GCN Tech Show: Is 2024 the year bike prices fall?

Alex Paton and Ollie Bridgewood are taking a look at one of the most discussed topics in cycling in this instalment of the Tech Show. It seems that the sheer cost of cycling has never been higher, even entry-level bikes are into the thousands of £/$/€. Following on from a recent GCN video where we looked at how a road bike can cost the same as a motorbike, we decided to look at the topic in a bit more detail.

After receiving a fair bit of stick in the comments Alex is looking to straighten things out and go into a deeper explanation behind the cost of bikes. One thing that is unavoidable, and an obvious fact if you have been cycling for 10 years or more, is that the cost of bikes has accelerated way beyond the rate of inflation.

• Read more: GCN Tech Show: Is the cost of cycling killing the sport?

If we take a look back at a range-topping Trek Madone from 2009 it would have cost £5,000 in the UK. This is obviously a lot of money but when compared to what £5,000 will get you these days that seems like pretty good value. Fast forward to 2024 and the range-topping Trek Madone 9.9 can set you back £14,550, representing nearly a 300% increase in price.

If we adjust the cost of the 2009 Madone to current value it would retail for around £8,000 showing just how big the gap is between inflation and bike prices. It would be hard to argue against the fact that the new Madone doesn’t have a lot of additional material science, testing and research but that doesn’t make the near £7,000 increase (when adjusted for inflation) any more palatable.

This is a topic that a lot of us cyclists feel very passionately about and we would love to hear your views. Do you think we are going to see cycling decline due to these skyrocketing costs or do you think the price bubble is set to burst? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Hot and spicy tech

We have a special edition of hot and spicy tech this week where Alex and Ollie are discussing the recent TT battle that they had against one another.

Before the event Ollie was tipped to be the outright favourite for the win, with his penchant for all things aero and TTs being his specialism. However, that isn’t how things went.

That said, Ollie didn't go down without a fight and came fully prepared with what can only be described as an exhaustive list of excuses to attribute to the defeat.

Precision fuel and hydration join the GCN team

After the announcement last week that Camelbak had joined GCN as a partner brand we have further news with Precision Fuel and Hydration coming on board as our nutrition partner. With the brands fresh to GCN keep your eyes peeled for some content coming your way looking into sweat rates and how to manage hydration to optimise your performance.

Lotto Dstny unveil 2024 Orbea team bikes

Orbea has dropped the new team bikes of Lotto Dstny with a different colourway between the Orca and the Orca Aero. One of the most interesting moves is that the team will be using Orbea’s in-house brand, Oquo Wheels. If you are particularly drawn to the team edition bike a replica of both models will be available directly from Orbea.

• Read more: Orbea unveil the team bikes Lotto Dstny will be using in 2024

Yamaha announced an e-bike battery subscription service

Yamaha will be offering a battery replacement service that allows you to swap out your depleted battery and replace it with a fully charged one for any of their battery stations. This removes the worry of finding somewhere to charge your bike mid-ride or if you simply get caught out away from your charging station.

Team kits keep on coming

Another week into 2024 another batch of team kits has been released. Among them are Canyon-SRAM with an even more bold and colourful kit than before, and so was the EF-Education Easy Post, along with the team's new bike design. For all the latest news on team kits for the 2024 season and to familiarise yourself ahead of the racing kicking off make sure to check out our kit guide.

• Read more: Pro cycling kits 2024: What the WorldTour teams are wearing

Your comments and bikes

We love hearing what you have got to say here at GCN and we make a real effort to go through as many comments as we can under both our videos and articles. One of the stand-out comments this week came from our superlight bike video where one viewer said that they would be more interested in the longevity of keeping a bike as light as that running for multiple seasons.

Here are the bikes from this week's Bike Vault. Watch the show to find out whether they got a 'Nice' or a 'Supernice' and let us know which is your favourite in the comments below.

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Bossi Summit submitted by Rob from Adelaide in Australia. It includes SRAM Force, Tune saddle, stem and hubs and custom painted forks in Gulf Racing colours

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Lapierre Aircode DRS 6 from Benjamin. Great bike but will the fact the fact the photo's taken non-driveside and still has all the 'gubbins' attached stand against it? We think it might...

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Pawel's SEKA Exceed features Dura Ace 9270, Zipp 404 wheels and PRO Vibe finishing kit

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Despite being in Sunset Beach Jeff has taken the photo of his Look KG 181 next to a grotty bin. Wonder what Ollie will make of that…

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Andy pretty much wrote the script for this one about his Trek Emonda SL7

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Sebastian tells us his Time Scylon is a dream bike build with no expense spared. What do you think?

If you have a bike you want to submit to the bike vault make sure to do so with the GCN uploader.