Why the bikes of the Tour de France probably cost more than your car

WANT a bike just like the ones Richie Porte and Co. are riding in the Tour de France? Prepare to spend more than you splashed on your car.

SAINT-ETIENNE, FRANCE - JULY 18: Richie Porte of Australia and Team SKY in action during the thirteenth stage of the 2014 Tour de France, a 197km stage between Saint-Etienne and Chamrousse, on July 18, 2014 in Chamrousse, France. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

WANT a bike just like the ones Richie Porte and Simon Gerrans are riding in the Tour de France? Prepare to spend more than you probably splashed on your last car.

Most riders in the Tour peloton are sitting on machinery worth as much as $20,000.

And that’s just their first bike.

Consider that most riders will have a couple of spares on top of the team car or in the team truck, and that there are nine riders in the team, and the mind starts to boggle about just how much money is rolling through the French countryside.

Oh, and did we forget time trial bikes? Each rider will have one or two of those as well, despite there being only one time trial — the penultimate stage before the final race to Paris — during this year’s event.

Alberto Contador's Specalized bike is worth upwards of $12,000.

How can a few pieces of metal cost that much?

Melbourne’s Total Rush bike store owner Simon Coffin said that while a ludicrously expensive bike might not vary that much from something more affordable, it was the subtle differences that made all the difference for professionals.

“To the untrained eye an entry level carbon bike doesn’t actually look that much different. What it comes down to is the construction of the frame, the quality of the carbon and the quality of the resin that’s used,” Coffin said.

Yeah, that’ll cost you.

“A $10,000 bike isn’t 20 per cent better than a $2000 bike. You’re probably only talking five to 10 per cent better, depending on the wheels. But at that level, half a per cent is the difference between winning a losing.”

Coffin said many of the Tour’s big names, including race leader Vincenzo Nibali, were riding off-the-rack Specialized brand bikes worth about $12,000.

“Depending on the wheels you put in it, really you’re looking at 10 to 20 grand and I’d say an average price would be $12,000 to $14,000 for most of those team bikes,” he said.

Simon Gerrans’ bike won’t come cheap.

But there’s more. Almost every rider’s bike is also fitted with a powermeter, which measures their power output and feeds it to that little display box you’ve probably seen on their handlebars.

Slap one of them on and you’re adding anywhere from $2000 to $5000.

Don’t forget your shoes, which can be had for about $400, an equally expensive helmet and full race kit and you’d better call your mortgage broker.

And all that outlay isn’t even getting you the lightest bikes money can buy, with cycling’s governing body having rules in place that prevent pro riders from having bikes lighter than 6.8kg.

“We serviced Gerro’s (Simon Gerrans) bike a year or so ago that he raced at the worlds and it was 7.2kg and we were laughing because my bike was a kilo lighter,” Coffin said.

Originally published as Why the bikes of the Tour de France probably cost more than your car