Bikes Sold for More Than $10,000

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Rachel Bachman, Rise of the Five-Figure Bike; Amateurs covet superlight frames, electronic gears; Smooth ride, or snob appeal? Wall Street Journal, Aug 20, 2014.
online.wsj.com/articles/rise-of-the-five-figure-bicycle-1408489679

Quote:

“The more widespread use of carbon fiber in bike frames, instead of steel or aluminum, is perhaps the biggest reason for higher bike costs, industry experts say. Used by airlines and the military, carbon fiber is prized for its light weight, durability and vibration-dampening properties. It is also used in bike components such as wheel rims and handlebars.

"You can't say the words 'carbon fiber' without pretty much tripling the price," says Andrew Juskaitis, global senior product marketing manager for Giant Manufacturing Co, of Taiwan.’
“The brand's top road bike has a $10,300 sticker price, which Mr. Juskaitis acknowledges is ‘stratospheric." But he says high development costs mean slim profit margins for such top models. An electronic-shifting system, which changes gears at the touch of a button and minimizes chain wear, can be three times as costly as a traditional shift system. And hydraulic disc brakes, which offer more stopping power, can add 15% to a bike's price over traditional clamp brakes. Mr. Juskaitis says Giant expects to sell a few hundred of these high-performance, or ‘halo,’ bikes a year.

“Research and development are the biggest cost drivers at Toronto-based bicycle manufacturer Cervélo, whose basic bikes cost $2,500 to $10,000.

Note:
(a) This report appears at page D1.
(b) A big sketch has the heading “Anatomy of a ‘Halo’ Bike.”  Halo, of course is the registered trade mark of Giant.
(c) There is no need to read the rest of the report.