What is the difference between a $500 bicycle and a $5,000 one?

Question:

Answer: materials used is a big part of the cost. a cheap bike will weld a bunch of beefy aluminum tubing together, whereas an expensive one will, lets say $5k, will be made of carbon, which flexes more than Al and absorbs road shock and vibration much better. its also stronger and extremely lightweight. a cheap bike will have cheap parts - they break easily and you cant get replacements. a lot of things dont work together- they arent compatible systems or alignment is off on several things. if you bought a $5k bike, it would most likely be assembled by a professional mechanic and everything would work perfect. weight is another issue. cheap bikes are heavy. the cheap dual suspension Huffy that i got for free weighs in at around 40lbs, insanely heavy for a bike like that. my Spec Epic weighs in at 28lbs. some, like the Scandium hardtail framed race bikes, weigh as little as 20lbs, road bikes are even more impressive hanging at 8lbs for the lightest. lighter materials are used in the components as well as different techniques for machining. cheap bikes (like the above mentioned huffy) will have solid steel cranks, while others, say a 2007 Shimano XTR crankset, are made from hollow aluminum with 7075 Al chainrings with Titanium teeth and a carbon composite middle chainring. the cheap cranks weigh about 4lbs, and the XTRs weigh around 740g, or about 1.6lbs. carbon can also bu used on things like derailleurs, handlebars, and seatposts. carbon is lighter, stronger, and obviously more expensive. a $500 bike will have decent parts which will satisfy the average rider. the $5000 bike is made for racing, you dont pay that much for a bike for recreational riding. this is like comparing a Toyota Echo with a Ferrari. get the picture?

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