i was thinking the other day about how expensive tri bikes are compared to mountain bikes. an example from canyon, who might be sort of special in terms of their pricing, but who are also a very big player in terms of sales and sponsorships etc.
looking at canyon's tri range here in switzerland (and swapping swiss francs for US$, which are pretty close), the offering goes:
$2850: speedmax CF7. 105-level components, box-section wheels, powermeter, bento box, flat kit storage.
$7950: speedmax CF SLX 8. ultegra, dt-swiss aero wheels, integrated hydration/storage
$10290: speedmax CFR. dura-ace, slighter deeper dt-swiss wheels, otherwise same frame as above.
looking at the cross-country MTB range, it goes:
$3100: lux world cup 6. shimano LX, fox 32 step-cast remote, dt swiss wheels
$3499: lux world cup 7. shimano XT. fox elite, reynolds wheels
$4679: lux world cup 8: gx eagle axs, fox factory, dt swiss wheels
$6549: lux world cup team: XTR, fox factory, dt swiss wheels
$7950: lux world cup CRF LTD. XX sl eagle axs, dt, ceramic bearings, dt swiss carbon wheels
now, people have won kona on the 10k+ version of the speedmax. but puck pieterse won the MTB world cup on that lux. it's a top, top tier bike. there are more build options available, and - to me - they look like better value at almost every level. they're also plenty complicated to build - the lux is a carbon-framed, dual-suspension XC rig with an IPU unit and internal cables and the works.
so: why are tri bikes so expensive?
____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan
http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/
looking at canyon's tri range here in switzerland (and swapping swiss francs for US$, which are pretty close), the offering goes:
$2850: speedmax CF7. 105-level components, box-section wheels, powermeter, bento box, flat kit storage.
$7950: speedmax CF SLX 8. ultegra, dt-swiss aero wheels, integrated hydration/storage
$10290: speedmax CFR. dura-ace, slighter deeper dt-swiss wheels, otherwise same frame as above.
looking at the cross-country MTB range, it goes:
$3100: lux world cup 6. shimano LX, fox 32 step-cast remote, dt swiss wheels
$3499: lux world cup 7. shimano XT. fox elite, reynolds wheels
$4679: lux world cup 8: gx eagle axs, fox factory, dt swiss wheels
$6549: lux world cup team: XTR, fox factory, dt swiss wheels
$7950: lux world cup CRF LTD. XX sl eagle axs, dt, ceramic bearings, dt swiss carbon wheels
now, people have won kona on the 10k+ version of the speedmax. but puck pieterse won the MTB world cup on that lux. it's a top, top tier bike. there are more build options available, and - to me - they look like better value at almost every level. they're also plenty complicated to build - the lux is a carbon-framed, dual-suspension XC rig with an IPU unit and internal cables and the works.
so: why are tri bikes so expensive?
____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan
http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/