I am a mountain bike rider and have seen the prices that some of the Dual suspension bikes in the top tier can bring for them. What about the bikes these guys are riding on the TdF. I was working in Sacramento when Lance Armstrong's time trial bike was stolen and it was valued at $10k. What about the TdF bikes what are they valued at? Are they something that with enough money a regular person could source (buy a frame of the right size and components). Or are they custom built for the rider only, measured and designed for them then laid up in Carbon fiber specifically for the rider? Are all the riders on pretty much similar bikes or is there a big disparity between the top named guys and those who are good enough to be there but not a name that is as well known? Thanks.
I'm pretty sure that the TdF riders are all on one off bikes specifically built for the individual riders. They do, of course, have "off the rack" counterparts. What each individual rider rides is up to the bike manufacturer. I know that Trek spends a ridiculous amount of $$$ on Lance's bikes between R&D and building the actual bike. Remember the "narrow bike?" As I recall, Trek had over 100K in that bike and Lance never even raced it.
The time trial bikes are all very much custom builds (and $10k sounds a bit cheap), but I'm not sure about the team bikes. I know that one of the teams certainly appears to be riding Pinarello Prince Carbon bikes, which are $5k frames and the wheelsets and drivetrains are definitely off the shelf setups, things like Campagnolo Bora Ultra wheels and Super Record 11 gruppos, both of which you can buy if you have the money. Given that a single crash can wreck a high end carbon frame which are designed with very narrow safety margins, I'd be surprised if their non time trial bikes were individually built, of course each bike and spares are set up for individual riders, but I don't believe the actual frames are anything special. Of course the teams have access to stuff a lot sooner than the general public, but I'm not aware of any team issue equipment that doesn't eventually find it's way into the marketplace.
I know for a fact that you can go to trek's website and buy the Madone off the rack and it's the exact frame/fork as the guys are riding in the tour. The components they're running are also available as options for the madone off the site. So, yes... You can buy the same bike that Armstrong, Contador, and the others are riding. In the past, there have been custom frames and such to get the precise specs desired and some of the riders of teams other than Astana may be on custom frames still. I do think that Lance's time trial bike is a new frame that may not yet be on the market.
Trek Bikes | Bikes | Madone You can custom build a Madone (pronounced mah-don - it's named after a mountain in the south of France) for anywhere between $6k and $10k (the most expensive options seem to be custom paint combos for the frame). $10-12k is probably a fair estimate for the Team bikes. If you wanted to build a Pinarello Prince Carbon up with top of the line components, you're probably looking at $15k, but that's what you get with the Italian tax added on
OOps... I did forget to include pricing. You can expect the average tour-bike to be in the 10-15k range. There's some local fool with too much money getting a custom bike built up with nearly everything carbon fiber and big-named... He is in the 13 thousand range. I don't have details except I believe it was a cervelo with campy record shifters.
If I had it, I'd drop 10K on a bike, but it would be lugged Italian Steel. And of course you cannot put Shimano on something like that.
