Why spend money.....

status and keeping up with the Jones's  ........ why do I spend money.... cos there are no pockets in shrouds  .... I am more than content with my 3 bikes.... 2 are 2009 models and my DH rig is a 2007 model... would a newer bike make me a better rider.....nope...I very much doubt it...

it is human nature to have the biggest and best of things.. and the markets know that fact......

i always rode a lot of cheap stuff, boardman, vitus etc as i never thought my riding abilities warranted a high end bike(even though i could afford one)now i have the five i can tell the difference form a 500 quid bike to a 3k bike but it dosent make me a better rider.

my bike is worth is worth 5 times the cost of my car.........

Interesting thread ...
Q. Why build a bike for thousands rather than hundred's ?
A. I'm a firm believer that you get what you pay for and I would rather save to spend more money on quality than make do with something that I'm not 100% happy with .
Q.Is it just showing off ?
A. Undoubtably that plays a part ..and anyone who says it doesn't is just lying to themselves !
Q. Will a bike costing thousands do a better job than one costing hundreds ?
A. Absofuckinglutley ..two million percent ..better components inevitably lead to a better ride due to weight saving and durability .
To a great extent it is down to rider skill ..but for example would a light carbon full sus improve my riding and make me a quicker ...better rider .
YES it would and I have already proven that to myself when I borrowed one for a week ..as not only did it make me quicker but because of the weight saving I also felt less tired at the end of a ride .
For all those who would say just lose a stone and that would have the same result ..yes it would ..but if I lost a stone AND had a lighter bike ..then that would make me even quicker still !
It brought a bit of a wry smile really when you said you were curious as to why people did when you really don't have to ...really ? That coming from someone who sits astride a 7k bike ..I think you already know the answer to that ..it's because you can !
That's exactly the same reason why I bought a 4 grand bike in 2007 ..that and I wanted what I thought were the best tools for the job at that particular time ..however if someone pointed to a Halfords £500 jobbie and convinced me that it would improve my riding ability and at the same time give me a more comfortable ride ..I would have one in a heartbeat ..we are as Doogs pointed out ..victims of the marketing men
In conclusion ...what do I think ..?
Go out and buy the best bike you can for the amount of money you can afford irrespective of how much it costs ...if it puts a smile on your face and you love it ..job done !
Amen ...

When I do anything I like to have the best that I can afford. There is always food on the table and clothes on the kids so if I wanna spend x amount of thousands on a bike as long as the money is there than I can do it. I like to think that I have no excuses I can't blame the bike the same spec the pros are using.

There are people shredding better than me probably on £500 hard tails but well I work hard (ish) for my cash and I enjoy it the best way I see fit.

I am also far too Enduro for anything out of halfords ;-)

I would love to have a high end expensive bike , but do I need one ?

I don't get to ride anywhere as much as I want to so would a expensive bike be better in my gaurage waiting to hit the trails no it needs be on the trails not in the gaurage .

I have been looking at having a new 27.5 ride but am now looking more at only spending about £600 on replacing my frame and upgrading a few things and not getting into debt so when it the bike is sat in the gaurage I don't feel so bad .

Guess I'm just a tight git but

As some folk on here already know i already had a decent bike in a Mondraker Dune, over £3K worth of bike and was cutting edge just a few short years ago,.
Enter the new bike, a Transition Scout. Now i wasn't really looking for a new bike but fancied a go on one and as soon as i stomped on the pedals i knew i wanted it badly, it just felt right straight away, a really fun bike and so very fuckinig fast as my Strava times told me on a trail i'd ridden many many times, loads of pr's, i'm not competitive but everybody likes that speed buzz don't they, yeah i like it when people say they like my bike or give it admiring looks, we all do it don't we ? the price was irrelevant, i could afford it, i'd have handed it back if the money was too much.
For me the selling point was how it made me feel and it made me feel AWESOME 

I think there's a big different in performance between a sub £1k full sus bike and a £3k bike and think Hodgy is right, you get what you pay for. More expensive bikes are lighter, stronger, and generally do the job better.

Personally I love having the latest technology, dropper posts, floating pivot points, low speed compression, carbon fiber I love it all! But it turns out it all costs a fucking fortune!

The reason I have a 7k bike is, as you rightly said, because I can.

There is absolutely no doubt what-so-ever that I love people looking at my bike... What I don't understand though is why the majority of people call me a 'mad bas**rd' for having a set of 3K wheels, or a £200 cassette.. I'm a bit strange where buying stuff is concerned! The wheels are all about the stickers stuck on 'em, they could be made of old twigs and bog paper for all I care.. They have ENVE written on them and that is 100% the reason I bought them.

Is that a waste of money? Would all die hard MTB riders not buy them if they could? I don't need them, I just want them!

Building my bike was always meant to be an exercise of building what I WANTED, not what I could afford which has always been the case in the past.. I'll freely admit that most of the parts on my bike are there purely because of the name on them.. Chris King, ENVE, BOS, XX1.. All considered to be the best or near the best you can buy! Maybe I did fall victim to the advertising men but, I got what I wanted so, who gives a s**t!?

As for is/was it worth it...... 200000000000% yes! I don't regret spending a single penny. Does a 7K bike make you a better rider....... Course it bloody does.

Wouldn't we all be riding 6,7,8k bikes if we could? 

I'd best not mention I'm looking at buying a £2850 Nomad CC frame

People love spending money give you a buzz

Yes, can't disagree with any of the above - even a 32 quid lid gives me a warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy   
I do agree though that after a certain price point it's not going to help you as a rider, unless you are pro level but, really, it doesn't matter a feck what I think - it's other people's money to spend as they want.

I would think we've all got a sum in our heads where we'd go *sharp intake of breath* 'I can't spend that much on a bike!' and I also bet that that figure is different for every single one of us.

So, it really, really doesn't matter if someone else thinks you're a 'mad barstard' or not - it's feck all to do with anyone else!


PS - my *sharp intake of breath* level would be around the 3-3.5 grand mark.  I think a bike of that ilk would improve me as a rider, no doubt.  Anything over that would just be trying to polish an turd.