Anita Handle Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 I noticed that Devinci jumped to 3250 for the new Troy, up from... 2400ish for the previous. The Spartan jumped a few hundred to $3k. Yeti SB5 is $3400, the new SB100 is also $3400 and the new SB150 is $3800! Wow. Is that happening across the board? I've not looked at Santa Cruz or others closely. Market demand? Pricing in tariffs? Obviously as long as people pay, prices will stick or rise but it's getting a bit crazy. That said, I'll take one of those SB100s please. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 I'd bet it is a little from column A and a little from column B. Also, as a manufacturer if the cost of aluminum is going up, now is the time to close the gap with carbon a little more and push your customers to carbon, which will be more stable over the next 2-3 years. That being said, it seems like people just don't break frames like they used to. In the old days of mojo, it seemed like every month someone I rode with broke a frame. These days it is an oddity. Progress moves forward, glad we were all able to help the industry get that sorted out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endo_ Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 I'd bet it is a little from column A and a little from column B. Also, as a manufacturer if the cost of aluminum is going up, now is the time to close the gap with carbon a little more and push your customers to carbon, which will be more stable over the next 2-3 years. That being said, it seems like people just don't break frames like they used to. In the old days of mojo, it seemed like every month someone I rode with broke a frame. These days it is an oddity. Progress moves forward, glad we were all able to help the industry get that sorted out.Ahem....Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) From what I recall, Devinci just redesigned their frames to offer 100% carbon VS the 60/40 with aluminum rear triangle found on previous models. Another thing to consider is bigger travel/enduro bikes are more popular and the shocks they feature are now piggyback or more advanced also driving the price up. Edited September 3, 2018 by ATXZJ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 23 minutes ago, endo_ said: Ahem.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Do you need me to post up the 2 breaks of my Gary Fisher, the crack on my Hammerhead/Titus or the 3 on my knolly? Yeah, frames still break, but not like they used to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Handle Posted September 3, 2018 Author Share Posted September 3, 2018 1 hour ago, ATXZJ said: From what I recall, Devinci just redesigned their frames to offer 100% carbon VS the 60/40 with aluminum rear triangle found on previous models. Another thing to consider is bigger travel/enduro bikes are more popular and the shocks they feature are now piggyback or more advanced also driving the price up. Yes, my Spartan has an alloy rear end. The new Troy also has a metric, trunion shock so I'm sure that adds some cost. But the troy went up... $800? I can't find retail pricing for the previous version. Yeti just went to lifetime warranty. Still, $3800? dang. Still, I think some of these frame prices are frothy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 $800 for a lifetime warranty is *probably* not a bad thing. Except that we don't break frames like we used to; not even sure if I ever heard of anyone breaking a Devinci so far... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertNomad Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 3 minutes ago, AustinBike said: $800 for a lifetime warranty is *probably* not a bad thing. Except that we don't break frames like we used to; not even sure if I ever heard of anyone breaking a Devinci so far... Loan one to Seth B for the weekend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 Yeah, luckily the rest of us do not ride like him. If we did, every shop in town would be shut down 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 20 minutes ago, Anita Handle said: Still, $3800? dang. Still, I think some of these frame prices are frothy. Yes, its getting out of hand for sure. Have you seen the prices on the new mondrakers? Good gawd. If I cant buy a frame for a minimum 25%+ or a complete bike for 40% off MSRP, im moving on. With brands like commencal offering frame-only options now, its gonna be hard to beat the consumer direct model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Handle Posted September 4, 2018 Author Share Posted September 4, 2018 (edited) The funny thing is that I'd bet that the premium for making these frames in the US/Canada vs Taiwan is less than $800. I bet there is a decent number of people who would love to buy an American made carbon frame and would pay that kind of premium to do it. Apparently, Ibis is moving forward with the idea of improving the production process so that a USA made frame might be viable. At least for the front triangle of their size small Ripley LS. No premium for the USA made frame, but you do have to accept a less (differently?) finished looking bike.: Ibis Cycles starts USA production w/ small Ripley LS from Carbon 831 Quote As the story goes, about four years ago, Ibis started their own carbon fiber lab in their Santa Cruz headquarters. The goal was initially to allow them to experiment with prototyping and product development. They didn’t create Carbon 831 with the goal of in house manufacturing, but the development process led them to consider what was possible. In order to make the operation feasible, the frames would have to be made using cutting edge techniques and processes to eliminate as much of the finishing time as possible. Ibis contends that it’s the sheer man hours needed to build and finish carbon frames that makes U.S. production so much more expensive. More expensive employees = more expensive bikes. But if you were able to cut down the amount of time that goes into each bike for things like sanding, putty, primer, etc, you might be able to make it work. Through the use of improved frame layup and build procedure, that’s exactly what they’ve done. According to Ibis, their U.S. made front triangles use only around 100 pieces of machine cut carbon pieces, while the Asian made frames use over 350. The smaller scale allows for more precision and the result is a California-made frame that is 150g lighter and takes about 40% less time to produce. To get the full picture on Carbon 831, check out the Ibis post here. Edited September 4, 2018 by Anita Handle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Yeah, I rode with a mutual friend yesterday on their brand new ibis and they mentioned that they were bringing the process to the US. They really loved the bike. I not not sure if I would take an $800 delta over Taiwan, but would be more interested if it was $800 over China. Taiwan generally has really good quality control and oversight relative to china. China is still the Wild West and you really need to ride herd over your processes there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 (edited) My "american made" carbon wheels carried a 1k-1.5k premium over name brand wheels made overseas for no real advantages other than getting a fancy sticker. I give brands like santa cruz credit for making it work overseas by actually buying the factory (ies) and paying their employees a decent wage. They had to sell the company to do so but hey..... 😁 Edited September 4, 2018 by ATXZJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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