the shock is taken out of the equation...lets face it a 2k frame will have a £300-400 shock?

So what you are suggesting is that because an airframe is only worth £4k as dirty scrap (its more than that though - the 737 sized fuselage I bought a couple of years ago was more like £8k, and that wasn't complete) then that is all it costs to build an airframe?

You bought a 737 fuselage? What for?

mtb stuff is very overpriced and doesn't seem very strong for how much it costs. I never broke much bmx stuff and the whole lot cost less than a suspension fork these days. Fair enough there's less to go wrong but still..

You bought a 737 fuselage? What for?

I told you - I bought it for £8k, do pay attention.

Bought it to [url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/apr/19/glasgow-international-visual-art-festival ]blow it up, then carefully put all the bits back together again[/url]. Should have been brilliant fun but it wasn't.

That's what I meant...usage. Work in counter terrorism/intelligence/forensics then?

Oh...I see....art lol....cool.

mtb stuff is very overpriced and doesn't seem very strong for how much it costs.

the cost/added value is in making it as light as possible, the trade off for making it light is that it'll end up being only just strong enough.

After reading this thread, it got me thinking - the only "problems" I've had with bikes and related purchases have been with manufacturers/distributors/sellers of high-end or boutique brands. Seems to me that all the USPs associated with expensive stuff are just that - designed to justify the price, not any reflection on quality/performance/customer care.

After seeing that 5 link, I noticed they have Bloods at £899.
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/122142.html
Is that common?

Loads of quality frames been available new-old stock for half price or less, seen £2K yetis and Turners for £800, ibis mojos for £1100... I paid £1000 for a brand new Alpine 160 with CCDB, retail on that is £1800...

Who pays rrp?

[url= http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s1p3507 ]Nice cheapish trance-x with very saleable parts on it ?[/url]