Average bike in Ireland only costs 190 euro

Finally - I'm above average in something cycling related!! (along with everyone else on here)

BostonB wrote: »

Or broke. People buying BMW's aren't buying unbranded bike, I'm guessing.

Nope. That's clearly not it

BostonB wrote: »

I don't get it.

Me neither, thought we were in a recession.

New model 5-series, the stalwart of the executive saloon, not surprising really. I've seen a LOT of new 5-series about, very few X1s (thankfully).

I also spotted a 10-D registered Ferrari 458 in town last week. There was no traffic yet it was still being driven like a Micra, for shame, barely a warble out of the V8. He was probably terrified it was going to spontaneously combust.

kona wrote: »

Because Irish people are cheapskates. Same with cars, look at all the poverty spec BMW cars around, 1.6 and cloth seats? prestige my hole.

That's more down to the fact that we pay ridiculous prices for cars as it is and there's very little competition in the car market. The basic spec on sale in Ireland is often not sold anywhere else in Europe and is still more expensive than the "basic" spec in a mainland EU country.

But this is a discussion about bikes. I suspect there are two things at play here;

1. Irish people are very poor at recognising value. As we demonstrated so spectacularly with our property bubble.
We tend to think that something which is priced cheaply is a bargain worth buying (even if it's a complete crock), while at the same time we view an abornomally high price as indicative of quality.

When it comes to the middle-of-the-road stuff we either try to haggle the seller down to the "bargain" price or start wondering what's wrong with it that it's not a "premium" price like the more expensive one.

2. Bikes are still seen as playthings, disposable toys, rather than a means of travel. As others have commented here a lot (kona I think mainly ), Irish people seem happy to spend hundreds on a bike and then secure it using a €10 piece of wire that could be cut with a child's safety scissors. You wouldn't buy a car and park it unlocked, yet so many people seem satisfied to effectively do the same with their bike. And arguably it's harder to steal an unlocked car than a locked bike.

The dutch would be more likely to see the bike as an addition to the family's transport arsenal, and so spend more money to get the quality that's required. In a Dutch city especially, they might look at a €1,000 bike and compare it to a €10,000 car. Whereas here (and to be fair in most other places), it's a not bike -v- car decision. The car is necessary, the bike is supplement.

When an Irish person looks at two bikes, one costing €190 and another costing €400, they see no difference. All they see is €210 in the difference and assume that the €190 bike is a bargain. It's only when they difference is huge (like €190 -v- €1k) that they start to think there must be a difference.

seamus wrote: »

1. Irish people are very poor at recognising value. Dumb cheapskates

:pac:

BostonB wrote: »

Or broke. People buying BMW's aren't buying unbranded bike, I'm guessing.

Despite what RTE tell you, not everybody is broke, only a generation is that bought in negative equity. Im not broke, and TBH neither are alot of people, sure pre recession try selling somebody a 1K hybrid, during recession, they are flying out, C2W or not, they are still dropping a minimum of e550 or e760 ish.

Plenty of new Diesel cars on the road, which cost more than the equivalent petrol.

My point on BMW is that people are cheapskates, for the price of a base model bimmer you could get a full spec older model. Which brings me to seamus point of Irish and value.

Seriously, in too many cases trying to get somebody to spend e350 on a machine they expect to use everyday in all conditions and not break is some ordeal.

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

I remember in college I was gawking at friends spending 200 to 300 euro on bikes for commuting. Sure, that's mad money for a bike! I can get one in Super Valu for 90 euro!

It's funny, people know that a Polo is more expensive than a Punto. But Puntos break down, polos are well engineered and hold their value, etc. so the price is justified. A lot of people are happy to buy Polos over Puntos because it is solid, reliable and nice to travel in. For some reason they can't extend this to bikes. If it has two wheels and it moves, then a supermarket junker is no different than a Specialized Sirrus or Trek 7.2 in their minds, so why pay more?

Pedal boxes on the polos go on them, the only reason the punto has a bad name is because of HGF of the cheaper 8v engine. The better more expensive 16v doesnt suffer this. 8v probably wouldnt either if people knew how to look after their cars!
Likewise I wouldnt say expensive bikes are reliable, your just more likely to get a good one. Look at the Sram rival shifters on the Boardman Team Carbon for example.
However spend under e200 and your guaranteed a heap of ****e.

kona wrote: »

Pedal boxes on the polos go on them, the only reason the punto has a bad name is because of HGF of the cheaper 8v engine. The better more expensive 16v doesnt suffer this. 8v probably wouldnt either if people knew how to look after their cars!
Likewise I wouldnt say expensive bikes are reliable, your just more likely to get a good one. Look at the Sram rival shifters on the Boardman Team Carbon for example.
However spend under e200 and your guaranteed a heap of ****e.

Pretty sure the head gasket is known to crack on all puntos, although we have an 8 year old sporting with the 16 valve alloy block and it's fine. The brake and clutch master cylinders also gave problems on that and an 8v one.

Problems aside, it's the perception of quality. VWs have nice plastics, they're well finished, the body and interior panels are always properly aligned and fitted, there are no squeaks or rattles. People don't seem to see this with bikes, possibly because they are too bothered with externals like the weather or imminent death, but a cheap bike is still going to be awful to ride, the parts will squeak and rattle and possibly snap off. Yes, more expensive bikes aren't immune, but it's less likely.

SRAM Rival shifters are notorious though, cheap plastic innards. Great design let down by cheap parts. A little like my poor old punto.

Lumen wrote: »

Fixed that for you.

I won't bother fixing that for you:

My mavic rims hope 2 hubs cost more than the average bike