Why are some bicycles so expensive? Is it worth it?

Maybe youre new to cycling, and youve walked into a bike store and seen bikes that cost one or two thousand dollars, maybe five or six thousand dollars and wondered why anyone would spend that much on a bike.

Or maybe youve been riding for a while, and its time to upgrade your bike, and youre wondering how much money you should spend on it.

Lets look at what makes some bikes so expensive and try to answer the main question: Is an expensive bike worth it?

Are Expensive Bikes Worth It

Why are road bikes so expensive?

First, if youre looking for a road bike, you can usually get a decent aluminum road bike today for about seven to eight hundred dollars.

Once you get to carbon fiber, youll be looking at around $1,500,

But fortunately, if youre a road cyclist, you dont get much more performance for bikes over two grand.

Yes, there is an increase in performance, but the performance increase curve relative to the money you spend starts to drop off when you go over that two thousand dollar price range.

Best road bikes under 2000 Dollars + Buyers Guide

Best Beginner Road Bike Under $500: [Top 7 Picks For 2021]

Why are mountain bikes so expensive?

If youre a mountain biker with a slightly lower budget, youll probably want to look into a hardtail mountain bike. You can get a good one for about seven or eight hundred dollars.

If youre looking for a full-suspension bike, youll have to spend at least a thousand or fifteen hundred dollars to get a decent full-suspension MTB.

The cheap full-suspension MTBs are not worth it, and you should look at a hardtail instead.

If you are looking for a hardtail, I would recommend looking at a 29 MTB or even the new 27.5 plus-size tires that are bigger but have a lot of guts and are very comfortable.

And if I were to buy a hardtail, thats what I would look at.

2021 Update: 4 Best Mountain Bikes Under 1500 Dollars

Best Mountain Bikes Under $500

Why Are Bikes So Expensive

In the cycling world, the general rule of thumb for buying a bike is lightweight, durable, and cheap pick two.

In short, an expensive bike will be lighter, stiffer, and have excellent performance.

If its a mountain bike, it will also have a high-performance suspension.

The material used for frames and bike components is essential for performance and ride quality.

There is aluminum, steel, titanium, and carbon fiber. Each of these materials improves ride quality, but carbon fiber dominates the more expensive bikes because of its exceptional quality. Not only is it light, but its also stiff and shock absorbing on roads and trails. Its also very expensive to manufacture

So lets look at the different components of a bike and list what makes them more expensive on high-end bikes.

The frame

The frame is at the heart of any bike, which usually makes bikes so expensive.

In general, the frame is the heaviest component of a bike.

Carbon fiber frames will be rigid, so when you sprint, the bike wont flex, and the power you put into the pedals will go straight to the wheels and make the bike faster.

It will also be lighter, so when youre going up a hill, whether in the saddle or not, a stiffer and more lightweight frame will go faster.

Most road or trail vibrations will go from the ground to the frame and ultimately to the rider.

Carbon fiber absorbs some of these vibrations, so you dont experience as much riding your bike.

Of course, a carbon fiber frame will be light. Some carbon fiber road frames can weigh less than 2 pounds.

Difference between Carbon and Aluminium bikes [TOP 8 factors]

Wheels

I consider wheels to be the second most crucial component of a bike.

Again, youre going to find more expensive wheels on more expensive bikes, and usually, theyre going to be carbon, whether theyre cyclocross or MTB wheels.

Carbon fiber wheels are built to be laterally stiff. In other words, from side to side, so they are very precise.

But they also absorb some bumps on the trail. This is an excellent quality youll find in carbon fiber wheels.

Best Road Bike Wheels Under 500 [Weight, Perf., Design]

Tires

In a more expensive bike, youll also find better-quality tires.

Higher quality tires have a higher TPI or thread count. A 120TPI tire will be more flexible than a 60TPI tire.

This flexibility will allow the tire to flex over small bumps, making it more comfortable and giving it more grip.

One of the Best tire brands is Maxxis. I wrote a comparison of different versions: Intro. Guide to Maxxis Mountain Bike Tires [Enduro to Downhill]

Handlebars

On more expensive bikes, youll also find carbon fiber handlebars.

Not only are they light, but theyre also stiff to allow for exact steering. And youll usually find a carbon fiber seat post.

One of the unique properties of carbon fiber is that it can be built to flex where it needs to flex and be rigid where it needs to be.

So you want a handlebar to be rigid, but you want the seat post to be built to be somewhat flexible.

This will allow the saddle to move to provide some suspension, which is very important for cyclocross, gravel, and Härtel mountain bikes.

Saddle

One thing that can make a huge difference in terms of comfort is the saddle.

A saddle can be very light or heavy, depending on its price.

The more expensive saddles will have titanium rails, reducing the saddles and the bikes overall weight.

However, these saddles are generally less comfortable on long rides because they can rub your inner thighs and hit different pressure points.

The higher-end saddle will be shaped not to hit pressure points, and the thinner saddles can be more comfortable on a long ride.

Check out these articles

2020 Best Road Bike Seat [Padding, Waterproof, Comfort]

Saddle Sores: All You Need To Know [Causes and Solutions]

Brakes

Todays high-end MTB and cyclocross bikes are equipped with hydraulic disc brakes.

Youre even starting to see them on road bikes. Hydraulic disc brakes have unique qualities that make them superior to most cable brakes.

They have a lot of modulation, which means that when you squeeze the brake lever, you can regulate the power.

So if you squeeze the lever a little bit, you get a little bit of power, and if you squeeze it hard, you get a lot more power.

And it avoids that on-off feeling, which keeps you from locking up the wheel and makes it easier to adjust the right amount of power.

Hydraulic disc brakes also perform better in wetter conditions and require less maintenance.

With cable-actuated brakes, you can get dirt and grime inside the housing, which requires more maintenance.

I only have to bleed my brakes once a year if the higher-end brakes are easier to adjust to.

Check out these articles:

Mountain Bike Disc Brakes: Best Set for your MTB Ride

Bike Brakes Squeaking: Main Causes + actionable solutions [Rim & Disc]

Drivetrain

A bikes drivetrain is very important to its performance.

A drivetrain includes your cranks, chain, shifters, derailleurs, and cassette.

High-end transmissions will be built with more technology like ramps (on the cassette) that allow the chain to move up and down very smoothly and precisely.

Today, transmissions with only one chainring at the front are common on many styles of bikes, so you only have one lever to change the rear.

This allows for more simplicity and can reduce weight in some areas, such as having only one shifter and chainring in the front.

However, this usually requires a cassette in the back that needs to be larger.

Many sprockets are now made of titanium to reduce the weight of these larger cassettes, which can also be very expensive.

High-end bikes also have more technology built into the rear derailleur or shifter, as it is called in some countries.

For example, one of the most commonly used rear derailleurs, the Shimano XT 2, has a lever that you can engage in, making the spring stiffer.

This reduces chain slap. In other words, the chain moves up and down as you ride.

Not only does this protect your frame, but it also allows the chain to stay on the front chainring better.

If a chain falls off a chainring, it can damage your frame and cause a fall.

Suspension

If youre interested in a mountain bike, the suspension plays a huge role in your bikes performance and quality.

One way a high-end suspension can perform better is by having more settings.

But be aware that a high-end suspension will have more settings to tune for the qualities you are looking for.

An expensive fork will not only have the settings I mentioned but also be durable and smooth.

The fork will be tough and heavy if youve ever ridden an MTB that costs $500.

This fork weighs about 8 pounds, which is very light for a front fork on an MTB.

Full suspension MTBs or MTBs with a rear suspension will also be more expensive than hardtail MTBs.

On average, you will find that a full suspension MTB costs about a thousand dollars more than an MTB without a rear suspension.

The rear suspension not only allows the rear tire to absorb bumps, which increases comfort but also allows the rear tire to stay on the ground longer. When youre going downhill, the tires remaining on the ground improves braking performance and will enable you to maintain more speed, especially in the turns.

Wider spacing

In particular, technology has advanced in mountain bikes, and one of the newest technologies is wider spacing. And its usually called boost spacing.

So front axles with boost spacing are typically 115 millimeters wide, and rear axles generally are 148 millimeters wide.

These wider axles make for a stiffer bike and allow frame builders to shorten chainstays, especially for MTBs, improving the bikes agility and handling.

All the components I mentioned - the frame, wheels, handlebars, seat post, brakes, drivetrain, and tires - come together to create a more expensive, lighter, stiffer, and a faster bike that will perform very well.

The handling will be sharper, and the bike will be more comfortable.

Aluminum vs. Carbon

If you have to choose between a carbon or aluminum frame or wheels, I will go with carbon wheels and aluminum frames. That will give the best ride quality because the wheels significantly differ in precision and riding speed. A lighter wheel picks up speed faster.

Rotational weight makes the most significant difference in ride quality. In other words, a frame does not rotate; it is stationary.

So the wheels, since they rotate, will pick up speed faster if they are lighter.

I wrote a complete comparison of Aluminum vs. Carbon bikes: Difference between Carbon and Aluminium bikes [TOP 8 factors]

CONCLUSION

Is an expensive bike worth it to you? It depends on what you want to do on a bike:

• If all you want to do is ride on a bike path, look at the scenery and hang out with your friends or family, you dont need a very expensive bike.
• If you like to ride an MTB but want to go out in the woods, pedal, and be in nature without worrying about your speed, you dont need a very expensive MTB.
•  And, of course, some of us demand a lot of performance from a bike. And those are the ones who will have to spend more money to get there.

If youre a racer, you demand the best performance you can get for your budget.

But you dont have to be a racer to be in that category. You can be someone who likes to go fast and enjoy the feel of a light, stiff bike.