The cost of bikes ... retro and now

[2manyoranges]

I have always thought that people show too much shock at the price of the bikes which I ride.

I remember a friend’s mother saying ‘...but I bought my first bike for 12 guineas...’ - in 1946.

So...this morning I just looked a few things up.

Average wage now is around 26,000gbp, which is roughly 200 times 1935 average
Cost of Raleigh Service Model 3 in 1935 was 7.5 gbp.
That means an ‘equivalent’ bike - everyday runaround - would be 1500 gbp.

Which I suppose makes my recent two Transitions (one for me, one for the Grom) BLOODY EXPENSIVE.

(Frame for Alloy Sentinel was 850 gbp and for the Patrol was 1600 gbp)

The price of cars has, however, tumbled ... until we hit the electric era with Tesla....

 

[Spudly]

Average wage is around £26,000 jesus man where do you work, I'll quit my job and come now lol

I had a 97 proflex animal a few years back that was an absolute steal on ebay, I was flicking through some old mbuk's a while back and there was an advert in one of the sections, for that very bike and it was something like £3k+ in 1997, I have two moderns currently which have cost me similar, and people say I'm nuts, but people have always spent similar amounts on high end bikes, so why does that make me nuts?

 

[Tootyred]

I think that figure reflects the gulf between people like care workers £14 k and office managers ( the first onto the b ark) at £36k.

Cars have tumbled in price, ive always had volvo estates for work. 1989 £32k new......same model 2018 £22k. ERRRŔ?

Of course its not the same....its made from tin foil and string compared to a g reg 740.

The same goes for nearly all consumer products.

Xt chainring now will last max 800m before being shagged. But they are a lot less expensive........HANG ON......NO ITS NOT......HELP SIMANO IS ROBBING ME!

 

[slackboy]

Bikes may have not got more expensive in real terms, but my taste in bikes certainly has.

Rockhopper I bought in '98 - £600, equivalent now around £1200, but I wouldn't be seen dead on one - has to be something boutique

 

[FluffyChicken]

Average median wage is about £31,500 now.
This comes from my student loans companies that use the average wage to work out that if you should pay money back or not.

 

[Tootyred]

Wow. I worked in the wrong industry all my life! No wonder there's a skills shortage....anybody fancy a lifetime learning engineering skills to earn £12 an hour tops.

No.....didn't think so.

At least i never would have had to pay my loan back!

 

[brocklanders023]

Yep, I reckon bike prices have stayed pretty much stable when compared to inflation. Back in 1989 MBUK was busy telling everyone 'proper' bikes started at £300. You can get a very good bike for £500/600 these days. Top end bikes cost loads and they always did.

As for cars, I remember finding an old Ford price list that had the Fiesta 1.6s at £9.5k. I'd just bought a new 1999 Fiesta 1.25 Zetec for £9.2 that outperformed the old one in every way when you compared the figures. You could still buy a Fiesta in 2009 for similar money and spec. Think they've gone up a bit now though.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Wow. I worked in the wrong industry all my life! No wonder there's a skills shortage....anybody fancy a lifetime learning engineering skills to earn £12 an hour tops.

No.....didn't think so.

At least i never would have had to pay my loan back!

Actually it could be more than that now.
Just checked my recent letter (it a good old mid 90s student loan, so less than a year of tuition fees they get now)
But I would need to earn £2553 (gross) per month to start paying it back.
If I remember correctly that is set at 80% of the Annual Mean Earnings. (measured by BIS based on ASHE/ONS etc and
So more like £36k

 

[slackboy]

Average median wage is about £31,500 now

Maybe for a graduate, but median UK household income is around £29,900.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...sposableincomeandinequality/financialyear2020

 

[FluffyChicken]

Maybe for a graduate, but median UK household income is around £29,900.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...sposableincomeandinequality/financialyear2020

Household income isn't Work Earnings.

'Median' for the population, doesn't discriminate for graduates or not. It's all earners.

Although according to https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentan...bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2020

• Median annual pay for full-time employees was £31,461 for the tax year ending 5 April 2020, up 3.6% on the previous year; annual pay estimates are largely unaffected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

I guess they then need to add all the others on to that? Part-timers, etc. Are CEOs, Board of Directors, part time in their job, councillors seem to be part time or additional to their normal jobs. Adjusted to FTE.
Many teachers, nurses are part-time, though that would bring the average down ;-)