linberl

One of these sentences will comfortably shut the conversation down.

indyfabz

I don't get it.

I-Like-To-Bike

And your LBS has one that will do the same thing for 10X or 30X the price.

Camilo

Can't speak for the other person, but my company has a landline at my office, and I'm not expected to be a the beck and call of my employer when not working. And if they want to get in touch with me for any reason, they can call me at home.

I do have a smart phone and use every feature of it regularly. I love it. But it's not essential to me, just a damn convenient and entertaining appliance. But not essential, for me.

BlazingPedals

A co-worker once asked me how I could afford to eat lunch out every day and have nice bikes when I made less than him. I pointed out the cost of his cigarettes - 2 packs a day - and parking at metered parking all day rather than walk to the employer-supplied ramp parking a few blocks away, while I rode my bike to work. Between the two, he was spending much more on those items than I was on mine.

BTW, I think the number of people drinking a six-pack of beer every day is probably relatively small. OTOH, I've seen guys who drank a six-pack for dinner.

mstateglfr 

Ive been told I will be very good at retirement.

Cyclist0108

Just say "I spent $650 on my bike." It needn't be a lie; you might have just purchased a boutique crankset for it, or something similar.

Ogsarg

I think the vast majority of people have some thing they spend money on that other people consider extravagant. Audio equipment, cars, bicycles, photography, art, fine wines, scotch, Season tickets to a sports club, or symphony orchestra, spa days, cruises, gambling, there is no end to all the things one can spend money on that isn't essential.

The person with the $6,000.00 bike can't understand how someone could spend as much on a turntable and vice-versa.

Wileyrat

You know you're in trouble when you understand both.

jefnvk

Heck, some here with $6k bikes can't understand how people spend that much on a car

Moe Zhoost

The last new bike (Colnago Super) I bought for a few million lire in 1983 is still in the stable. I enjoy riding it as much as the craigslist $75 vintage Nishiki Pro I bought a few years ago. If crowing about the price tag floats your boat, great, but, although there are a lot of things that have demonstrable and reliable increasing functional value at increasing price, bikes ain't one of them. Just like your $200 dinner still ends up at the sewage treatment plant.

martianone

This posting is aged enough, that $7000 bike is probably now around $9000.

Kindaslow

Is there an "expensive" bike thread that sopped under ten pages???

If we cannot agree, how could a non-bike person ever understand?

AlmostTrick

You spent how much on a bike???

Just doin' my part here.

Cyclist0108

There's several of us here. But I can justify (to myself) spending money on bikes much more than on audio equipment. So there is hope.

GlennR

Two years ago i bought a "stupid" expensive bike. I questioned my decision but once I started putting miles on it I realized that I made the right decision. The most expensive bike is the one you don't ride. Since upgrading, my annual mileage has doubled and my cost, at this time, is about $1 per mile. At this rate, i'll be at 50¢ per mile in 2 years.

Last year I stopped at a deli and asked the couple, eating outside, to watch the bike while I went inside. When I came out the guy said "that bike looks expensive, how much does it cost?" I told him it was a bit over $2000. He said that's more than he expected.

Esoteric: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/esoteric

There's no sense trying to explain it to others.

jimb100

I don't think people care how much we spend on bicycles. Everyone spends too much on something.

What even I find hard to figure is how you can put a $7000 bicycle next to a $7000 motorcycle and see equivalent value.

OK, you want a top of the line bicycle and it costs $7000, but is the content really there?

Kindaslow

The content is there if it is worth it to you.

I love watches. I mostly where a $200 Seiko, and I love it. I have always wanted a Rolex, not the best watches, but very good watches. The one I like is $8,000. I am at a stage of life that I can buy one and it would not change anything. However, it is not worth it to me. My Sworks MTB is, though. Does that little watch possess the same "value" as my bike? To some it does. To some it does not.

ADAP7IVE

Your point about performance is well-taken and I agree. But there's the "custom-built-for-me" or "piece-of-art" part that I've come to accept are legitimate considerations too.

In my case it's a little of each of them. Riding with a disability, a standard bike setup feels clumsy and sometimes unsafe to ride. I want a nice bike that performs well; even fully equipped with function as the goal, that bike would only cost $3500-$4000 USD, new. The bike I'm planning is going to cost about $6000. Being completely honest, the rest is (for me) aesthetics, longevity of parts, and optimization of measurements, etc. For me the extra $2k is worth it to get "my bike" rather than "a bike."

A related part of this is an experiment, too. I've never had something expertly made just for me, let alone a bike. I figure if I spend $6,000 now, I get the benefit of a good (potentially great) bike, and I get to learn for myself whether all the hype and cost are worth it. If they are, then I have made a good purchase; if they're not, then I've still made a good purchase because, as someone on the forum said recently, $2000 is a cheap lesson to learn. And at the least I'll come out knowing that I never have to do that again.

ADAP7IVE

Not to get off-topic, but a Seiko SKX007 is my daily wear too. Really want some nicer watches, but I beat them up too much to rationalize it to myself; so far the sub-$200 Seikos and G-Shocks have held up to the constant bumps with no marks to show! I dunno why I have expensive tastes with bikes, but nothing else.

Kindaslow

I have two Gshocks for MTBing and hiking/backpacking. Best way to go.

GlennR

How about a $7000 motorcycle compared to a $7000 diamond? After all, it's just a small polished rock.

BTW, a "top of the line" bike is way more than $7000.. try twice as much.

Don't try to explain it to most people, they just won't get it. Even to most cyclist, they don't understand spending that much money... and that's OK. That's why when asked how much my bike cost, I give a number I think the person would expect.

highrpm

It is interesting how folks don't blink an eye at a $7,000 diamond. Or one twice that. I think most folks are even aware that you can spend $5,000 on a wrist watch.


But the concept of expensive bikes seems foreign to nearly everyone. I bet you most of the public (including a lot of cyclists) aren't even aware that $10,000+ bicycles are a thing.

OldTryGuy

"beauty is in the eye of the beholder" as is "value"

Debating beauty or value is futile since they are subjective. Enjoying your possessions while you have the opportunity is all that matters. I enjoy my 15 year old $100.00 Target Magna hybrid with 8,000+ miles on it and less than $100.00 worth of maintenance expenses since purchased as do I enjoy my 4 year old $5,000 Giant with $1,000+ worth of maintenance expenses and tens of thousands of miles.

Kindaslow

As a watch lover, I do have one expensive watch. Nobody ever even notices (good thing), and most would not understand. The folks who are likely to notice might be snobs that would call it entre level. There are a lot of watches in the $100,000 + range that are not that expensive due to diamonds being "glued" to them. Bikes, even $10,000 + bikes, are not expensive in comparison to many other passions.