Value for money components.

[Corblimeyguv]

Hi all,

It's something that i've been wondering for a while.

Are 'more expensive' components worth the extra dosh ? I know that you only get what you pay for in life but i've seen CK headsets for £145 upwards and you could buy a whole bike for that.

I've never owned a CK headset so can't comment on them but those who have, do they ever fail or need any maintainance during ownership ?

Are they worth the extra outlay?

Guv.

 

[Tootyred]

Re:

Quality is subjective, better or worse being degrees and tied up with far more than functionality.

I've never bought a £150 headset as I've always had £30 ones and found no issues with functionality, weight or longevity. £30 may look expensive to the bloke who always buys a £15 one.

Also I think it's to a degree about the name. If your prepared to pay for " insert flash part name here" for the pleasure of owning it, then that's a personal decision.

It's also about intended use, potential and emotion. I could fit a better chainset to my bike......is it going to make me that much faster as a average bloke in the forest...no. but it might make me feel better out there.

Is it going to shave 1 second off a racers finishing time.....possibly.

I learnt long ago to stop trying to justify my desire purchases and just enjoy them for what ever reason I cooked up in my head.

 

[d8mok]

Re:

It’s a diminishing scale once you get past a certain price point.

Once you get past the absolute crap then most stuff is decent. You pay for slightly lighter , very slightly smoother and mostly the name/model

Issue is for most people stuff gets out of hand quickly. You don’t just wake up one day (most people) and buy a £8k bike. You start lower and each time you upgrade go slightly better (plus price rises) and you end up a badge whore

I bought a cheap 2015 Giant road bike a couple of weeks back. It needed parts and issues sorting. I rode it once and was blown away how good it was. It sold for £380 on eBay and was a great bike and made me wonder why I Have a expensive road bike I barely use

 

[madjh]

If someone is happy with a Rock Rider 500 ... it is your money. But I´m happy with CK and the in set cost near 200 euros (price of the CK is near the RR500, my second bicycle was a 1997 RR-500, nothing to do with the new one) ... for a component you have not to touch any more.

The same with the rest of components.Tune, Thomson, Presion Billet, Darimo etc etc The bicycle feels different quite different and it is not lightweight, that is annother world. Proteus ask 600 euros for a handlebar and stem ... that it is near perfect.

It is like you say the Casio F91 do the same as a Omega Seamaster, well do more than a Seamaster. One cost 20 euros and the other about 3000 euros. Both are durable but ... The precision, the materials etc etc.

A Dacia do the same as a Rolls Royce But ... It is always the same, money is hard to get

But I get what you said. You pay for the brand and cool factor, and CK for a simple head set, it is quite cool.

 

[greencat]

There's definitely a law of diminishing returns above a certain price point, and mostly crap below another. Getting everyone to agree on both is the tricky bit.

It disturbs me to hear Deore described as budget by GMBN presenters. Get a grip, guys. Deore is at the bottom of the top tier, not budget. Tourney is budget. Pure hedonic adaptation. Deore was always the groupset of keen cyclists with an eye for value.

Some Chinese stuff looks the part and works well, but apparently doesn't have the longevity eg Sensah Empire. It turns out some of the internals of the shifters are plastic rather than alloy or steel. That doesn't strike me as good value either.

I have two crappy looking old retro bikes which were free or mostly free. They both ride very well. I'd hesitate to ride them down the local MTB trails, but I have a £500 parts bin special based around a Whyte 901 with more modern geometry for that. All my other mountain biking friends have bikes they spent upwards of £2.5K on. I'm probably middle of the pack in terms of ability so clearly it isn't holding me back.

I tend to look at things in terms of price per mile/ride and hassle. Replacing stuff is hassle as it wastes my time. A chris king headset might have been worth it had I acquired one in the 90s and continued to use on every bike to-date. But the problem is that most bikes come with perfectly decent headsets and in recent years, lots of new standards across a range of components inc headsets has emerged.

 

[madjh]

Re:

Expensive or not, what is your dream, what makes you feel better. Buy that, This is a hobbit. Check you pocket and have patience. You don´t have to be reach to ride a good bicycle, but you have to choose right or you will get the wrong parts.

 

[Mark Manley]

Re:

I think there is a sweet spot between durability and price, the cheapest components can be utter rubbish and a total waste of money and with the most expensive you are paying for UK, US, Japanese labour rates and factory running costs over those in Malaysia or Taiwan where the perfectly good quality middle of the road price components are made.
I have to admit to buying the more expensive stuff acting under some probably misguided notion that I am getting better parts, I will buy Nitto rather than Kalloy or Hope rather than Shimano but bicycles are my main form of transport and hobby so am not exactly spending a fortune.

 

[mk one]

Well, as far as CK headsets go, i used to ride a lot, i had all sorts of issues with many other headsets i ever used, from wearing out, coming loose, etc, basically maintenence. I am a bit lazy and much prefer to just ride. Fitting a CK headset was a revelation for me personally, i have never had one single issue with one or ever had to service one, they truely are fit and forget. For me they were totally worth the extra money.

 

[d8mok]

If you are happy with a Rock Rider 500 ... it is your money. But I´m happy with CK and the in set cost near 200 euros ... for a component you have not to touch any more.

The same with the rest of components.Tune, Thomson, Presion Billet, Darimo etc etc The bicycle feels different quite different and it is not lightweight, that is annother world. Proteus ask 600 euros for a handlebar and stem ... that is near perfect.

It is like you say the Casio F91 do the same as a Omega Seamaster, well do more than a Seamaster. One cost 20 euros and the other about 3000 euros. Both are durable but ... The precision, the materials etc etc.

A Dacia do the same as a Rolls Royce But ... It is always the same, money is hard to get

That’s the point though. Comparing bottom and the range to top isn’t what is being talked about.

It’s about value for money vs top. So Deore vs XTR is a good comparison as Deore is probably better overall when cost is taken into account. Bottom of range isn’t value usually and usually breaks before it wears out.

The watch analogy isn’t fair either. Maybe comparing a Tag/ Longines vs a seamaster is better.

I’m all for Top of the range stuff but don’t knock the value options either as they will be 90% of what most people need or want

 

[greencat]

Well, as far as CK headsets go, i used to ride a lot, i had all sorts of issues with many other headsets i ever used, from wearing out, coming loose, etc, basically maintenence. I am a bit lazy and much prefer to just ride. Fitting a CK headset was a revelation for me personally, i have never had one single issue with one or ever had to service one, they truely are fit and forget. For me they were totally worth the extra money.

I think this demonstrates another possible truism or two. Each person's ride is different. I've never had problems with headsets, and hence a CK headset offers little value in terms of reducing hassle. I did, however, used to go through pedals like anything in the 90s. Nothing would last longer than six months. I then bit the bullet and upgraded to XT. The pedals are still sitting in my spares box, perfectly smooth but knackered cages having done thousands of miles.