Mark W Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 The Arcade has been given a bit of a spruce up for the new year - instead of the previous matte black finish it's now got a pretty sweet "matte midnight red". Studio photos/videos don't do it justice - in person (and daylight) it looks really, really nice! The frame's also had a few tweaks and now has a different BB yoke and a completely changed seat stay/seat tube junction (including a nice new seat stay bridge). One other minor detail is that the head tube of the frame is now 10mm longer meaning you can get a nice high front end without having to get a whole load of headset stackers on the go. Here's a quick at-a-glance video to show you the updates, but for more info you can click over to the Inspired site here: http://bit.ly/1NX6awk 24/4/15 To update this with news of Inspired's other steel bike, the Console has been given a make-over for 2015 too. Featuring the same improvements to the frame as the Arcade, it's also been given a nice new paintjob too. A bit more understated than the previous colour, but pretty sweet in its own right! For more info, you can check out the Inspired site here: http://bit.ly/1Gf1rMX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topsy Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Damnit! I ordered mine three weeks ago after thinking about it for ages because I really didn't fancy a black bike all that much (and I'm a bit too lazy to strip it..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay T Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 (edited) I suppose that's just knocked £50 off my for sale thread Edited April 17, 2015 by Jay T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted April 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Or added value - yours is now rarer These bikes won't be out for a couple of weeks yet so you've got a bit of time 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay T Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Well said Mark! Like rocking horse #hit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross McArthur Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 No more chode Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk24 Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Slighty off topic and this is no way a dig just a general question as I already own an Inspired But why are they so expensive I can only think of a couple of reasons why because I don't think there U.K/USA made as I know that carry's a premium, is it just there is such a small amount of people buying them that they charge extra due to the smaller batches they get there frames made in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Small batches, rigorous testing and high quality manufacturing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Supply. Demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk24 Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 yeah but in the world of mtb trials is tiny so the demand cant be that strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 People clearly buy them at the current price, so I'd say that the demand was plenty strong enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk24 Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Guess that's true I bought one at current price (well a year ago) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Small batches, rigorous testing and high quality manufacturing. yeah but in the world of mtb trials is tiny so the demand cant be that strong. Exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skoze Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 And don't forget the 2 years of testing they went through before so much as being introduced to the public - serious amount of time has been invested in them. That new colour is gorgeous, really nice touches on the frame alterations too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted April 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Ali's significant ham and pineapple pizza wage demands don't pay themselves either. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross McArthur Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Would it be the case that in the future, the price of the frames would come down? Or is the excuse of "testing" going to be wheeled out everytime? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted April 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 I see what you did there I'm not sure really as I don't know where the frame's going long term. If it was just staying the same every time then I can see how that could happen (for example the recent Element is virtually identical to the older Fourplay and is consequently cheaper), but as the frame's been altered from the first version I don't really know. The gender realignment surgery to get rid of the chodes was fairly pricey 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 I think people have been spoilt by home made frame prices, It's not cheap to start a fairly large bike company (large compared with most trials brands anyway), have stock, a warehouse, a team to support, employees etc. I think if you went to one of the most renowned steel frame companies in the east and got prototypes made, tested (this is on going btw, not just a one off) and then asked for a small batch made to the highest standard, you'd find it's not cheap. Then there's the customer support to consider, a warranty department etc. I'm not bashing Marino or other people but getting a frame made in a shed in Peru is not the same package you get with a bigger brand. Even if Marino went though a shop the price would instantly go up, if he needed a warehouse and more employees the price would go up even if his products didn't change. It's unfortunate that trials is so small and specialised, I'm sure if Inspired could order a thousand frames they'd be cheaper. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk24 Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 So they are made in Taiwan then? I just wondered as when I first got into dirt jumping prices didn't seem to steep for Mountain biking in general I think a 26mhz pashley was around £500 for a UK made frame. and Ashton ET's were £300 and they had 50 made I think but everything now is so expensive like mavic wheels are like £800 for deemax's in my day they were like £350 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 That's because MTBers will pay stupid prices every year without question 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk24 Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 That's true especially as biking in general as gained more of a following after team sky and Olympic and tour de France success. seems more middle aged people getting to in cycling in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 plus prices for everything has gone up, £500 for a steel frame (UK made doesn't mean better either, plus there's fewer shipping costs) back in the 90s was a considerable amount of money! Taiwan frames doesn't mean bad quality, a lot of steel frames from out there may be bad and they'll be cheap, or they'll be cheap because they've ordered 500 of them. The Arcade is high quality and small batches, not a cheap combo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted April 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 The ET's were a fairly basic frame from memory so I guess that would have helped, but something else to consider is that in general things are going to be more expensive these days - as an example, the price of aluminium from the late 90's/early 00's was way lower than it is now (here's a boring graph). The plus side though is that although you're paying more now, the things you're buying tend to be better too. There was some absolute dogshit around back in the day, and although there is now there's a lot more good stuff around to go for instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk24 Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 I'm not complaining about the quality I love my fourplay the only small gripe I have with it is that the stickers are lacquered over and can't remove the fourplay sticker call me a prude but just don't like the reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 Inspired have put out details of the new Console - you can check out their site for more details, or watch the video below to get a bit of an overview. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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