Thank you for your insight, Raymond. It looks like overall you basically agree with me. The bikes you referenced are decent bikes for their niche. My example was for full suspension bikes. In reference to weight what you get with more expensive bikes are better options for reducing weight. Lighter frame, tubeless ready, lighter shocks, better tires.
Terrain and riding preference does play a huge factor. Sure you could ride a rigid or hardtail anywhere but it is a hell of a lot more comfortable with a full suspension bike. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. With anything, do what makes you happy. If you like getting the crap kicked out of you white-knuckling it while riding a rigid on a downhill crazy trail more power to you.
The discussion of this whole thread is if bikes are really more or less expensive today? Someone brought up the point of that’s how it always is people as they get old always talk about how cheap things are back in the day. That is true but there are some situations where that isn’t the case. Take electronics for example. You can get a really nice TV now for $500 the same as you could 15yrs ago. You can argue that’s because companies have found sources of materials that they can get for a lower cost. I’m sure biking companies are doing the same thing. The only reason I can guess why bikes are so expensive is because people are happily paying for the new bikes that cost $5000-7000. Until that stops happening I can only see mtn bike prices going up not down.
To touch on your point about retail. I don’t know anyone who pays retail. With the ability to search the internet you can find deals with the simple use of a search engine. The problem with retail prices is it skews what a good deal is. If I say a Yeti full suspension bike retails for $6000 and I get it used for $3000 you’d think I was getting a killer deal. The problem with that is the bike cost and components may actually be around $2500. So I still paid way over what the bike is really worth. It’s the name that pushes the value higher and the “retail” price that makes you think you’re getting a good deal. Another marketing ploy is the components game. Most bikes have the same exact frame but 3 different versions of components. The companies market this as trying to match the different budget constraints of the consumer. This is not in the best interest of the consumer at all. They get the components in bulk so I don’t really see how going to the next version of the same bike warrants charging $1500 more. It’s obviously only done because they market that higher end version as better and what you should have if you had the means.