Prices War?

"Duram" <danur@@ig.com.br> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
:
: Why recumbents are so expensive?
: What are the differences from normal bikes that pull the price up?
: Can it go down in a near future?

Think about it for a moment.....it's supply and demand. How much demand do
you think there is for a recumbent versus a mountain bike? In what volume
do you suppose the mountain bikes are being produced (and purchased) in
comparison to the recumbent bike? As the number of units made goes up, the
price would go down, now, wouldn't it?

These things just aren't that hard to figure out.

Pat in TX
:
:

"Duram" <danur@@ig.com.br> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Why recumbents are so expensive?
What are the differences from normal bikes that pull the price up?
Can it go down in a near future?

I asked these very same questions 25 years ago when I was first getting into
recumbents. The answers are the same now as they were then. Basically, it
boils down to the fact that no one wants these kind of bikes. Therefore, the
few of us who do want them have to pay an arm and a leg for them. Others on
this group will give you all kinds of details on why this is so. But the
bottom line is that the damn things are as expensive now as they were 25
years ago, maybe even more so.

--
Regards,

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

"Edward Dolan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message\
But the

Quoted message said:

bottom line is that the damn things are as expensive now as they were 25
years ago, maybe even more so.

Actually, the dollar is worth about half what it was years back, so
prices staying the same for bents means they are less. I don't know
about 2 wheel bents, but trikes have fallen with WizWheels, Catrike,
and Sun (certain model of each, of course).

It is a shame that more people don't see beyond their nose and have
not prepared for low cost transportation before or during the time
that big oil made people dependent on higher prices overall. Gas
prices go up; human power vehicles costs get lower.

Chris Jordan
Santa Cruz, CA.

Duram' danur@@ig.com.br said:

Why recumbents are so expensive?
What are the differences from normal bikes that pull the price up?

- Recumbents are usually made in countries with high labour costs (US,
Europe) and involve a fair amount of labour. Other bikes are churned out
in their hundreds of thousands in Taiwanese or Chinese factories

- Recumbent specific costs push up the prices.

- Recumbent manufactures have R&D costs: regular bikes just mix and
match from the Shimano and paint manufactures catalogues.

Quoted message said:

Can it go down in a near future?

They are doing, but *slowly* !!

--
Simon Kellett, Darmstadt, Germany | http://home.arcor.de/zoxed
Hase Kettwiesel trike | ex-Pashley PDQ SWB
Flux V220 CLWB | Zox20 Lowracer

What about marketing? can it increase sales? drop prices?
Here in Brazil we have a plant www.zohrer.com.br
but prices are still high and they say the cause is the low production rate.
as not many people buy it as the normal bikes.

Brazil has a large amount of different kinds of bikes-trikes
made for stores and markets deliver shopping, but recumbents is not in
the list of the kind of bike to increase production and drop prices, why is
that
all over the world? even china don´t produce them right? let´s change that?

I just saw in a German TV channel DW about a bike race between San Diego and
Atlantic City,
no recumbent were used, why is that? many runners gave up during the trip,
if there were
using recumbents how many might gave up comparing to normal mountain bikes?
why not used those sports competitions ( Tour the France! too) to show
people
what new and best in recumbent and marketing, maybe that can increase sales
and
drop proces.

"Simon Kellett" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Duram' danur@@ig.com.br said:

Why recumbents are so expensive?
What are the differences from normal bikes that pull the price up?

- Recumbents are usually made in countries with high labour costs (US,
Europe) and involve a fair amount of labour. Other bikes are churned out
in their hundreds of thousands in Taiwanese or Chinese factories

- Recumbent specific costs push up the prices.

- Recumbent manufactures have R&D costs: regular bikes just mix and
match from the Shimano and paint manufactures catalogues.

Quoted message said:

Can it go down in a near future?

They are doing, but *slowly* !!

--
Simon Kellett, Darmstadt, Germany | http://home.arcor.de/zoxed
Hase Kettwiesel trike | ex-Pashley PDQ SWB
Flux V220 CLWB | Zox20 Lowracer

Duram' danur@@ig.com.br said:

Brazil has a large amount of different kinds of bikes-trikes
made for stores and markets deliver shopping, but recumbents is not in
the list of the kind of bike to increase production and drop prices, why is
that
all over the world? even china don´t produce them right? let´s change that?

I just saw in a German TV channel DW about a bike race between San Diego and
Atlantic City,
no recumbent were used, why is that? many runners gave up during the trip,
if there were
using recumbents how many might gave up comparing to normal mountain bikes?
why not used those sports competitions ( Tour the France! too) to show
people
what new and best in recumbent and marketing, maybe that can increase sales
and
drop proces.

You begin with a production level that precludes getting the best
prices for components from Shimano or others. THese levels also
preclude getting the best setups on frames (Columbus can deliver more
quality frame sets to a large custom builder almost ready for the jig
than most recumbent manufacturers make in a year). Factor in items
that are by their nature more expensive (seats).

You then feed it to a distribution system that prefers large
quantities as well. You can't force the level up as that means having
a significant percentage of bikes sitting in bike shops that can't or
won't sell them either before or after the customer gets through the
door. In most cases, the manufacturer carries the costs of the bike
until it is sold or returned. Those great deals you get every year
when a model changes start with the negotiations between bike shop and
the manufacturer that doesn't want it back. That's also why they
prefer reputable bike shops - shops that won't butcher tomorrow's
sales by trying to dump this year's model.

The risk in returns or no sales means that financing is more difficult
and that means more expensive - any recumbent manufacturer that
doesn't have a significant reserve for unsold bikes and/or doubtful
accounts is probably misreporting their income. So the means to
finance a major sales attempt puts the source and risk with the
owners. And it courts financial failure at that point of attempting a
significant attempt at grabbing market share.

Recumbents AFAIK have completed the RAAM more than once. Team ALS
Lightning finished last year in an extremely respectable time.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

Duram' danur@@ig.com.br said:

I just saw in a German TV channel DW about a bike race between San
Diego and Atlantic City, no recumbent were used, why is that? many
runners gave up during the trip, if there were using recumbents how
many might gave up comparing to normal mountain bikes? why not used
those sports competitions ( Tour the France! too)

Most cycle racing worldwide is run under UCI (www.uci.ch) rules: they
banned recumbents in the 1930s, and still do.

--
Simon Kellett, Darmstadt, Germany | http://home.arcor.de/zoxed
Hase Kettwiesel trike | ex-Pashley PDQ SWB
Flux V220 CLWB | Zox20 Lowracer

Duram said:

Why recumbents are so expensive?
What are the differences from normal bikes that pull the price up?
Can it go down in a near future?

Recumbents are normal - deviants ride uprights. 😉

--
Tom Sherman - Curmudgeon and Pedant