Are there really people here spending $600 on a new driver?

[Kai Slater]

I can confirm the $$$$$ that is commonly spent on the bicycle hobby.  My bro-in-law has spent, literally, in the thousands for a couple of bikes; and that was with only moderately "premium" components.  My golf hobby was chump-change in comparison to the biking.

[cardigan]

1 hour ago, blades_are_life said:

ok I gotta ask, what makes a pedal or saddle premium? I know about clip-in pedals obviously, but I assume not just any sort of clip-in is acceptable. For saddles what I can think of it is like getting the material composition and contouring perfectly custom fit for maximum comfort.

Many cyclists obsess over the weight of components.  Premium pedals are going to be lightweight and typically made of premium materials.  Then you'll have each manufacturer's claims on how much better their pedals (and corresponding cleat system) are in terms of power transfer, durability, stability, ease of release without risk of accidentally slipping out, etc.  You also have pedals targeted specifically for road or mountain biking and sub-categories of each. You can jump up into another tier if you get pedals with built in power meters that can connect to a bike computer or phone app.  You're right about saddles being mostly about materials (and again, weight is a factor) and being shaped for comfort keeping in mind that they are targeting competitive cyclists who will be going on hour plus rides regularly.

Edited September 1, 2023 by cardigan

[DataGolfer]

Yes -- that's how much they cost. Golf is my hobby and I can afford it.

 

Houses are 800K now, cars are 50K. Cost of L-I-V-I-N, baby.

[Potatohead]

7 minutes ago, DataGolfer said:

Yes -- that's how much they cost. Golf is my hobby and I can afford it.

 

Houses are 800K now, cars are 50K. Cost of L-I-V-I-N, baby.

 

I wish

[Chungy]

I like to wait a few months to find the new ones on sale for around $500ish

[MountainKing]

7 minutes ago, Chungy said:

I like to wait a few months to find the new ones on sale for around $500ish

 

Careful, his next post will be "are people really spending $500 on old drivers?"

[ballzo]

Last new one I bought with a shaft was about $650.00

[Wardonation]

$1000 once a year, lol....

[misterkye]

What’s your take on a custom shaft? Heck, some shafts these days are over $600, just accept it and smile, then enjoy the tech 🙌

[ShowMe]

Think of it like buying a new car.  Big initial expense, but you'll get some trade-in value when you buy your next new driver.  If you get a new driver every year, you'll probably get about $200 trade-in for the previous year's model.  Hence, the $600 driver becomes a $400 driver.

 

At least that's what I tell myself to justify getting a new driver every year.  

[sergizmo]

I'll echo what others have said comparing cycling to golf expense. I recently saw an old Kia Rio hatch with 3 Cervelos on the back of it. 

 

Anyone that thinks raw material costs alone drive finished product cost doesn't understand manufacturing, bringing something to market or running a company. At all.

 

[liamw]

I partake in both cycling and golf. Can confirm both use the same raw materials (carbon, titanium) and both use the same school of marketing and you can spend the same on a bike as a new set of clubs as a small car.

 

Both industries have very smart marketing departments that sell us the hope that by buying the latest and greatest, it’ll bring us one step closer to achieving our best time/score.

 

You can pay thousands of dollars paying for composite components to reduce 1lb of weight on a bike… or you can lose that weight from your body for free.

 

You can spend hundreds/thousands of dollars on new clubs and shafts… or you can spend the time on a range and the short game area.

 

We’re all hoping to buy a quick fix and the companies prey on that.

[m_w]

On 8/28/2023 at 12:41 AM, Pastit said:

i suspect you’d change your mind if you saw the direct material cost of a typical premium driver. In fact, it would be good if someone in the know could brief us. I’m willing to bet it’s less than 25% of full retail. That’s why the previous year’s drivers are so cheap after new product is released. 

I literally don't understand why people care about raw material costs. In a huge amount of businesses, material costs are a fraction compared with R&D, Marketing and Go-To-Market expenses...so WHY would you care if its 25% of full retail?

 

I can tell you for a fact that they aren't making 75% on a driver...otherwise they'd be rolling in it....and while golf companies have done well the past couple of years due to the influx of customers, they aren't in profit spheres that are out of the norm of others.

[mantan]

On 9/1/2023 at 9:28 AM, Kai Slater said:

I can confirm the $$$$$ that is commonly spent on the bicycle hobby.  My bro-in-law has spent, literally, in the thousands for a couple of bikes; and that was with only moderately "premium" components.  My golf hobby was chump-change in comparison to the biking.

 

100%.   A buddy I golf with also is a cyclists and a driving instructor at a local racetrack.  He spent thousands on a USED high-end bike a couple of months ago.  And that pales in comparison to what he spends on his track car.

 

Golf is his cheap hobby.

 

And then you compare it to other things you spend money on in your life. Our wedding anniversary was last month.  Went out to a nice restaurant and dropped $300 for steaks that weren't as good as ones I'd grill and had the same conversation with my wife that we'd have if we were out at Chili's.  I pretty much got zero out of that spend. I'll enjoy my driver for hours and hours.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2023 by mantan

[Mobert19]

13 hours ago, mantan said:

 

100%.   A buddy I golf with also is a cyclists and a driving instructor at a local racetrack.  He spent thousands on a USED high-end bike a couple of months ago.  And that pales in comparison to what he spends on his track car.

 

Golf is his cheap hobby.

 

And then you compare it to other things you spend money on in your life. Our wedding anniversary was last month.  Went out to a nice restaurant and dropped $300 for steaks that weren't as good as ones I'd grill and had the same conversation with my wife that we'd have if we were out at Chili's.  I pretty much got zero out of that spend. I'll enjoy my driver for hours and hours.

 

 

Still cheaper than a divorce too!

[Dan Drake]

The thrift with which you can enjoy golf is one of the reasons that I love it.  There are MANY threads on here about building a bag on a budget less than $500 total and honestly, most of those bags I could put into play and still enjoy the game just as much.  Heck, I have less than $500 in my vintage set, all bought recently during the boom of used clubs, and it is my favorite set to play with at the moment. 

 

[SwingBlade]

Sorry, but I don't quite comprehend why anyone would give shade to those who don't spend money as they do.  

 

The gentleman that previously  owned  our newest condo decided to spend  over $600,000 on a remodel back in 2008 and another $80,000 in 2016, which all very much worked to our very lucky advantage. 
 

I understand that guy today owns at least three large mansions, two with huge working garages, and owns 42 Ferraris and several McLarens and a number of far more exotic cars.  He reportedly likes golf, belongs to 3 or 4 very high end country clubs, but only has several sets of 3+ year old stock Callaways.  Happy for him and all of that cool stuff.  

 

We should buy what we want, what we can afford, and what makes us happy, even if, like a new driver, the happiness sometimes only lasts a few months.  If sometimes focusing on "deals" rings our bell, that's great too.  
 

What we should never do is even slightly worry about what anyone else thinks about us or our acquisitions and our buying habits.  Neither should we question the buying habits of others.  People do things for their reasons, not ours.

Edited September 5, 2023 by SwingBlade

[raspymcnasty]

In a era of partnership shills on youtube and all the internet, it took me serious digging to compare old with new clubs as a new golfer.

With that said I still went for the new stuff but waited patiently for deals.
I cant imagine buying my current bag for brand new. Prices these days are out of control.

[SofaKingPure]

Silly. 600.00 for a driver?  What about the shaft and grip?

[st1800e]

Just bought a new driver, well, a demo,  Callaway Paradym, $450 CAD, thats like $50 US........

[Bad9]

7 hours ago, st1800e said:

Just bought a new driver, well, a demo,  Callaway Paradym, $450 CAD, thats like $50 US........

I bought the demo from a course last fall for $250CAD out the door. Head was in vgc and included head cover.

[st1800e]

33 minutes ago, Bad9 said:

I bought the demo from a course last fall for $250CAD out the door. Head was in vgc and included head cover.

Great deal you got, my understanding is the shop can send the one I bought  back to Callaway if they don’t sell, so no further reduction on what I paid.  

[Z1ggy16]

... Only $600? Club Chumpion wanted over $1k for the driver they fit me into lol

[kthomas]

On 9/1/2023 at 12:13 PM, Chungy said:

I like to wait a few months to find the new ones on sale for around $500ish

 

If you're a value golf equipment shopper like me, you can put together a very good driver setup that'll compete with any $600 driver currently off the rack. Just need a little research and patience.

 

I just put together a ST-Z 220 with Lin-Q Purple shaft for $150. 

 

That said, I don't fault people for buying new drivers. It's certainly not the best value proposition, but not everyone is looking for that. Plus it's fun, I get it. 

 

If you want to see a real waste of money, look into boats. My wife's parents live on the TX coast, and I'm always amazed how much cash people drop into boats, to never use them. Just on their canal alone, there's millions of dollars in boats, and I would be shocked if the combined days used of all the boats exceeded 100 days/year.

Edited September 10, 2023 by kthomas