Are premium road bikes about to get cheaper? A brief analysis of bike prices before and after the industry's boom and bust, and what this means for you

High-end bikes have always been more expensive, and that’s just a fact of life. The better the frame material, the components and the claimed performance, the more a bike will cost. But in recent years, customers have been easily able to spend over £10,000 on a premium road bike, and seemingly without much justification on the price.

That is, until brands like Van Rysel and Cube decided to shake things up a bit. Van Rysel’s RCR pro team replica bike costs £9,000, and Cube’s new Attain C:62 is under £3,000 with a full Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset and carbon finishing kit. Considering the price of an Ultegra Di2 groupset alone was £2,399 when we reviewed it, you're getting a helluva lot for the extra few hundred pounds.  

> The most expensive road bikes in the world

So, does this mean the tide is finally turning, and we’re going to see top-end bikes become more ‘affordable’? Or are these larger brands offering very competitive prices simply able to manage economies of scale better because they simply have more capital? 

Why do some road bikes cost so much?

We talk a lot about how much bikes cost – because it’s important to you, the reader, and to customers and potential enthusiasts. Those who aren’t entrenched in the cycling industry often scoff when told the price of road bikes – I know I’ve definitely had to take off a zero when telling a non-cycling friend how much my shiny new wheels cost.

But why can they cost so much? Simply put, because brands can charge it, and people will pay. Until recently, brands have had little trouble selling bikes costing £10k+. This could be because more people buy bikes with finance and see spreading the cost as a better investment, or people with the most buying power (typically the baby boomer generation and the older class of Generation X) have enough disposable cash to make the purchase. There’s been talk of cycling becoming the new golf for a good while now, and when bikes cost that much and a simply cycling jersey can cost £200, you can certainly see why.

Just last year, Jamie investigated just how much the prices of top-end road bikes have gone up in the last decade, and found that many premium brand prices are outpacing inflation. Sure, during the pandemic there were reasons to raise prices – supply chain issues, a lack of parts, and, just like the Oasis tickets drama – increased demand.

But now, as an industry, we’ve heard stories of brands being overstocked with bikes they can’t shift. The relative boom of Covid has well and truly bust, and UK customers don’t have as much disposable income as they once did. Plus, why would they need to upgrade their bikes so soon after buying something high-end only a few years ago?

So with launches like the Cube Attain C:62, which offers a carbon mix frame, carbon wheels and bars and a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset for under £3,000, does this mean we’re finally going to see bike prices drop back down to what they should be? And what will the repercussions be on smaller brands who don’t have the buying power or warehouses the big players do?

How much did premium bikes cost before the Covid boom?

Since 2019, the Bicycle Association has found that the average price of bikes sold in 2022 has increased by 26%. Depending on the category, the actual price hike has increased by up to 50% from pre-pandemic levels to 2023. Interestingly, the biggest price increases have been on lower to mid-level road bikes, which Emily explored last year.

Bikes like the Specialized Allez, that you could pick up for £600 in 2014, now cost in the region of £1,000. Admittedly, that’s actually a discount on last year’s price of £1,100, but it’s still a 66% increase on something that according to the Bank of England inflation calculator, should only cost 33% more (roughly £800).

Now looking at more premium options, we had the Trek Madone SLR 9 Disc in for review in 2019, costing £10,000. For your money you got Shimano’s 11-speed Dura-Ace Di2, Bontrager Aeolus XXX 6 carbon wheels and carbon finishing kit. Now, with the latest Gen 8 iteration of the same model, it costs £12,000 and you get Shimano’s 12-speed Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51 wheels and carbon finishing kit.

Is an extra gear and slightly different wheels worth an increase in £2,000? Well, if the Bank of England Inflation calculator is to be believed – then yes. Theoretically, the bike should actually be priced at £12,412, a 24% increase.

Will we continue to see premium bikes become more affordable?

You could argue that yes, we will see the top-end market become less out of reach, and represent more ‘value’. Brands such as Giant have spoken about lost profit, with many commenters citing ridiculous prices as a large factor in this.

What we could be in danger of seeing is a closing gap between entry-level and premium prices. We’ve all been in a position of buying a new bike, setting a budget, but then realising that if we spent just £200 more we could have better wheels, or for £300 more than that you could have electronic gears.

I could be argued that brands should be mindful of not falling into the trap of assuming that every customer wants the best. Some just want a bike to get started on, and by pricing them out we run the risk of deterring newcomers. Of course, inflation is what it is, and if you’re still imagining 1990s Halfords bike pricing when you’re looking at new bikes, then you’re always going to be disappointed.

But it does look like if brands can ride this new wave of uncertainty, prices may continue to fall at the premium end of the market. And with bikes like the Cube Attain and the Van Rysel range offering premium bikes for extremely competitive prices, more brands may find themselves having to follow suit or risking losing even more market value in an already unstable sector.