I love wolf tooth but there is no way these cost more than $1 to make in mass production. Even at $10 they'd be making a legit profit after expenses. And I need 2 sets, so that's $60.
Anyone have a good alternative. There are a lot of Chinese ones on ebay/amazon. I'd prefer topeak (Taiwan) or some other established company but if it comes down to it, I guess Ali is my friend.
I need to mount 4 bike bottles to my forks (2 on each side) for bikepacking. 2 will probably be empty most of the time but I like extra for camp and long dry stretches.
by _MountainFit
14 Comments
Yes, precision. That is all there is to it.
The difference in cost between +/- .1mm and +/- .01mm when we are assigning machine tolerance is generally accepted as a 10x difference in cost. Speaking in very general terms, the cost to machine is inversely proportional to tolerance.
Meaning, if we have a 10x difference in tolerance, we can expect a 10x difference in cost. So, in the example I gave above, this component machined to a tolerance of +/- .1mm would cost $3. And, the same part machined to a tolerance of +/- .01mm (10 times smaller tolerance) would cost $30.
That is it.
Quality cost money. It applies to everything. Cars, computers, pencils, food, hookers. Buy it nice or buy it twice.
They charge what the market will bare and there is no shortage of dentists willing to bare premium prices for fancy bike bits.
They make all their stuff in the US. That does drive up cost. It will also get higher than this due to some foreseen circumstances.
Because it’s got Wolf Tooth stamped on it
Made in the USA. Probably really good threads and materials. I love mine.
Because they can be…
I 3d printed some with brass threaded for the actual bottles to attach to. I know wolftooth makes nice stuff, but 30 bucks seems excessive for what they are.
The reasons others have posted are valid, but the biggest reason is volume.
They probably sell less than a thousand of these per year, so it isn’t worth mass producing them and the cost of R&D per unit is high.
People will buy them at that price, why make them cheaper
Mechanical Engineer Designer here
there is not really a big risk in buying CNC milled stuff from Ali. When programmed good, the machine spits out Good quality for the price you pay. Of course, you can buy shit quality.
Just judge sensible. if you see a part for 9.- and it was sold 1000+ times, heck, buy it. it probably is good. if not, buy the wolftooth.
But you won’t toss a coin so to speak. it often is good enough. do that 10 times and you might toss 1 part but saved 9 times 2x the money.
i have bought A LOT of stuff on Ali and i can say CNC parts are a risk-off buy. Carbon not so much of obvious reasons.
The real issue is that they aren’t offset enough to allow you to use a frame bag, and you need the bracket (b-rad). But they work fine otherwise.
While I own two sets of these, you can buy a single piece bracket that does the same thing with less parts and for obviously less money.
WT should redesign them.
Because they can and cycling has turned into a circus. I needed ball bearings for my headset. I found one on some websites and Amazon for 30€. I ordered it from Aliexpress for 7€ for 2 of them. It’s amazing.
Nope.