Motorcycle Pricing Vs. Bicycle Pricing… Or, “Why Are Pedal Bikes So Expensive?”

[advrider]

Bought a bicycle lately? Not a cheap Wal-Mart special, but a good bicycle? Or, have you talked to your bicyclist keener friends about what they paid for their ride? Chances are, you were shocked by the price tag of a good pedal bike. Maybe you thought to yourself: “I could buy a pretty good used motorcycle for that money. Or even a new one.”). So what’s up? Why is motorcycle pricing vs. bicycle pricing so out-of-whack?

Everyone’s favorite moto-agitator is back to examine this question. Whether or not bicycle pricing makes sense to you or me. Ryan’s video does raise several interesting points. For instance, there are actually a lot more moving parts in a modern bicycle than you might think—and whether those parts are internal combustion-powered or muscle-powered, many are precision-made of high-tech materials, which comes at a price. Bicycle manufacturers are dealing with different financial scales, including more margin baked-in to the price. They are also offering bikes that are more closely-adapted to individual customers; in the moto world, the adaptation of a bike to an individual rider is generally left to the consumer. And frankly, the consumers that are buying expensive bicycles are just different consumers than the people buying lower-priced motorcycles, with different priorities. Are motorcycle manufacturers losing sales to high-end bicycles, or vice versa? I doubt it’s much of a problem.

Here’s something else to consider. When you compare this KTM 390 Duke’s North American MSRP (CAD$, in the case of the video above) with the price in India, we might actually be overpaying for the motorcycle, not the bicycle (Ryan doesn’t say this, but it’s worth pointing out).

But however you feel about this, I can tell you my own perspective: No matter how much you can argue that an expensive bicycle is worth the money, I’m still quite happy to pedal my Costco special or my Kona Hoo-Ha, both bought off Marketplace,. They might not be latest-gen stuff, but that leaves a lot more money for gas for my Suzuki or Yamaha…

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