something to think about

[lunnatic]

i was thinking about this the other day and was wondering what what others would think.... ok we've alll notice that our bikes are bloody expensive, i'd estimate the retail of mine to be well over 8000 (decked out santa cruz v-10) and at the same time you can get a brand new motocross bike for less than that. now i'm not saying you should.... just like you i was questioned all through high school on why the hell wouldn't i, i just like riding bikes. but undeniably you get way more for your money for a dirt bike..... the thing has way more technology, more metal and a freaking engine on it compared to a bike which does not. and at the same time the sales of bicycles appear to be much higher than that of motocross bikes... at least where i'm from....how does that make sense.... even more perplexing is that several people i know make a good living in canada racing motocross bikes on a national level.... like not even in the states... another person i know named darcy lange(he is quite good and from courtney originally) makes enough to own his a house at the age of 19.... and shit guess what else, kona just gave him a bunch of free mountain bikes and a road bike. now if there appears to be way more people putting money into the sport of mountain biking than why are our althletes... besides dustin, wade, and a couple others not able to make even close to any amount of money..... dustin was ruling it last year and not making anything really. and ya awesome for darcy( and i do respect his talent) and all but he probly isn't gonna use those mountain bikes that much.... wouldn't they have been better off giving those bikes to some underground ripper who couldn't afford it ? k ya... if you bother too read this radical.... peace out brothafromanothamotha

[TREV]

yah....

i ride motorcycles and mountain bikes...

i am poor :(

[IFO]

problem with Dirtbikes is u have to go so far to be able to ride em...

MTB'n is alot more accessible... at least for me anyways...

if i was gunna get into a powered bike, i'd get a trials MOTO... that sport is supa-cool....

[m33p]

Another plus on the moto side is when you bike they include a free spring sizing for your weight and riding style out of the factory. Included with the bike. We as mtb'ers need that.

[inshane]

my bike was cheap.. im poor :(

with a dirtbike u need a truck, trailer, gas, oil and shit load of gear. dont forget a place to ride the thing..

[JimmyJ]

Originally posted by ~Inshan£~
my bike was cheap.. im poor :(

with a dirtbike u need a truck, trailer, gas, oil and shit load of gear. dont forget a place to ride the thing..

:werd: to that!

Did you get a new comp shane?

[inshane]

im on my moms computer right now, but im gettin kicked off :(


bye bye again :crybaby:

[Niggz]

yah but dirt biking has been around forever. probably at lest 30-40 years, where actual mainstream freeride/DH has been around for not much more than 5 years. give biking another 15 years then see where we are.

[ZeroDegreeC]

MX does NOT have more tech. Actuall less when you start to get into weight/strength ratios, Suspension design, Look at your V-10. ever see that on a MX bike? Just because they both have two wheels does not mean its the same but different. I usto have a G-friend that worked with the Blackfoot team for 3 years and I usto party with them They dont all make good coin, actually most dont make any more than the Mtn bike riders out there. BUT the difference is that the MX races are a big hit for TV and turn out big crowds when ever they go into a town, Its the Redneck affect. The riders get paid more because they have more exposure. Once Mtn bikers get the notice and TV time/ public turnout that MX riders do it may change, BUT its also allot harder to put a Mtn bike race on TV due to the logistics of it. MX bikes are not more or less complex than Mtn bikes, a different area all together, its Cheaper to make most MX parts FYI.

[m33p]

Originally posted by ZeroDegreeC
MX does NOT have more tech. Actuall less when you start to get into weight/strength ratios, Suspension design, Look at your V-10. ever see that on a MX bike? Just because they both have two wheels does not mean its the same but different. I usto have a G-friend that worked with the Blackfoot team for 3 years and I usto party with them They dont all make good coin, actually most dont make any more than the Mtn bike riders out there. BUT the difference is that the MX races are a big hit for TV and turn out big crowds when ever they go into a town, Its the Redneck affect. The riders get paid more because they have more exposure. Once Mtn bikers get the notice and TV time/ public turnout that MX riders do it may change, BUT its also allot harder to put a Mtn bike race on TV due to the logistics of it. MX bikes are not more or less complex than Mtn bikes, a different area all together, its Cheaper to make most MX parts FYI.

Actually moto bikes are more refined. Not more tech because they have a motor. A v10 is designed so u can pedal it. Because it doesn't have a motor. A motobike has a single pivot design because it works the best for that bike.

[ZeroDegreeC]

I know allot about suspension and design, And I will tell you this, It takes allot more time and money to design a frame and suspension design to work properly with the light weights of the riders and total frame weight. Thus it const MORE to make a suspension design work for a 180lb rider on a 40 to 50lb bike than it does for a 180lb rider on a 150 to 200lb moto bike. the Engine is no big cost to tell you the truth, because there mass produced and most engines are designed to be built cheap and last a short time the cost to the engine is low. Allot of parts on Mtn bikes are in some ways taken from MX but the key to it is that there required to be re-designed to be lighter and just as strong for Mtn bike use. Its ture there is a large markup on Mtn bikes, Im not arguing that, Im just saying that MX bikes are not more refined. the other way around.

[rider_x]

i remember back in my moto days when i raced 80s it was great but the amount of parts and after market shit usually almost goes over the price of the bike itself plus gas and travel money to get to the races but i still love the sport( not as much as MTB of course but its still exiting as hell). thats cool you know darcy i got to meet him a couple of times for a local motoshops sponsored riders night that they put on for us wee sponsored lads oh to be there again

[coqdhkid]

mmmmm.......v10:)........ya anyway, my bike is around $6000 with full retail on parts and stuff.......i could pick up a brand new 125cc or a 200-250cc 4 stroke for like $4500, dirtbiking/moto is awesome, i love it.....(i dont have a dirt bike though:( )......i almost got a 96 honda CR125 a while ago.....it was cool, it was all decked out in fleshwound (like stuff in crusty dirt demons) decals, $2000 engine alone........i coulda got it for $3000:(

[T.Walker]

I would dirt bike, buy i don't know anyone else that's interested in it, well....... I would still mountain bike too though.

[bighitter]

Originally posted by ZeroDegreeC
MX does NOT have more tech. its Cheaper to make most MX parts FYI.
appearently you worked as the accountant for cannondale.:D j/k
80 million later and chapter 11.

you do bring up true points though.the M/C world is lucky that their is groups that put limits on what they can do, that has reduced their overall costs.weight restrictions on how light bikes can be(even playing field for all),the dis-allowment of prototype bikes for racing in the AMA(bikes that cost 100k each), etc.Also as m33p said, years of trial and error,which everybody gets to share on because all their designs basicly the same.one thing you didn't consider is how much they spend in research into emissions laws that will come into effect in the states soon,rider support, advertising, sponsership, racer incentive programs, tooling for production lines(how much do you think .243,banshee and lots of others spend in tooling?),ect.the list goes on i'm sure.

the mtb world has to deal with a whole different situation.small share of the market due to too many manufacters for to few customers.too many suspension/frame designs for too many styles of riding.DH,FR,XC,epic all requiring different bikes.

[bighitter]

Originally posted by ZeroDegreeC
I usto have a G-friend that worked with the Blackfoot team for 3 years and I usto party with them They dont all make good coin, actually most dont make any more than the Mtn bike riders out there.
canadian MXer's are the most underpaid MC racers in the world, as are the road racers.one reason is because they have been un-able to compete on the world or U.S. scene.which as you said,comes back to TV and marketablity.later b

[Draco Rider]

But for a decked out MXer or freeride motor it costs like £25,000 for the best parts.

[m33p]

Originally posted by Draco Rider
But for a decked out MXer or freeride motor it costs like £25,000 for the best parts.
You can buy a stock race bike that will get you top 5 finishes for $8000 bones over here.

[Draco Rider]

Feck me. You lot r so lucky. Here no one knows that suspension exisits on a bike so everything cost tons!

For a stock race bike here its about $15000

[Pedro]

I dont personally like MX. Looks like fun, but its horrible on the enviroment, all the noise created is flippin annoying and way more parts n' shit to break down. that and you have to put gas in them, and own a truck to move the things.

[Draco Rider]

You can get them road registered and just run road tires and a fre more minor easy to change adjustments.

[::Liam::]

Originally posted by coqdhkid
mmmmm.......v10:)........ya anyway, my bike is around $6000 with full retail on parts and stuff.......i could pick up a brand new 125cc or a 200-250cc 4 stroke for like $4500, dirtbiking/moto is awesome, i love it.....(i dont have a dirt bike though:( )......i almost got a 96 honda CR125 a while ago.....it was cool, it was all decked out in fleshwound (like stuff in crusty dirt demons) decals, $2000 engine alone........i coulda got it for $3000:(


thats pretty exie for a 96... youd have troubles selling it for that in australian dollers let alone CAD once youd done the conversions...

and over here a v10 would be way more than a moto but most dh bikes are retailing about the same... 7-8gish for a decent dh bike bout the same for a decent crosser

[pg_trail_junkie]

I watched a show one day about the cost of bikes and acces, I don't know how true this is but this dude was sayin that in mountain bikes the cost for R&D is so high. Its what drives the prices, bikes are constantly changeing, its not like most other sports, bikes are constantly changeing everyyear. This dude compared it to the car industy, and said that if a car part would cost three times as much if as much R&D went in to it as mountain bikes/acces.
Maybe the guy was trying to make us bikers feel better as to how much we are getting shafted at the cash, but I do know its a fact of biking that often pisses me off. But on the other hand I love it every spring when all the new shit comes out, or new advances in old technology.:D

[ZeroDegreeC]

Here is the deal. Count how many MX producers are on the market, Now how many bikes do they make every year. and how often MAJOR changes come to there lineups. Now count how man Mtn bike manufactures are out there, how many bikes they make and how often there lines change. pg_trail_junkie the thing you wantched if right on the money. Its our industrys nature to change things every year because the consumers want and expect it, If a company does not change things in there lineup they cant claim to have the biggest and best on the market becasue its old news, Thus there sales go down because some other manufacture advertises the shit out of there NEW product. So the companys have to struggle from year to year from sales, Not like MX riders where most of the riders dont pay any attention to the refinements of there bikes and usually stick to a particular brand like Honda or Kawi ect ect, The Technology base in the MX field is very stable because of its age and R&D is not put into radical new designs, But rather refining of there product. Plus they sell ten times the numbers as any 2 mtn bike manufactures put together. We are a victim of our own demise. Example: Intense M1. the first two years they produced it they could not make enough frames to meet demand, but after the inital craze wore off people were buying some differnent bike, Now the M1 is still made but they have done refinements to it, but sales still has not went up. Its all about the advertisements in our Mtn bike industry, a Majority of the people that buy the product dont buy it for function, they buy it for the marketing. Look at the Sherman, Everyone wanted one and said it was the shit when nobody had even ridden one yet in the public, The big hit same thing, Boxxer the list goes on and on, If your going to make money in the Mtn bike industry you have to be a good salesman to pay for the R&D put into a product that sells half as well as a MX product.

[bokinator]

I was too lazy to read the rest of the posts, so ignore me if this has been mentioned..

But I think once reason why mtb parts are so expensive is that it's a rare sport. You don't see it on TV, and not a lot of people contribute to this sport, therefore, manufacturers have to raise the price to gain back some profit..

Give it some time and prices will eventualy drop, just like anything else...

[Loopie]

ya, if you start comparing what you could buy in another industry for the money you just put out in this one......it's disappointing.
But if you want a V10 MTB instead of an MX.....
All you can do is take solice in the fact that we all pay on the same scale at least:(

[WBC]

hahahaha.

my Big Shit is worth more than my CR! haha it's all good though. I love how I can ride my mountainbike anywhere.

I'm gettin tempted to do more with dirtbikes, though. Them fuckers are fun!

Somethin to keep in mind is that a season of racin for dirtbikes is like $20-25,000 USD and that you really can't just ride em anywhere. Also, there's a huge learning curve when getting into MX. It's not as friendly as mountainbikes, that's for sure.

I love both sports, but the versatility is what attracts me to mountainbikes.