A close-up of the detail on the Parlee Z Zero bike frame

Cycling

The 8 most expensive road bike parts in the world

We review the components that will make a bike look lean and sexy – but at prices that will make your eyes water.

Written by Richard Bennett

3 min readPublished on 02.03.2017 · 15:02 UTC

Cycling can be expensive. Really expensive. With wallets at the ready, here are eight bike parts that properly break the bank.

1. Frame

Parlee Z-Zero

Price: £7,799

Parlee have a reputation for producing uber high end carbon framesets, which stand the test of time, both in terms of their performance and durability. Their Z-Zero model takes things to a whole new level, with a £7,799 fully custom frameset. That’s about the same cost as fully kitted-out high-end road bikes. As you can imagine, bar the eye-watering price, the Z-Zero is about as good as it gets.

2. Wheel rims

ax lightness ultra 25T

Price: £1,200 per rim

Paying £1,200 for a set of wheels is enough to make most people think twice, but how about paying £1,200 for just one rim. Yes, you heard that right. 195g per rim is proper light though, and it will mean your overall bike weighs a lot less. If you want the absolute best, it’s time to start saving.

3. Hubs

Royce, racing gold (pair)

Price: £1,016.50

Royce is a small specialist team set up by Cliff Poulton in 1980. They make some of the most high precision and desirable components in the world, with their range of hubs being a real stand out. This racing gold pair ticks all the right boxes, titanium? Yes, gold? Yes, pricey? How about £1,016.50 for the pair?

4. Crank

SRM Campagnolo power meter

Price: £2,456.16

Power meters have become a common sight in road cycling, with professional and amateur cyclists the world over getting the training benefits of knowing just how hard they’re pushing on the pedals. You can get relatively cheap versions for well under a grand, but the gold standard for many is still SRM. Nearly every pro going has used one. If you want the best quality combined with the highest accuracy, it’s not going to come cheap.

5. Saddle

Dash Cycles

Price: £815 ($1,000)

Being handmade you’d expect Dash Cycles' saddle and post combo might be quite pricey. How does over £815 sound? We hope they’re incredibly light, stiff, comfortable, adjustable and all the other things you’d expect from a product of that price. You'll also need to go to Colorado to get your hands on it.

6. Handlebars

Schmolke Fullover TLO

Price: £495 (€575)

Schmolke is a German brand with a penchant for making crazy lightweight bike parts from carbon fibre. Their handlebars look particularly fancy and particularly expensive. We suspect they’re about as light and stiff as they come. There's also a limited edition of these handlebars in gold detail. The price of those are given on request!

7. Shoes

Rocket 7

Price: £1,180 ($1,450)

American company Rocket 7 specialises in very fancy cycling shoes, which have been worn by the likes of Olympic road race champion Greg van Avermaet. They can be 100% custom made, wrapping your foot in a perfect bespoke fit, with the option of even lighter soles being made at extra cost. The total cost for custom shoes? Nearly $1,500. Now even for a world tour professional, that’s got to sting.

8. Fork

THM Scapula F

Price: £1,115 (€1,299)

The Scapula F fork from THM-Carbones costs about the same as a very good entry-level road bike, but it does weigh just 340g and includes an inbuilt front brake. If you’re clued up/obsessive about the weights of bike parts, you’ll know that’s lighter than most high-end road forks on their own. As always, performance like this comes at a price.

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