chris harrison ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

You get better technology, better materials, higher quality
components,

Do you get more space, more comfort, and more functionality?

Those are not typically factors considered when spending that sort of
amount on a bike

But they're definitely factors in spending £50k on a new car rather than
£5k.

Consider road bikes. At the cheap end of the market (e.g. less than
500 quid)

Umm, I'd have said the "cheap end of the market" for new bikes was less
than £100 from Halfrauds. £200 at a push. That's your direct bicycle
equivalent to a £5k new car.

£500+ for a new bike is equivalent in market position to somewhere around
£15-20k new car territory, I'd have thought - starting to get towards the
top end of tangible reasons to buy (space, toys, build quality) and head
into the intangibles (prestige, bling, fashion)

On that basis, £5k for a bike has to be somewhere around £100k car
territory?

Adrian wrote:
chris harrison ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :
Those are not typically factors considered when spending that sort of
amount on a bike


But they're definitely factors in spending £50k on a new car rather than
£5k.

While the reasons for speeding ten times as much on a car as a bike are
different, the reasons for speeding a tenth of the amount are similar
(because it can do the primary job (utility) just as well, the secondary
skills are just that, less important than the price).

Consider road bikes. At the cheap end of the market (e.g. less than
500 quid)


Umm, I'd have said the "cheap end of the market" for new bikes was less
than £100 from Halfrauds. £200 at a push. That's your direct bicycle
equivalent to a £5k new car.

Now you're talking 5 grand for a new car, that's different than 5 grand
for a car. But yes, 5 grand in new car terms is probably c.100 ish in
Halfrauds.

£500+ for a new bike is equivalent in market position to somewhere around
£15-20k new car territory, I'd have thought - starting to get towards the
top end of tangible reasons to buy (space, toys, build quality) and head
into the intangibles (prestige, bling, fashion)

But while there will be people who will spend money for its own sake,
purely to show off (in cars and bikes) - I would contend that a higher
proportion of high end (500) bikes will be sold to 'knowledgeable'
cyclists than similar cars (20k+?).

On that basis, £5k for a bike has to be somewhere around £100k car
territory?

Probably slightly higher in terms of percentage of the market, but yes,
in that ballpark.

chris harrison ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

Now you're talking 5 grand for a new car, that's different than 5
grand for a car.

Sure, but we were comparing vs new bikes.

Adrian wrote:
chris harrison ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :


Now you're talking 5 grand for a new car, that's different than 5
grand for a car.


Sure, but we were comparing vs new bikes.

Can you get a new car for 5 grand?

Same question, caveat with "worth having"? :-D

chris harrison ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

Now you're talking 5 grand for a new car, that's different than 5
grand for a car.

Sure, but we were comparing vs new bikes.

Can you get a new car for 5 grand?

Yes. List on some of the ropier stuff about can squeek under £5k - and I'm
sure they'd be desperate to shift one. For another few hundred notes, you
could get something half-decent and mainstream like a Panda.

But the most I've ever spent on a car is £4.5k, for a 4.5yr old £27k-new
turbo petrol XM - I paid roughly the list price of the options. 5 years
later, it's still doing fine.

Same question, caveat with "worth having"? :-D

I'll answer that by echoing...

Can you get a new bike for 100 quid, "worth having"?

Adrian wrote:

JohnB ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying :

But then the last cycle I bought contributed around five times
more in tax to the country's coffers than most people pay in VED
:-(

Eh? You spent FIVE AND A HALF GRAND ON A BICYCLE?

Nope.

puzzled
But you said you did.

Nope.

The VAT on a £5,500 bicycle would be £819, which is (slightly under)
five times the £165 VED.

And isn't £165 the top end of the scale? Is that the average paid?

You said "most people pay", not average - and I would lay odds that "most"
VED are top-whack - certainly I would think that "most cars" are larger
than 1549cc - although that may have skewed since the introduction of the
CO2-based VED.

I used a band C Petrol car - £105, which I guessed was average as its in
the middle of the DVLA table.
But even using your top whack £165 I still contributed over three times
more in tax than the VED.
Which of course goes towards 'the roads'.

John B

Adrian wrote:
chris harrison ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :
Can you get a new car for 5 grand?


Yes. List on some of the ropier stuff about can squeek under £5k - and I'm
sure they'd be desperate to shift one. For another few hundred notes, you
could get something half-decent and mainstream like a Panda.

So 5k will get you a tolerable but unexciting small car.

But it will get you a world-class bike.

In fact, several exceptional ones.

But the most I've ever spent on a car is £4.5k, for a 4.5yr old £27k-new
turbo petrol XM - I paid roughly the list price of the options. 5 years
later, it's still doing fine.

But not a new one ...

Same question, caveat with "worth having"? :-D


I'll answer that by echoing...

Can you get a new bike for 100 quid, "worth having"?


I would never recommend anyone spend "just" 100 quid on a new bike.

Double that to get acceptable. Double *that* to get tolerable. Double
*that* to get reasonable.

You're still talking a fraction of the similar amounts for cars

chris harrison ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

Can you get a new bike for 100 quid, "worth having"?

I would never recommend anyone spend "just" 100 quid on a new bike.

There's your answer to your question, then... g

But I'll bet a much higher percentage of new bikes are the £100-250 end of
the market than £5k cars are of new cars.

You're still talking a fraction of the similar amounts for cars

Oh, absolutely. That's undeniable. But... five grand... on a bike...?!?

Clive George wrote:

"JohnB" wrote in message
...
Adrian wrote:

Eh? You spent FIVE AND A HALF GRAND ON A BICYCLE?

Nope.

Oh, John, you bad man!

Well it was a little less. Even I would have problems justifying that
much for a bicycle to the Senior Management.
But then it did come from those wonderfully laid back engineers in
Falmouth ;-)
Which of course should tell our Adrian chap he should read wot I wrote a
little more carefully and not jump in with his assumptions.

John B

JohnB ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying :

Which of course should tell our Adrian chap he should read wot I wrote a
little more carefully and not jump in with his assumptions.

Not I making the incorrect assumptions, ol' chap. You were making
guesstimates of the "majority" VED rate which I suspect were way out...

But, even so... More money than sense...