BC Track bike prices.

[Darryl Webster]

This popped up on another forum. A forum member had enquired enquired regards the cost and it took 3 months to get a reply.
UCI rules state all equipment used must be commercially available.
These prices make a mockery of those rules.
Not sure this belongs in the clinic but it can certainly be seen as a form of cheating.


Item Price (excl VAT)
Track Frame £25,298.83
Sprint Fork £25,983.53
Track Seat Post £1,572.80
Crank set £18,809.40
Sprint Bar £23,247.88

The web site does not have any of this price list :http://www.uksport.gov.uk/pages/cycling/

 

[avanti]

This popped up on another forum. A forum member had enquired enquired regards the cost and it took 3 months to get a reply.
UCI rules state all equipment used must be commercially available.
These prices make a mockery of those rules.
Not sure this belongs in the clinic but it can certainly be seen as a form of cheating.


Item Price (excl VAT)
Track Frame £25,298.83
Sprint Fork £25,983.53
Track Seat Post £1,572.80
Crank set £18,809.40
Sprint Bar £23,247.88

The web site does not have any of this price list :http://www.uksport.gov.uk/pages/cycling/

A few years ago McCaid complained about $100,000 track bikes.

I work in aerospace and see structures that are very similar to bike frames. The tooling on one of my projects cost $250,000 (it uses an alloy with the same coefficient of expansion as graphite epoxy).

So I can see why prices for low production track frames can be that high if they are autoclaved frames.
If a rider is reportedly willing to spend millions on drugs (LA for example) why not $100,000 on a bike

 

[Darryl Webster]

A few years ago McCaid complained about $100,000 track bikes.

I work in aerospace and see structures that are very similar to bike frames. The tooling on one of my projects cost $250,000 (it uses an alloy with the same coefficient of expansion as graphite epoxy).

So I can see why prices for low production track frames can be that high if they are autoclaved frames.
If a rider is reportedly willing to spend millions on drugs (LA for example) why not $100,000 on a bike

Are you not missing the point? " Commercially available" surely doesn't mean " at any price".
These are F1 prices not genuine prices that even the average better of cyclist could ever justify ..and 3 months just to get a price list?...
No matter how ya wanna spin its clear BC have no intention of generating any sales on the these bits of kit.

 

[D-Queued]

Are you not missing the point? " Commercially available" surely doesn't mean " at any price".
These are F1 prices not genuine prices that even the average better of cyclist could ever justify ..and 3 months just to get a price list?...
No matter how ya wanna spin its clear BC have no intention of generating any sales on the these bits of kit.

Pretty sure the Bugatti Veyron is commercially available, even if most of them have been wrapped around telephone poles.

In fact, the commercial version of the 787 is barely $150 million. You can probably have a custom version made up, though, and get away from having to deal with commercial flight.

These are both even in serial production - as opposed to the smoke and mirrors scenario.

Dave.

 

[Joachim]

It's commercially available. The UCI don't set a price ceiling. That nobody thinks these bikes are worth it is not BC's concern.


End of.

 

[WinterRider]

A few years ago McCaid complained about $100,000 track bikes.

I work in aerospace and see structures that are very similar to bike frames. The tooling on one of my projects cost $250,000 (it uses an alloy with the same coefficient of expansion as graphite epoxy).

So I can see why prices for low production track frames can be that high if they are autoclaved frames.
If a rider is reportedly willing to spend millions on drugs (LA for example) why not $100,000 on a bike

I think its more like a $200,000 bike.

That is absurd.

 

[BroDeal]

It is cheating, pure and simple. It also indicates the mindset of people involved in the program. They have no problem flagrantly breaking the rules. It is not a stretch to assume that attitude includes doping.

The use of these bikes on the road puzzles me for the Olympics. While I can imagine that there might be an advantage to be gained on the track because there is so little interest in track cycling by big manufacturers, I have a hard time believing that British Cycling can outdo the efforts of companies like Cervelo, Specialized, and Trek, all of which compete with each other in the lucrative triathlon market. Money is on the line and lots of it.

 

[andy1234]

Are you not missing the point? " Commercially available" surely doesn't mean " at any price".
These are F1 prices not genuine prices that even the average better of cyclist could ever justify ..and 3 months just to get a price list?...
No matter how ya wanna spin its clear BC have no intention of generating any sales on the these bits of kit.

BC are not in the business of selling bikes, and have no intention of starting.
The UCI have stated equipment must be commercially available, not cheap.

If he UCI decide equipment must be affordable to anyone, development will stop, as lottery funding isn't in place to help other nations go faster. Its a competition FFS

 

[Joachim]

It is cheating, pure and simple. It also indicates the mindset of people involved in the program. They have no problem flagrantly breaking the rules. It is not a stretch to assume that attitude includes doping.

Of course it is the UCI that sets the rules which determine what is and what isn't cheating. That the UCI haven't declared these machines illegal gives us an indication of the value we should place on your opinion. As for the rest of your paragraph, well, that is just shrill hysterics and reflects badly on you. You are better than that.

The use of these bikes on the road puzzles me for the Olympics. While I can imagine that there might be an advantage to be gained on the track because there is so little interest in track cycling by big manufacturers, I have a hard time believing that British Cycling can outdo the efforts of companies like Cervelo, Specialized, and Trek, all of which compete with each other in the lucrative triathlon market. Money is on the line and lots of it.

It puzzles me too, but for different reasons. I can't bring myself to believe that anyone could produce such a fugly bike. As for the brands you mention, there is a bit of a disconnect between the reality of these products and the hype they'd have you believe. I've been in the odd high end frame plant, and you'd be surprised what you'd find in there. It's a far cry from high end engineering and wind tunnels

Kind of feeds in to what I feel about the kit the British go on about. It is smoke and mirrors, but the advantage is psychological. That the French got suspicious about the British riders wheels played straight into the British hands.

Good for them. That is a big part of sport is about.

 

[BroDeal]

Of course it is the UCI that sets the rules which determine what is and what isn't cheating. That the UCI haven't declared these machines illegal gives us an indication of the value we should place on your opinion. As for the rest of your paragraph, well, that is just shrill hysterics and reflects badly on you. You are better than that.

The fact that you are thick enough to think that the UCI giving someone a free pass shows something is kosher is a damning indication of the value anyone should place on your opinion--as if your continual denial of shadiness of the Sky Miracle were not enough. Get a clue.

This is cheating, pure and simple. It is no different than doping, the practice the UCI allowed for years.

It puzzles me too, but for different reasons. I can't bring myself to believe that anyone could produce such a fugly bike. As for the brands you mention, there is a bit of a disconnect between the reality of these products and the hype they'd have you believe. I've been in the odd high end frame plant, and you'd be surprised what you'd find in there. It's a far cry from high end engineering and wind tunnels

Why the heck would you expect wind tunnels at a manufacturing plant in China? Do the uneducated workers need to blow dry their hair?

 

[Joachim]

The fact that you are thick enough to think that...bla..bla...shrill hysterics..

Lay off the personal insults. That is strictly for tools.

 

[BroDeal]

Lay off the personal insults. That is strictly for tools. ...blah..blah...usual sniveling apologism for Team Sky

You get what you give.

 

[Joachim]

Oh really? Care to point out where I have personally attacked you? Please, enlighten us all..

 

[Don't be late Pedro]

Are you not missing the point? " Commercially available" surely doesn't mean " at any price".

You seem to equate commercially available with affordable? Ferraris are commercially available but the average car enthusiast is not likely to be able to afford one.

 

[BroDeal]

Oh really? Care to point out where I have personally attacked you? Please, enlighten us all..

I cannot see where I wrote anything that would cause your childlike whinging. So I guess we are even.

 

[BroDeal]

You seem to equate commercially available with affordable? Ferraris are commercially available but the average car enthusiast is not likely to be able to afford one.

Sky's cheat gear has prices that were chosen expressly to prevent people from buying. They have a helmet that cost three thousand pounds for gawdsake. They do not even monitor inquiries on a timely basis. That they are for sale is a charade.

This shows premeditated and planned cheating. Someone high up in management made the decision. He ordered other people to write copy and create a page on their website giving phony sales offer. It shows a total lack of morals. These are the same people who would have us believe they are against doping. That does not compute. Those who would carry out a bureaucratic conspiracy to break equipment rules would have no problem carrying out a similar conspiracy to blood dope.

 

[Joachim]

Yes, and 2+2=22

 

[Darryl Webster]

Couple of points here. . These bikes are developed using funding from lottery money. That, s public money. That they are NOT "affordable" or indeed genuinely commercially available ( at these prices it would be commercial suicide) is unacceptable and defo NOT what is meant by the UCI regs that stipulate that bikes should be commercial products.
By the letter of the rules they may make the grade but by the spirit. of the rules they are clearly in contempt.
I struggle to see any commercial future EVER for these bikes. Standard practice to recover R@ D is to recoup it via volumes and at prices that reflect demand.
At say £15..£20 grand per compete bike an argument could be made that it would be a realistic , though still very expensive machine for the high end market.
The prices seem utterly fabricated to a) ensure NO sales ( Have there been any? ) and b) very questionable as to how they've been arrived at and for what motive(s).
And in that final point maybe a question that belongs in the clinic.

 

[Joachim]

but by the spirit. of the rules

Oh yes, good old 'spirit of the rules'... that extra set of rules that come out when somebody doesn't like the ...errr..actual rules.

The rules are the rules. In many sports these days they get pushed to the absolute limits. Those same set of rules didn't seem to do Pendleton any favours in the Games did they, when they caused her to be disqualified. Especially by a UCI commisaire...oh I forgot, aren't Sky/GB supposed to be paying off the UCI in one massive conspiracy????

The main advantage of those bikes is psychological, and pricing them at £50k is part of that.

 

[Darryl Webster]

Oh yes, good old 'spirit of the rules'... that extra set of rules that come out when somebody doesn't like the ...errr..actual rules.

The rules are the rules. In many sports these days they get pushed to the absolute limits. Those same set of rules didn't seem to do Pendleton any favours in the Games did they, when they caused her to be disqualified. Especially by a UCI commisaire...oh I forgot, aren't Sky/GB supposed to be paying off the UCI in one massive conspiracy????

The main advantage of those bikes is psychological, and pricing them at £50k is part of that.

I couldn't give a flying feck for the fact its a BC team situation , Id be saying the same no matter what nation.
I notice you conveniently ignore the funding issue of these bikes ( the uk public) and , if there have been NO sales how can they be a commercial product?.
You clearly have utter contempt for such quaint notions as " spirit of the rules" and are showing exactly the kinda attitudes that cause sports to be such amoral minefields.

 

[Joachim]

It is what it is. That's sport at the highest level.

As for the funding of the bikes, what has that got to do with anything? Its a piece of sports equipment. If you are so bothered get the cash together and buy one, I'll stake my Maserati that it is no better a bike than any of the other teams possess.

 

[Darryl Webster]

It is what it is. That's sport at the highest level.

As for the funding of the bikes, what has that got to do with anything? Its a piece of sports equipment. If you are so bothered get the cash together and buy one, I'll stake my Maserati that it is no better a bike than any of the other teams possess.

Clearly living in vacuous amoral world of your own.
Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. Sad.

 

[Joachim]

Clearly

 

[simo1733]

I couldn't give a flying feck for the fact its a BC team situation , Id be saying the same no matter what nation.
I notice you conveniently ignore the funding issue of these bikes ( the uk public) and , if there have been NO sales how can they be a commercial product?.
You clearly have utter contempt for such quaint notions as " spirit of the rules" and are showing exactly the kinda attitudes that cause sports to be such amoral minefields.

Has anyone tried to buy a German FES bike or is this just Sky bashing?

 

[Benotti69]

Has anyone tried to buy a German FES bike or is this just Sky bashing?

Off you go. Make sure to report back with your findings. Important to bring some balance to this story.

It would appear that BC never had any intention of making them available.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/448351/uci-threaten-to-ban-britain-s-track-bikes.html