Spensive
A client recently had an issue with the brakes on their 2022 road bike. After a fair amount of diagnostic work, we determined that, alas, the lever was shot and required replacement. The replacement was not inexpensive, and our friend made a comment about the cost of modern bikes and the maintenance thereof. This piqued my interest.
What follows is (as usual) *not* an authoritative treatise on the subjects of price, inflation, vibes, affordability or much of anything else. I’m just scratching an itch and sharing what I learn. With perhaps a dash of opinion.
In 2011, the year Pedal opened, Trek’s top road bike, the Madone 6.9 SSL, carried a retail price of $8,710. A 2026 Trek Madone SLR 9 is $11,900. A brief internet query tells me that $1 in 2011 is $1.48 in 2026. Thus, $8,710 in 2011 is $12,890 today. So those bike prices, while quite expensive, are in line with the cost of stuff.
Both bikes have carbon frames, carbon wheels and Dura-Ace drivetrains. In 2011 that was ten speeds of mechanical shifting and rim brakes. In 2026 it’s 12 speeds of electronic shifting and disc brakes. While the 2011 bike shifted and decelerated very nicely, the 2026 bike does those things better.
The internet tells me that a 2011 Dura Ace shifter cost about $400, and a cassette retailed for $300. A 2026 Dura Ace shifter is $580 and a cassette is $410. 2011 prices adjusted for inflation using the same 1.48 as above give us $592 for the shifter and $444 for the cassette. So all of that lines up pretty well.
Is this expensive? Yes. Is the new stuff more expensive? It appears not.
Are modern bikes and components as reliable or maybe durable as “older stuff.” I’m not sure. Absent hard data on the subject, I lean toward probably not, but maybe my rearview mirror has a rosy tint. I am willing to say that the newer stuff is fussier. Disc brakes are fussier than rim brakes, but they stop better. Shifting setup for both mechanical and electronic drivetrains is fussier, but this modern stuff shifts so nicely and has great range. Modern frames with internal routing of *everything* complicate matters immensely.
And here’s the thing: I don’t think we’re going back, which is fine with me. I commute on my old cyclocross bike from time to time. It’s a really cool bike that reminds me that even really top-shelf cantilever brakes are no match for the hydraulic disc brakes on my other bikes.
A few words about my methodology. For the value of a dollar, I used a search engine and got the same answer from a couple of sources. It could be wrong, but it’s consistently wrong. I used high-end bikes because it’s easier to find the top model than to look through everything to find close matches. I used Trek because Pedal sells Trek. I used Dura-Ace because it is the spec of those fancy bikes. I very much enjoyed this small project.