Double Century R6000 per team...your thoughts

[Pure Savage]

R500 per rider for an iconic SA event like this is very reasonable. Compare it with what you can get for R500 and it starts to look positively like a bargain.

 

Dinner for 2 at a fair restaurant.

Two bags of groceries from P&P.

1 bottle of Champagne

3 or 4 OK Cuban cigars

1 bike tyre

1 wheel tubeless conversion

4 bunches of flowers for the wife

2 or 3 trashy soft cover novels

1 cheap cycling top

2 pairs of Assos socks

 

This is a very good point, it costs more in petrol to get to the event than the event entry fee.

[ichops]

That's only R 2.50 per Km per rider, lets see what the Epic costs /Km ?

Isn't this half the price per kilometer than the Argus ?

[Meezo]

R500 per rider for an iconic SA event like this is very reasonable. Compare it with what you can get for R500 and it starts to look positively like a bargain.

 

Dinner for 2 at a fair restaurant.

Two bags of groceries from P&P.

1 bottle of Champagne

3 or 4 OK Cuban cigars

1 bike tyre

1 wheel tubeless conversion

4 bunches of flowers for the wife

2 or 3 trashy soft cover novels

1 cheap cycling top

2 pairs of Assos socks

 

So its setteled.. fair price.... Dont take the wife/gfriend out do dinner this weekend and enter the DC ...... .....

The DC is a bargain at R500 for 200 km vs R580 for the Jock (150 km)

 

Clever post.

 

This is a very good point, it costs more in petrol to get to the event than the event entry fee.

 

Agreed with all.

 

But think the what the OP is asking or thoughts on the inflation. If the above is true then can we then say the DC has been cheap all these years??

[Slowbee]

Sorry Slowbee, nothing personal, but this is the kind of view that gets my hackles up.

 

On a "theoretical" level, choice (and competition) comes from choosing between A, B or C, not between A or not-A.

 

On an ethical level, complaining about a rip-off does not require a holier-than-though approach --> even if you choose not-A, then you might still be pissed off...

 

No worries Akon, sorry about getting the hackles going on a Friday! I would be a bit more worried, if I got your goat though.

 

I was not referring to competition, but rather to that economical thing of needs and wants. You want to cycle the DC, you don't need to cycle the DC (ok maybe saying that on a cycling forum is not a good thing).

 

When you want something, expensive and rip offs become relative terms. If something is expensive and you want it, your choice is to buy it or not buy it. That is the choice. But my version of expensive and yours might be two different things. The fact that there is no other option (competition), is neither here nor there. However, I do agree with you, you can still be unhappy with the fact that you will not get what you want because it is overpriced - but hey, that's life. Maybe sell a kidney for R1mil (price quoted on cape talk).

[Thomo]

Supply and demand ...

+1 that it's steep, but guess what, probably fully subscribed within a week.

 

Seems it's 50% subscribed already.!

[SL7]

500 is okay for me. Even at 750 I think it'll sell out.

[Marius]

JMFC!!!!

[ccc2]

so entry fees of R1.2m don't cover the cost of running the DC.

[BIG C]

Make the entry as high as you want but make sure that at least first places prize money covers entry and more

[JGR]

I think the cost of bicycles and other gear have a far greater effect on making cycling an elitist sport than the cost of event entries. There are plenty of events where the cost is quite low, so this should not deter the "general public" from participating in an event or two. You often find the price rising quite substantially when the entry numbers are limited.

 

I've seen more than one post where people have complained that certain events are over subscribed. So, do we accept that they'll over subscribe the events in order to charge less, or do we prepare ourselves for the possibility of riding an event where the numbers are limited and therefore, in theory, are better organised?

 

An entry level bike + helmet + pedals + gloves + shoes + clothing + computer etc. etc. will more often than not come in at well in excess of R10K for the bundle. Unfortunately, not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford entry to the sport, never mind the events.

 

I've seen so many events costing R100-R200 for entry, so I don't think Joe Public is being excluded from the sport, just certain events. Could be that the organisers only want serious riders who are prepared to pay the asking price, possibly in an attempt to keep the level up?

 

As far as Coro being in it for the money? Maybe not, but they also don't want to loose money.

 

Just thinking here, I could be way off and many would think I am.

Just from the nice events? I dont think wealth has anything to do with cycling ability and I dont see them raising the prices by 30% to keep the level up as valid. Honestly the R500 wont be a bother but its more the principle - just the same way I thought paying R3.90 for a small banana at VA was ridiculous. Could I afford the R3.90 - yes , did I think it was reasonable - no

 

I thought the idea was to grow the sport not divide into the haves and have nots?

['Dale]

500 is okay for me. Even at 750 I think it'll sell out.

 

It's a special and unique event.

No other like it.

 

25% increment is rof though.

[Jigghead]

Just from the nice events? I dont think wealth has anything to do with cycling ability and I dont see them raising the prices by 30% to keep the level up as valid. Honestly the R500 wont be a bother but its more the principle - just the same way I thought paying R3.90 for a small banana at VA was ridiculous. Could I afford the R3.90 - yes , did I think it was reasonable - no

 

I thought the idea was to grow the sport not divide into the haves and have nots?

 

R500 is not that much. My 94.7 entry cost me R320 this year, for a sub 100km ride. This cost could also be seen to be promoting divides in cycling but they have thousands of entries annually. One very rarely hears complaints about that and many more marginal or irregular cyclists do that race as well.

 

Bottom line is that if you don't see value in the entry fee, don't ride the race. I've passed on one or two where I have not wanted to pay what they're asking, these events do however continue to be staged every year so someone is entering. These guys are not in it for the charity, even if they have a lot of cash, they still aim to make a profit.

 

There are more than enough events out there where the entry fee is "reasonable", it's not as if the entire race industry is pricing themselves for wealthy players only. Unfortunately, not everyone is trying to get cycling on the map, some are actually in it for the money and I'm not in a position to comment for sure on either their motives or their running costs. I would however gladly pay their asking price to participate in this event.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Jigghead

[JGR]

R500 is not that much. My 94.7 entry cost me R320 this year, for a sub 100km ride. This cost could also be seen to be promoting divides in cycling but they have thousands of entries annually. One very rarely hears complaints about that and many more marginal or irregular cyclists do that race as well.

 

Bottom line is that if you don't see value in the entry fee, don't ride the race. I've passed on one or two where I have not wanted to pay what they're asking, these events do however continue to be staged every year so someone is entering. These guys are not in it for the charity, even if they have a lot of cash, they still aim to make a profit.

 

There are more than enough events out there where the entry fee is "reasonable", it's not as if the entire race industry is pricing themselves for wealthy players only. Unfortunately, not everyone is trying to get cycling on the map, some are actually in it for the money and I'm not in a position to comment for sure on either their motives or their running costs. I would however gladly pay their asking price to participate in this event.

My last response was a response to your comments not the their entry - ie your rationale of why entries are up. Im glad you think R500 is not much but that is not the case for everyone. R500 is also on the assumption the team will have 12. While I am a realist and realise prices are going up and one needs to be selective with which races you do I think a 30% increase is quite dramatic.

 

Im am quite certain Coro does not use this as a money spinning initiative but rather does it for the exposure and marketing

 

The "if you dont like it or see value dont do it" line is a bit stale. What about uni students, teachers, development riders, charity workers ect who think R500 is a fair bit of money?

 

Going back to your previous example of the cost of equipment.

 

An entry level road bike is about R5k (for example)

 

Do you think a single day entry should be 10% of the price of the equipment?

[Jigghead]

My last response was a response to your comments not the their entry - ie your rationale of why entries are up. Im glad you think R500 is not much but that is not the case for everyone. R500 is also on the assumption the team will have 12. While I am a realist and realise prices are going up and one needs to be selective with which races you do I think a 30% increase is quite dramatic.

 

Im am quite certain Coro does not use this as a money spinning initiative but rather does it for the exposure and marketing

 

The "if you dont like it or see value dont do it" line is a bit stale. What about uni students, teachers, development riders, charity workers ect who think R500 is a fair bit of money?

 

Going back to your previous example of the cost of equipment.

 

An entry level road bike is about R5k (for example)

 

Do you think a single day entry should be 10% of the price of the equipment?

 

Your comments are all valid. I think you misunderstood my comment on R500 not being that much. What I meant was that I did not think it was that much for this event or an event of this nature when compared to a 94.7 entry for example. The website does offer "team matching" whereby if you cannot fill an entire team, you can "gather" team members via their site/service.

 

But bear in mind, Coronation's target market can easily afford this type of entry fee, so maybe they are specifically targeting a particular income group with scant regard for the development riders and varsity students etc.

 

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one though.

 

Have a good weekend.

 

J

Edited July 26, 2013 by Jigghead

[JGR]

Your comments are all valid. I think you misunderstood my comment on R500 not being that much. What I meant was that I did not think it was that much for this event or an event of this nature when compared to a 94.7 entry for example. The website does offer "team matching" whereby if you cannot fill an entire team, you can "gather" team members via their site/service.

 

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one though.

 

Have a good weekend.

 

J

We both made valid points and as a triathlete I get shafted with entries all the time under the auspice of - 3 disiplines meaning 3 x the price so it is nothing new. My issue was the dramatic increase for such a sponsored event and also the ability to get all your mates to think R500 (plus petrol, accommodation ect) is worth it.

 

Enjoy your weekend as well

[ccc2]

my days of organising club teams for dc stopped when they started charging Rx per team as opposed to individual entries.

everyone has the best on intentions to ride but ask them to cough up the entry fee, accomodation,petrol for back up, food in advance, never mind getting everyone to train together and you end up turning over at least 20 potential riders. for 2 years in a row i ended up paying for myself and our phantom 12th man (i know, i'm a softie). so cox it. i'm out. done my bit and got the Tshirt.

a great event though for building club spirit etc this is where you find out a lot of things about your friends and club mates (and yourself) at about 150kms.