Several years back we reviewed a gucci-spec'd GT with an alloy frame and a ~6-7k price tag. Opinions were split about whether readers were a fan of that concept or not. Credit to GT for trying it out, but they didn't repeat it the following year, suggesting that - at least at the time - the market was not ready for alloy frames with a high end spec at a price point that would see a carbon frame with a middle/compromised spec.
It's an interesting discussion. I'm sure market research would show a difference in market opinion about this as the years have gone by. Alloy seems to be making a bit of a comeback in the mid/high end, but once you're spending 6k or more, it seems like most buyers want a carbon frame, and that 6k can become 8k pretty quick and sales may not suffer much at all in between the two. I'm just speculating - we need data - but I suspect I'm right based on the number of 6-8k bikes I see which are almost all carbon.
July 16, 2019, 11:36 p.m. - Pete Roggeman
Several years back we reviewed a gucci-spec'd GT with an alloy frame and a ~6-7k price tag. Opinions were split about whether readers were a fan of that concept or not. Credit to GT for trying it out, but they didn't repeat it the following year, suggesting that - at least at the time - the market was not ready for alloy frames with a high end spec at a price point that would see a carbon frame with a middle/compromised spec. It's an interesting discussion. I'm sure market research would show a difference in market opinion about this as the years have gone by. Alloy seems to be making a bit of a comeback in the mid/high end, but once you're spending 6k or more, it seems like most buyers want a carbon frame, and that 6k can become 8k pretty quick and sales may not suffer much at all in between the two. I'm just speculating - we need data - but I suspect I'm right based on the number of 6-8k bikes I see which are almost all carbon.