How much for an MTB that would be considered suitable for a pro?
How much for a road bike that would be considered suitable for a pro?
Suitable meaning they aren’t at a distinct disadvantage because of their equipment.
I guess you mean XC? Probably about the same for both, in the 4K range. DH’ers a lot more than that, a downhill fork alone is about 1200 bucks and they keep breaking stuff on them.
same price
$3-4 k+
world cup = $5k
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some Pro MTB XC and Pro Road comparisons
Cannondale (Siemens vs Lampre)
MTB: Scalpel Team ($5000ish ) Road: Six13 Record ($5800)
Trek (Volkswagen/Trek vs Discovery)
MTB: Top Fuel 110 ($4950) Road: Madone SL Dura-Ace ($5400)
Scott (Swisspower vs Saunier)
MTB: Scale 10 ($5081) Road: CR-1 Team Issue ($5279)
others:
Specialized (S-works Epic versus S-works Tarmac), Giant (NRS Composite 1 versus TCR Advanced), Felt (RXC Team versus ??),
So I’d guess in the 5-5500K range for a pro-team equivalent…typically you can “get away with” something around the 3500-4000 by doing things like using the more durable XT group versus XTR (except some choice upgrades), fork choice also can influence the price considering SID World Cup/Team with black box upgrades are not for everyone particularly if you dont like to do a lot of maintenance and are not 110-125 lbs. Carbon versus Alloy cranks, etc it all adds up…
Gary Fisher Super Caliber off Ebay (if you’re lucky to find someone willing to part with one) around $1800 - $2000. Ride what the pros ride. 
You can buy a light aluminum frame with ultegra parts for <$1500 if you don’t care about brand. That would not offer a distinct disadvantage over anything anyone else is riding. It wouldn’t be cool, and the ultegra parts won’t last as long as DuraAce, but you would win the same amount of races as you would on a $3k+ bike.
If you are buying it:
For the road, i’d say you would win anything on a 2.5k Ultegra bike(add some nice wheels) that you would win on a 5k Dura Ace bike. Anything else is just bonus. My team has 5-6 CAT2 guys riding Ultegra mish mash bikes, and they dont want anything else. They dont want to spend the money on more expensive stuff, even if it’s for 50% off newer stuff.
If you aren’t buying it or you’re getting a great team deal, then get nicer stuff. You could benefit from a team. the deals on equipment and the experience in the RR’s. You will get results, and with that you will get great deals.
For the Mtn, same thing, join a team and get deals…Dont buy retail, you can get better with your ability if you commit.
If you are interested in a Road/Mtn team let me know.
edit: for a good laugh you could buy this on E-bay:
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