The Truth About Entry Level Bikes in 2023
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
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When i restarted bought a 99 USD Huffy. It served the purpose of getting me back on the bicycle. I sold it when I moved and I bought a 2000 USD all carbon with Ultgera bike. I kept going and now own a top of the line major manufacturer gravel bike. You work your way up to the level you feel confident about. There's absolutely nothing wrong with buying a 500 USD starter bicycle and upgrading as you go.
I recently got into the sport and did spent 1500€ on a bike and another 400€ on equipment. ( I stopped my college sport, so I’ll be riding most of the days) I thought it was a big investment for a hobby. Now I start to realize that I am just at the start 😂. On the other side I would rather spend 5-10 grand more on a bike than on a car so I guess it depends what you value, where you live and how often you ride.
i bought a used (about 10 jears old) decatlon aluminum roadbike with a old sora group for under 200€ 3 years ago, used it every day for comuting and tours put about 4000km on it, passed it on to my brother a year ago who just rides a tour from germany throu holland and back, about 130 km every day for several days.these thing lasts long and served some people realy well as a entry to roadbikes. probably also becaus its so unexpensive you dount worry about it. i got me a used cervelo p3, moded it as a roadbike for under 1000€, also a nice bike i think. thanks for the video!
Great video especially for a person like me who chooses not to spend much on a bike, mine are all around £300 new, I have 6. All work perfectly and I only experience the usual problems like punctures.
£300 is entry level £1000 for a bicycle for the vast majority of the population is quite frankly ridiculous manufacturers are nuts no wonder Halfords and decathlon shift so many bike's.
And what happens to the majority of Halfords or Decathlon bikes (they make some good bikes)? Not worth repairing/end up in the tip which is a massive environmental problem. How do they make prices this low? Borderline slave labour to make poor quality goods that don't last.
Why do people think they always 'deserve' a brand new bike? We don't have this attitude to a car, not sure why people feel entitled to a good quality new bike. Buy 2nd hand if you're getting into the sport.
I think bike manufacturers are perfectly aware of why Halfords and decathlon are shifting so many units but I doubt many brands want to be known as ruling that end of the market due to not wanted that to negatively impact their luxury brand image.
@@lenolenolenowhile I agree with a couple of your points I don't think for a second that when you spend more on a product you will get a more ethically produced item.
Marketing also has a huge impact on the price of a brands products and it's a lot easier to have lower prices when you aren't spending millions on team sponsorship or advertising.
@tobyg4556 not saying more money = more ethical. But I believe there is a minimum cost you must accept for a bike to be built with a certain level of longevity in mind.
But when you want brand new bikes for 100 USD/100 GBP, you don't meet a minimum level of quality (to the point that it's actually worth repairing, aka disposable bikes, I'd say is unethical from an environmental standpoint). This constsnt whinge for new bikes to be as dirt cheap as possible doesn't = greater accessibility as many people believe (because new cyclists ride a piece of junk and that's all they'll ever know).
TLDR: Plenty of 2nd hand bikes on the market for cheap, just like with cars (relative to their original MSRP). A race to the absolute bottom of the barrel with pricing isn't the solution to making cycling more accessible.
If you asked the majority of population about anything they don’t know about then they will say it’s probably to expensive 😂 ask the majority of cyclists however then they will probably be more understanding of a £1000+ entry level bike. Wether that’s affordable is a different matter.
One thing I have found in chasing the used entry bike market, is that finding a frame that fits (especially for larger height and weight individuals) can be a challenge. Also, unfortunately, one does not want to be inadvertently contributing to the stolen bike market/supply.
I bought the cheapest decathlon roadbike in 2009 and rode it for years. It's good enough so you can get into the sport and cheap enough to efford. Acctually quite a good strategy!
Bought my Cannondale Caad12 with Shimano 105 five years ago or so - never looked back, fantastic bike, still love how it looks and rides. I think I paid the equiv of 800 GBP for it on a sale.
Really like your thoughtful discussions. A distinction could also be made between entry level "new" and entry level "used". Much of entry level has to do with educating oneself about frame material characteristics, components and the type of riding one has done or expects to do, as well as cost.
About 10 years ago the wife of our university football coach was planning to buy some bikes for their kids a my LBS. The LBS owner overheard the coach saying that the "entry" kid's BMX bikes were too expensive and that she needed to go to Walmart to get them. That coach was making about $4.5 million/year at the time (now $7.5 million). However, for him the entry cost was sill too high. You have to know what your willing to stretch for I suppose.
I got a 600$ carbon road bike when I got into road cycling last year, I think it really helped as I learned a bunch of things about the hobby, as a 17 yrs old bike needs good maintenance, so I learned quite a lot, got the tools and also fixed a lot of issues my 20yrs old steel commuter had, like replacing shifter cables, brake pads, chain, cleaning the damn thing. So all in all I don't think the new bike market is very competitive with the used one, and I'm pretty sure the only new bikes actually selling are the cheaper ones and the very discounted old new bikes like there's a few BMC timemachines at a local bikeshop near me for 3200$ with full ultegra di2 from 2019 those are pretty much the only high end bikes I can imagine actually selling out
Some perspective. In 1985 I bought a Trek steel racing bike. 2nd model up. Cost at the time USD 600... Inflation adjusted today USD 1695. This would have been a great junior racer at the time and is still being used by me. Prices of bikes have way outpaced inflation and they are not proportionally better.
Im still riding my 1st road bike, an Old Raleigh. I've bought a couple since but honestly I would be just fine with the Raleigh still.
Really my first road bike a 1984 560 trek retailed for 390 bucks. Great bike second up the food chain. Hard to believe they went up in price that much in a year more than a third. Don't believe me Google the 84 catalog under 400 bucks is in print in the first line as the selling point. That is 1140. In todays money. Guess what the lowest priced trek today 1120.
Nope bikes in the lower end are fine compared to inflation. The problem is they are not made here employing people on other ends besides sales and service.
@@dylangrantz8124 actually 1984 catalog says " finally a bike for under 500 dollars" for the 560. Even the cheapest Trek 400 series bikes were above average quality. Sadly today's bottom of the line Treks don't match the same quality level.
@@yisraels4555 I guess you are missing the cost is in shipping is why low end bikes suck. The massive switch from steel to aluminum was also the same time the sent production overseas. That killed the quality steel lug construction market.
That 560 trek had a pieced together for the best price parts sr cheap cranks Dia comp brakes suntour derailers some crazy French bars kept price down. Since the invention of sti you can't do that parts don't play nice like friction days.
And not 500 it was under 400. I remember it like yesterday had a grand total of 440. Got that bike a frame pump an seat bag two tubes tire levers multi tool and bottle and cage. Took the bus to the shop rode it 16 miles home and had money left for lunch. It was certainly less than 500 bucks.
I remember it like yesterday because I was 14 years old and it was my first big purchase ever with money I earned.
While 1000 quid or dollars will seem ridiculous to a lot of people the problem is that a really cheap bike is not enjoyable to ride. People will ride a few days and because of lack of fitness and a crappy bike will hang the bike in the garage and never ride again. I don’t know what the stats are but the majority of new bikes purchased end up this way.
I'm guessing most people might not be getting a road bike for their first bike anyway. $1000~ on a road bike after gaining some experience on a $200~ hybrid seems like a reasonable route that many people might take.
My first road bike, which i bought in January, was 1000 pounds. It's a trek al2 disc.
How has it been? I’ve been considering it for 50% rough pavement, 30% smooth pavement, and 20% light gravel
@@chrisp9859 oh it's been a dream mate. Its far cheaper now too like under 800 quid. If you do gravel you could add wider tyres however the geometry is perfect for your style of riding
That entry level decathlon bike is probably really good, it's a shame it is no longer available in some countries outside the UK. I've bought the Van Rysel EDR AF 105 from them 2.5 years ago for 999€ which was and probably still is the cheapest fully 105 R7000 equipped road bike on sale today. It's my first road bike and it has served me really well, no intention of upgrading specially with the crazy disc brake prices. Every brand is removing rim brakes which has increased the entry price for most road bikes with not a lot of benefit unfortunately.
Greetings from Portugal!
Also depends on where you live. In Taiwan Giant sells their entry road bike SCR2 with Claris groupset for about 400 GBP currently. And lot of second line manufacturers sell still good but cheaper bike just they dont export much of those which is a shame, since lot of those are much better than the big sport shop bikes we see these days.
Let's face it, the best entry bike is a second hand bike. My first bike was a giant TCR which I paid £300 and sold back 3 years later for the same price. Still to this day the best value bike I ever got.
Bought a 2018 TCR after coming from a 12kg hybrid bike during Covid the bike does everythibg and more and after putting some nice old mavic exalith wheels on it a year a go it absolutely flies
I love your videos because they are so normal and so real. I dont want to spend money buying a bike computer, can you teach me how to use my phone for that purpose? please
Taking a bigger picture of this: getting into any hobby will cost $1000 to $1500 or even more. This applies to gardening, baking, kayaking, golf. Pretty much anything. This is after you dabbled into the hobby and made the decision to get into it. For cycling today, I would recommend buying a used bike to begin with then proceeding from there.
Uh no. Not every hobby starts at 1000
I have the Triban RC520 gravel and it is a good all roader. I was looking at the Giant Contend AR or Trek Domane ALR 5 and I glad got the Triban because I save 1000$ CAD. The only modification I had is the cassette with a 11-34
I bought the Triban rc120 at the beginning of covid and it was a perfect entry level road bike, it got me into cycling and did a solid job for 3 years. Wheels were the first thing that started to fail which I was surprised you knew that would happen straight away after riding it in your video! Shows your experience! I'm about to upgrade now finally but I'll keep it as a commuter. I think the goal posts of an "entry level" bike shift as your needs change as I'm looking at bikes now I'd consider ~€1100 entry level - not a catch all!
It’s such a broad spectrum. In terms of price, bikes with 8/9 speeds are pretty good quality now. But a lot of times, beginner need more help with climbing, especially for those living in hilly areas. 11 speed compact/sub compact gearing is worth considering for some
The cycle to work schemes have also warped pricing in the UK. Most of the limits for cycle to work are set in £1000 increments and bike brands have adjusted their pricing to reflect this. People with the typically more disposable income (who are more likely to have jobs where a cycle to work scheme is a benefit) end up buying more expensive bikes (albeit at an effective discount) and they are also the category who are more likely to spend more money on bike gear in general. The brands win and other people who don't have the benefit of a cycle to work scheme suffer greatly because of this.
Everyone's definition of entry level will vary depending on their financial situation or their interest/enthusiasm for cycling.
A fellow worker of mine is very competitive when it comes to cycling, but his bike is a Cervelo S2 with Shimano 105, not a "high" end bike to some. He said he had some "elitist" bike snobs say his bike is a nice beginner bike just because it has 105 and not SRAM Red or Shimano Durace
If I see a well used 105 groupset I know they are serious the bike snobs only do 10 miles to the cafe and back.
Many informed people or parents start with a caad 10 especially for crits and maybe a good secondhand set of wheels total $750 / $ 850.for racing a commuter bike $ 160 / $ 180 china.
I cycled a lot on a MTB for a long time, decided I wanted to do road so went for a Triban 500SE for £300, three months later I was buying a Cannondale for £1000, back then this got 105. I really wish I’d skipped straight to the Cannondale and saved myself the £300, although I got £150 back by selling it.
The people that would only spend $600 for a bike are smart people and know that it's only a bicycle. To them it's foolish to spend more than that. Even I don't get why it has become so common for a lot of folks to spend thousands when they know they aren't going to race that bike and just want it for the social aspect and exercise. It's gotten out of control when the media only wants to do reviews of $10,000 bikes. Most of us watching those videos won't buy those bikes. Most of the comments in the comments section are just kids sounding off.
The key to keeping bikes affordable is groups. The days before groups that only played with each other or the friction days brands could mix and match to get price points down. The sti thing started the whole thing that you needed a group. That drove up price.
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It's hard to put logic on things that also be personal expression.. in the US entry level is 700 or lower.. In my neighborhood there are gangs of kids on 1000$ electric scooters and 1600$ one wheels ..
My view with bikes is you need to spend enough that you use it. Or in a lot cases really want to use it Some people just don’t care about/know about how nice a thing is so spend $1 and there are people who want it to be a bit nicer. My wife commutes on a £3.5k e bike. Her commutes decently long and hilly and she wouldn’t do it other wise. This means no car costs, no gym membership etc etc so it’s easily paid for itself and given the bonus of being more fun, faster etc etc.
But a lot of people can’t afford the initial investment or don’t realise how much driving a car actually costs them each time they do it.
Entry level is subjective. For me it was getting into road bikes for fitness and possibly competition. By that definition I researched a lot and my first bike was a bike i built myself with a mix of shimano parts and cost me $2k ish. I spent that much money knowing eventually I’d be upgrading parts and now I’m using the same frame and wheel set with a sram red.
I have friends and have spoken to other people, colleagues and they do as much research and typically budget for 1500-2000 for their entry level, by my definition, bikes.
Entry level for which usage? Taking the kids for a ride... or cranking out training miles?
Fixie 'was' legit cool? It never stopped, baby!
TH-cam channel "bermpeak" gave a good review of the ozark trail mountain bike from walmart. Decent components for $300 (US $)
I bought my first bike (a MTB) from Decathlon for about 230€ . I'm using it a lot, almost every single day and I initially bought it to see if i liked biking as a sport. But now, after two years, I feel like i need something more because it's a bit limiting. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ready to invest 5.000€ for a new bike, but 1000-2000€ seems fair
100 for a groupset makes me wonder about how ethical the workers on the factory get treated.when something seems to good to be true there might be something wrong. Clothes industry has famously had investigations I wonder if cycling manufacturing if hiding similar problems in the se Asian area
Durability from an environmental perspective is pretty important and human rights seem to follow products that are good quality and last and you have to pay for . I agree people should have access to bikes but a second hand bike for 300 quid is alot more reasonable than a waste of the planet resources when you look at a 300 quid bike that has no life and won't be fixed we need to avoid disposable purchases
Here’s me commuting on my £5.5k Diverge 😂
Is parking it stressful?
Ya the triban bikes look like really good value. Other bike brands with similar specifications to triban cost so much more money. I don't see any reason to pay more.
I have just ridden up Col Du Tourmalet on a £500 Halfords bike. I do think going cheaper than the Triban and you'll be getting junk. Cheap children's bikes are often really bad.
In uk £1000 on cycle to work is around £50-60 per month depending on tax rates etc
How much is public transport?
Also a bike (or anything for that matter) doesn’t cost you what you initially pay for it, the cost is the depreciation.
Get a £1000 bike on cycle to work. Sell it after a year for £600 and you have lost nothing.
The bike was free
again I would compare it to other sports. Sure football(soccer) or the gym is probably cheaper at first but as pointed out midrange bikes last quiet a long time. I have a 1500€ canyon I quiet enjoy riding. I have about another 350 to 450€ in clothes. That means it currently clocks in at around 1900€. My last gym membership was 40€/month or just around 480€ per year and that didn't include the cloth(around the same as for the bike). so 3 years of gym membership is a bike that has at this point lasted me 3 years without replacing anything(I should replace the bar tape at some point).
I am very aware that this bike ins't entry level but it is a common entry level price point(aka someones first bike).
If you compare it to other industries where entry level is a considered a common thing entry level is around 1/6 to 1/4 of the high end range(not super duper high end range as that doesn't really exist is most industries). Lets use phones an new iphone is around 1k. An entry level phones starts at around 150 ish and ends at around the 230 mark in my book. GPUs about the same picture but the true low end are either secound hand or 2 gens or more old cards. lets say the top of the line before it gets artsy and just prohibitivly expensive is around 5k. that means that entry level could be at 900€ but as high as 1250€(I am by no means saying that is the case but I am saying if you take the entry level pricing of other industries a 1k-1.5k "entry" level bike doesn't sound insane anymore).
also quiet a few people spend 1k on a new phone everyother year without there being a need for that. The level of dispoable income grows quiet fast with higher incomes(base cost of existing) so while for some 1.5k would be unspendable on a bike for others it is 2-3 months of disposable income.
so all in all compared to higher end bikes the 1k price point is entry level(if compared to other industries), 1k-1.5k isn't that much in terms of fittness costs considering a bikes lifetime and quiet a few people have the means to spend 1.5k on getting their first bike.
It's pointless buying a super cheap new bikes for regular daily use. The cheaper components just wear out to quickly. Spend a little bit more even sora equipped bikes with praxis or fsa cranks can last for years if maintained properly!.buy once not twice!. My boardman road comp cost £400 in 2015 and apart from tyres chain replacements and brake pads is still as good as new I do look after it though. Yes I now have another bike carbon frame discs and rival etap but my boardman is not that far behind it and my new bike was £2500!!!!. If I had spent half that on carbon bits for my old bike I suspect it might have been even better??. Just be careful what you buy and for what purpose you will be using it and how often.
How do you get a well-fitting bike without blowing a sizable chunk of your budget on the fit and the swaps?
It’s the cycle to work scheme…. By putting that at a grand the market has adjusted to that price point
Buy used. Sold my SL7 a while back when I was riding mtb more, then bought a used Planet X for £350. Now riding road more so picked up a used Look for 3k..
Just out of curiosity, since you have talked about the quality level of the Triban, have either of you tried out any of the Poseidon bikes? Since several are sub $1000 bikes, I'm curious to hear your feedback/comments.
Aren't those terms just made from the marketing? On one side, to lure people into buying more expensive bikes for them to feel more "pro" than the neighbor, on the other site to get people to buy the "entry level" bike, because thinking that it is good value for money. For example, last year, bought a "Canyon Grail AL" with GRX 400 group set for about 1500€. This is their "entry level". It has an "entry level" Sella Italia sattle, which again is twice or three times the typical entry level sattle, DT Swiss wheels - same story, good sturdy alloy frame - if we scratch off the brand names of all bikes, this would be "mid-tear". I wonder how many have taken the 2000+€ stuff just to make sure "not to invest in too cheep".
tl;dr: "Entry level" is purely defined by what stands next to it as "mid-tear", "mid-tear" by "entry level".
300 pounds sounds like a lot to a person who doesn't want to buy bike shoes, lycra anything, a bike computer, a heart rate monitor, power meter, none of that. They want a bike to have wheels and that's it. They're not getting into the sport at all!
My 1st road bike was £1200 10 years ago. Came with 105, that was entry level at the time. No?
My commuter is £1300
Depends what you mean by entry level. Entry level for sunday 3h rides or entry level as in I want to ride a bike on a daily basis?
2k for a bike is a lot but you're talking about a product that can easily replace a gym membership and will be fine for the next 10 years. Yeah you need maintainance, but if you do it means you're spending hours on it, which proves the point that it's effective.
regarding the price I feel we're at a tipping point. Shimano is consolidating all groupsets < 105. Big brands are ditching rim brakes and don't sell anything entry level anymore. Chinese manufacturers are storming the market (frame,wheel, groupsets). I think soon we'll have big brands only offering 2/3k+ bikes with electronic shifting and such, while the entry/mid level market will be taken over by Chinese brands, that will hopefully have some compatibility, better QC and better consumer support.
The true question is why electronic shifting is so damn expensive when it's actually cheaper to manufacture. I guess they're trying to maximize profits before someone realizes it and/or patents expire.
The wheelset of the Decathlon RC120 are just horrible. They cannot stay true for longer than a couple of rides. I am 85 kg. The rest of the bike is ok. But not comparable with higher tiers bikes
I have a real nice gravel and road bike but my commuter is a state 4130 bought used and upgraded with sugino components have about 400 in it. Will lock it up anywhere without worrying. Bike marketing is a bit of a scam the difference between Ultegra and Tiagra to a regular person is minimal or non existent.
Take a look at the price of kids bikes £280 for a singlespeed Boardman bike in Halfords.
For a 6 yr old . Doesn't even have a groupset How do they justify that price..
Entry level bikes are a total rip off in 2023. I picked up an S-Works Dura Ace Tarmac SL5 for $1500. One of the best bikes ever made for less than a 105 group entry level bike, it's nuts.
$300 was a good price in 1989. Just based on cost increase of goods that would be insanely low! I think our biggest problem is that wages haven't increased at the same rate.
I refuse to spend a lot on my commuter bike. No point buying an expensive bike and attract more thief's attention
I'm definitely not wealthy, but I ride almost everywhere I go on a $3000 bike, pretty much every day. Yes, it's a bit much for a bike, but it's not exactly a Pinarello, either; it's just a decent alloy gravel bike with very nice wheels, tires, and groupset. I don't have a car, and a nice bike is a LOT less expensive than almost any kind of car, and a lot better for my financial and mental health. I decided quite a long time ago that I would much rather skip having a car entirely and have a nice bike than have a shit bike, a shit car, and be broke.
I just recently ‘entered’ the sport. Bought a Planet X London Road gravel, really happy with it. It’s got sram rival hydraulic brakes. Got it on sale for under £1000.
Would be interesting if you reviewed it. I don’t want to try a big brand bike fearing I realise the Planet X is sh*t making me spend more dollar. Haha. Ignorance is bliss right. 😂
There's a difference between a cheap bike and a cheaply made bike.
great discussion on gateway drugs
lol or you could just train better than everyone and still be competitive on the cheap
Truth is, just like iPhones, everyone wants the latest and greatest
in honest word it bad bike. not good enough but overprice either. nothing to lose
I wonder if you're overthinking this . I've thought about it , you're definitely overthinking this .
Cheap bikes will cost you more in the long run so just spend like $1200 and be done with it.
there are no entry level bikes anymore. just expensive, more expesive, ridiculously expensive, and "are you f*ckn crazy?" expensive.
A degen who spent £1200 on an iPhone, £450 on a hammer & sickle tattoo, £20-30 daily on Uber and Starbucks soy latte: "£340 for a bike?! how is that entry-level!?"
ayo?