EMTB manufacturers are price gouging.

TimC7

Ovine Assaulter
Apr 22, 2023
278
1,059
UK
EMTB prices have dropped significantly over the past year, I don't know if we could say the bubble has burst but with so much choice now and so many good brands and more been manufactured and with all the brand competition I think its a good thing they have come down in price, I think its more now of which manufacturers brand some one wants as to what spec as most are specked up so well now. you say about how much they charge for a bike, but you are not thinking about the supply chain of all the parts getting to one point, the people who are putting these bikes together, pricing added on incase of warranty claims as all business's do this not just bike manufacturers, what about the bike shops independents and your small local shops trying hard to stay in business, or the large chains. everybody needs to take wage and pay their own bills. business rates, electricity.its never ending, again some one said earlier, if you cant afford but a cheaper bike or dont buy at all. it may sound cruel but its right.
Exactly the same for motorbikes which are far more complicated with many more components to source and then guarantee . .
 

irie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
May 2, 2022
2,640
2,705
Chichester, W.Sussex, UK
The so-called Leisure Industry is a mugs game, encapsulated by someone who said "If I wanted to make one million in this business I'd have to start with two million".

Remember Covid when many people went to the seaside and bought inflatable paddle boards? Guess what, warehouses are still full of unsold paddle boards from 2 years ago. It's called overstocking.

Prices of overstocked leisure products are being slashed to try to improve cashflow and thus be able to buy in new up-to-date stock. The leisure product industry is at It's core a fashion industry.

Price gouging? Nope, don't think so.
 

TimC7

Ovine Assaulter
Apr 22, 2023
278
1,059
UK
The so-called Leisure Industry is a mugs game, encapsulated by someone who said "If I wanted to make one million in this business I'd have to start with two million".

Remember Covid when many people went to the seaside and bought inflatable paddle boards? Guess what, warehouses are still full of unsold paddle boards from 2 years ago. It's called overstocking.

Prices of overstocked leisure products are being slashed to try to improve cashflow and thus be able to buy in new up-to-date stock. The leisure product industry is at It's core a fashion industry.

Price gouging? Nope, don't think so.
Not sure it's fair to describe it as fashion otherwise any non essential item becomes fashion. It's a sport/leisure activity driven by product function and efficiency although accessories, like for anything, are certainly as much fashion as function. Just look what snowboarders wear 😂
 
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G-Sport

Active member
Oct 7, 2022
324
259
Yorkshire
C'mon, you realize you can still do both...LOL! Man, I love off road on two wheels in the dirt. I'll take it any way I can get it. And before some know-it-all...LOL!...chimes in about some rich 5%, disposable income malarkey, I'm retired on a fixed income, and it ain't no 6-digit retirement...a fraction of that. I still work part time to pay for my sins...ah, I mean habits. BTW, that's a 2009 Honda XR650, not a $14,000 KTM. 😄 View attachment 134121
Maybe in Texas. Unfortunately on this little island there is now almost no-where you are allowed to ride off-road, nearly all the B.O.A.T.S. in the Peak District now have traffic orders on them banning anything with an engine. Haven't ridden my motorbike since getting the eMTB, which I can ride almost anywhere.
Now that motorbikes are effectively outlawed (off road) only outlaws ride them, so if you do hear an engine you better watch out because they may well be where they shouldn't including MTB trails.
 

arTNC

Member
Feb 1, 2024
240
281
Texas
Maybe in Texas. Unfortunately on this little island there is now almost no-where you are allowed to ride off-road, nearly all the B.O.A.T.S. in the Peak District now have traffic orders on them banning anything with an engine. Haven't ridden my motorbike since getting the eMTB, which I can ride almost anywhere.
Now that motorbikes are effectively outlawed (off road) only outlaws ride them, so if you do hear an engine you better watch out because they may well be where they shouldn't including MTB trails.
Sounds like a real fun bunch of killjoys running that place...and maybe that's applicable to most all governments these days. Sorry to hear that G-Sport. Wonder how long before they put their sights on emtb's?
 

Planemo

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 12, 2021
605
706
Essex UK
I couldn't for the life of me take offence to someone saying to me 'get a better job' if I wanted to buy something that was expensive relative to my income. The only person I can blame for not earning more is me. I could have quite easily worked harder at school, done the uni thing and worked my way up like my bro who is doing very well indeed. But I didn't end up with his affluent lifestyle simply because I didn't put the amount of sheer effort in that he did. I also remember that he was eating beans on toast for years and counting every penny whilst I was smoking around on 1 litre sportsbikes with my mates getting pissed most days. How the tide has turned now though.

As for snobs on this site, I honestly don't see it. There are many people on here who can afford £10k+ ebikes yet virtually all of them seem down to earth, normal people who don't mind getting covered in shit every weekend and most of them work on their own bikes not because they can't afford to pay someone else to do it but because they want to. Relative to other 'luxury' items I would say the EMTB crowd are pretty cool tbh.

Even the dentists on here seem able to take a good ribbing without offence.
 

Canyon Shawn

Active member
Feb 4, 2023
295
192
Lake Sherwood, California
There’s a lot of ways to afford a mountain bike. There’s a second or third job and there’s also a lot of zero percent financing out there. That’s how I purchase all my Apple products. That’s how I purchased my Husqvarna 701 Supermoto, Zero percent for 5 years. If you factor in inflation, which is hight right now, they are paying you to borrow money.
 

Dax

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 25, 2018
1,731
2,112
FoD
I couldn't for the life of me take offence to someone saying to me 'get a better job' if I wanted to buy something that was expensive relative to my income. The only person I can blame for not earning more is me.

This is my plan for buying a super yacht. Any recommendations for jobs?
 

Plummet

Flash Git
Mar 16, 2023
1,152
1,634
New Zealand
It's basic economics 101.

Sellers sell for as much as you can, buyers try to pay as little as they can.

Somewhere in the middle the price is set.

Supply and demand baby.
If nobody buys your product the price is too high, if you sell out too fast the price I'd too low. . .....
 

Doomanic

🛠️Wrecker🛠️
Patreon
Founding Member
Jan 21, 2018
8,735
10,403
UK
OP, if you think eebs are overpriced, do yourself a favour and don't look up the prices of top end road bikes...
 

TimC7

Ovine Assaulter
Apr 22, 2023
278
1,059
UK
Interesting question: what is the optimum price bracket for an eMTB between super cheap ones that clearly won't hack it and top spec carbon limited edition; for XC+ with small drops/jumps? £3-5k?
 
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Planemo

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 12, 2021
605
706
Essex UK
There’s a lot of ways to afford a mountain bike.
Theres also priorities. During the payments for my ebike (also on C2W, otherwise it wouldn't have happened) I was driving around in a shitter of a smart car worth about 800 quid and even then I could barely fuel it enough to get to work. I had virtually bugger all money for 18 months and was literally planning every £5. The last payment I had to make every month was my mobile phone bill (£10 cos I don't have an expensive phone) and there were times when I wasn't sure I could even make the payment.

So when people see me on my £4.5k eeb and start thinking (or even verbally suggesting) things similar to 'show off flash git/rich middle aged guy' yet they are holding a phone worth more than my car I do feel they are slightly off the mark.
 

G-Sport

Active member
Oct 7, 2022
324
259
Yorkshire
Friend of mine just picked up an Orbea Rise M20 (carbon one) with some nice component upgrades a couple of years old for £2k. Seems like a very good deal to me. Yes, there isn't any warranty but at that price he can afford a few fixes if needed. The price drops for new bikes have really squeezed second hand, and this is the worst time of year to be selling so best time to be buying.
 

Planemo

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 12, 2021
605
706
Essex UK
Interesting question: what is the optimum price bracket for an eMTB between super cheap ones that clearly won't hack it and top spec carbon limited edition; for XC+ with small drops/jumps? £3-5k?
I would say you're about right with that figure you quoted. Prob nearer the £3k end than the £5k if I'm honest. I'm sure theres plenty around the £3.5~£4k mark these days for heavy-ish XC (around 140mm travel?).
 

Gavalar

Active member
Feb 4, 2019
353
227
UK
Life is about choice, a £10k bike does not make you a better rider if you have no bike skills, learn the skills, decide what riding you actually do, set a budget and stick to it, it's not about the bike but the person riding it, and remember, smile when you're doing it.
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,577
5,067
Weymouth
Personally I pay more attention to value than price. Strangely when it comes to car purchase there is probably more "heart than head" that governs my purchase decisions; possible due to my past involvment in motor sport, but when it comes to MTB, I more interested in function than anything else. OK I have the budget to buy whatever I want but .......maybe old fashioned attitude?....... I am not prepared to waste money. The highest priority for me in terms of value for a EMTB purchase is that every aspect of the bike is well engineered and whatever components are fitted, deliver discernable performance benefit in line with my riding needs.
How much profit did the bike shop or brand make on my last bike? I could not care less!!
 

Damin

Member
May 17, 2023
29
34
USA
Right, so the place to get your data is not the guy at your bike shop. And no, I won't share client data. But I certainly would like to.

And no, coffee shops aren't high margin businesses. Also, wow there are a lot of guys who work for bike firms on this forum who don't like this being shared. Feel free to post financial statements to refute. Not recommended, but would be enjoyable to watch.
Right, so the place to get your data is not the guy at your bike shop. And no, I won't share client data. But I certainly would like to.

And no, coffee shops aren't high margin businesses. Also, wow there are a lot of guys who work for bike firms on this forum who don't like this being shared. Feel free to post financial statements to refute. Not recommended, but would be enjoyable to watch.
Where is the data that corroborates your position? Put up, or shut up. You have posted nothing but opinion here. No real data, citations or links to anything supportive.
 

Plummet

Flash Git
Mar 16, 2023
1,152
1,634
New Zealand
So when people see me on my £4.5k eeb and start thinking (or even verbally suggesting) things similar to 'show off flash git/rich middle aged guy' yet they are holding a phone worth more than my car I do feel they are slightly off the mamark.
It must be a UK thing. I have one of the most outlandish looking bikes in the pole voima.

Nobody calls me a flash git.
 

E-MAD MALC

Active member
Subscriber
Nov 16, 2021
405
239
EAST SUSSEX
I couldn't for the life of me take offence to someone saying to me 'get a better job' if I wanted to buy something that was expensive relative to my income. The only person I can blame for not earning more is me. I could have quite easily worked harder at school, done the uni thing and worked my way up like my bro who is doing very well indeed. But I didn't end up with his affluent lifestyle simply because I didn't put the amount of sheer effort in that he did. I also remember that he was eating beans on toast for years and counting every penny whilst I was smoking around on 1 litre sportsbikes with my mates getting pissed most days. How the tide has turned now though.

As for snobs on this site, I honestly don't see it. There are many people on here who can afford £10k+ ebikes yet virtually all of them seem down to earth, normal people who don't mind getting covered in shit every weekend and most of them work on their own bikes not because they can't afford to pay someone else to do it but because they want to. Relative to other 'luxury' items I would say the EMTB crowd are pretty cool tbh.

Even the dentists on here seem able to take a good ribbing without offence.
#planing
I'm retired but have a partime job
I could do with a dentist, but I'd buy a 8 grand bike before that. 😆
 

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