well, I've got my Commencal 5.5 now, so I won't be talking to any of you lot with lesser bikes any more....  Ha ha!

Decathlon bikes are great value. I think (I was trying to get in and out as quick as poss) that I saw the Boardman bikes reduced at Halford in Lincoln last week... Top spec one was 799... gotta be worth a check if anyone is in a Halfords. Also Decathlon at Merry Hell had reductions on 9.2's and 8.2's both great bikes at original price.

Congratulations on you Commencal 5.5.

 I just checked the specs out. The Meta 5.5 numero 1,2 and 3 are not a patch on the MTB Boardman Pro (£1,000) and you're paying between £300 and £1100 more for it.

 Not sure that the  Meta 5.5 Team at £3,000 is any better either. The on-board kit certainly isn't!

I bought my son a Decathlon 9.1 while we were on holiday in France this Summer. 666Euro's with 1/3 off.

 It's awesome, full suspension - stiill probably better than the Commencal 5.5 thing too....and the kit doesn't need upgrading either, unless you wanna swap Shimano Deore LX for SRAM X.0 - what's the point?

9.1 - very nice bike, good frame and kit and at a great price. I think you may have misunderstood the irony of my post earlier, oh well. Read the whole thread and you'll see that i'm not at all into bike snobbery, if it rides well and you're happy with it, then that's the whole point for me. Commy 5.5 is a great bike and all the reviews have been abslutely correct about it. It suits me just fine and I'm happy with it, as I probably would be with any bike that I'd ridden, considered and chosen carefully. If I hadn't already got the 8.2 I'd seriously consider a Boardman, but I don't want another hardtail (well, I do actually, but I wouldn't get away with that one!) and I got the 5.5 at a great price.

Is your 9.1 badged 'made in France'? My 8.2 is and I wonder where they're made? Commy's are made in Taiwan like most bikes these days.

I did spot your sense of irony but I rode right over it, just wanted to tell you about the Decathlon 9.1. It is badged up made in France.

 I don't know what or why it is but all the kit in Decathlon was about 1/2 price than it is in England - Gears, shifters, rims, stems, seats, tyres, bars, shocks, the lot.

Probably the same reason that Halfords can source the end kit and flog the Boardman range so cheap. I suppose when they get a bit of street cred and prise people away from the ridiculously expensive LBS's they may start selling some decent end-kit in their shops but all they seem to want to do is promote Bikehut at the moment.

I did spot your sense of irony but I rode right over it, just wanted to tell you about the Decathlon 9.1. It is badged up made in France.

 I don't know what or why it is but all the kit in Decathlon was about 1/2 price than it is in England - Gears, shifters, rims, stems, seats, tyres, bars, shocks, the lot.

Probably the same reason that Halfords can source the end kit and flog the Boardman range so cheap. I suppose when they get a bit of street cred and prise people away from the ridiculously expensive LBS's they may start selling some decent end-kit in their shops but all they seem to want to do is promote Bikehut at the moment.

 I wasn't dumming down your Commencal, it's a great bike, I just wanted to put the price into perspective.

Where do you guys get the idea Halfords run on lower margins? It's actually the other way round. Gross profit margin on a mainstream brand form a LBS is probably around 30-35% depending on volume and at Halfords a few years ago when i worked dthere it was 52%, even higher on accessories.

 As for criticising brand snobebry in the bike world it's just the same as any consumer product, cars are the prime example. Korean cars may offer the best value for money but most people seem to aspire to more expensive German ones, I wonder why?

A proper bike company like Trek, Commencal etc have lots of other overheads such as greater marketing (Halforda are arguably relying on footfall and value for money to get sales rather than marketing), R&D - can't see any sign of that form Boardman, race teams, grass roots sponsorship, investment in the sport through all manner f schemes etc. The increased advertising and marketing gives us magazines to read, cool rider's to watch who in turn help push the sport and products etc. Brands who sell purely on price don't necessarily do any of this.

 Also a well designed frame can ride so much better than an average off the shlef one, the Commencal Meta frame is a case in point, the geo is so lovely compared to so many other makes it's unreal.

(off topic) Easyrider - have a look at

www.velovert.com

It's a french website and has a section for Decathlon bike owners... (end off topic)

Dodgy - agreed, a way of measuring this is residual values, an Audi/VW/BMMerc etc, will retain greater value for resale than a Kia/Hyundai etc... but once again it's down to spending your cash in the way that's most approprite for you at that time.

I'm not so sure that the price of Audi, BMW or Merc has 100% to do with worth, quality or value for money  (I'm not sure why you slipped VW in there).

It has more to do with the Giffen goods effect, where demand goes up when price goes up. I guess it can also be construed as the snobbery effect.

As far as the comparison in the quality of the said bikes is concerned the marginal propensity to consume say a Commencal as to a Decathlon is much smaller particulary as the marginal difference in quality is much less than the marginal difference in price.

Marginal difference in Price > Marginal difference in Quality = Rip-off

I slipped VW in there because out fo VAG group cars that basically share the same chassis, engine and gearbox etc as well as most of the parts they are more expensive and have a higher 'perceived value' and are more aspirational than a Skoda or Seat for example.

Every purchasing decision is made based on various criteria, to suggest all main stream brands are a ripoff because a Boardman represents 'better value for money' due to the spec is ridiculous.

Ridiculous? OK, I'll spell it out for you: 

 "The point that I was trying to emphasise was the relative differences in price and quality.

 If the difference in quality is marginal and the difference in price is massive, say double++, then sorry to say I sense the stench of rip-off"

 But, hey if you're that much of a bike snob as to want to throw your money at these types of mainstream brands (as you put it) then that's your choice, so long as you're spending your money and not mine. It's a lot of money for a Taiwanese frame when the rest of the kit is similar.

thinking about the road bike now as well.

yea, saw Hayles riding the current Pro in the ToB and since watching Cooke win gold on the new carbon Pro, i can't wait