Tony N.

Anyone who refers to your bike as "that" is not normally one of your group. My favorite answer to such a question put thusly is " You may chose to ask while I may chose not to answer" from the movie Pride and Prejudice. If properly ask by an actual biking bud who knows bikes and is honestly interested for whatever reason, I just say what I paid or "I got it from a friend and am not at liberty to say for ethical reasons".

Hapsmo911

"Clearly cost more then my IQ"

BykOfALesserGod

Maybe my power of recollection is poor but I never heard the "how much?" question from fellow riders, only from non cyclists.

MetalPedaler

Non-cyclists seem to think that a "good" bike costs about $300.

bianchi10

"More than you can afford pal"

BykOfALesserGod

Yeah there is one person at work who doesn't know that I am a cyclist and bragged to me about how he dropped $400 on a bicycle. Hehe.

That's like a front wheel for many of us.

Will Goes Boing

It baffles me why anybody would get offended when they get asked, "How much did you pay for that?" I think whenever a conversation involves something really nice, it is only natural for that question to be asked. I just recently picked up a new bike and I think every person I've told about it, the first thing that came out of their mouth was, "How much did you pay for it?"

This reminds me of a time when I worked in retail and just to make small talk with a customer at the check out, I asked him some questions about random stuff (forgot what it was). He gave me this really worried/paranoid/serious look and asked me, "....why are you asking me all these questions?"

Just relax dude.... or just avoid interacting with people all together.

Equinox

So apparently, among some segments of our society, it is considered poor manners to ask someone what they paid for something. It could be age related, socio-economic group, race...whatever. What baffles me is why they want to know. I think that stems from the fact that I don't care what anyone else paid for something. What I care about is, is it working out well for them and are they enjoying it. When I was asked how much I paid for my tandem, it was by someone who owned a high end tandem. They already know what tandems cost. I got the feeling they wanted to know if mine was more expensive than theirs, which, if true, is kind of pathetic. I'm calmer than you, dude; and i interact with people just fine. I'm happy for them, and I would just like them to be happy for me.
and BTW. I'm not "Offended". Everyone is "Offended". It has become an inside joke in my house. Lets just say, "nonplussed".

Bob Ross

When I've been asked that question I usually respond "too much" or "enough". Accompanied by a self-deprecating roll of the eyeballs, that's usually sufficient to convey to casual acquaintances that it wasn't cheap but that I don't want to talk about it. When total strangers ask me I usually lowball it by an order of magnitude: "A few hundred bucks." But if members of my cycling club ask me, they're folks from within my sphere...they're my people. They deserve a serious, direct answer, and they'll get it. Because I know the conversation isn't going to end there, and we'll wind up talking about bikes and builds and gear.


Oh, okay, so you are a boor. Nevermind.

CenturionIM

Well, after people know how good the bike is, they might well want one themselves, hence the price check. But yeah, the comparision types are no fun.
Well, "offended" and "nonplussed" are very different feelings. A person has to be pretty open minded to be "nonplussed" but not offended.

merlinextraligh

Damn, that is some expensive mechanic, $1500 for assembly?

MetalPedaler

I hgave this mental picture in my mind of Don Knott's "Ralph Furly" character, hiking his pants up....and strutting.. "Hehyep..."

Equinox

May I ask at what point you would consider a question to be off limits or across a certain boundry?

rebel1916

"Wow, is that your wife? Can I get an introduction? "

Equinox

OK. We have a start. Why is that off limits? He obviously just wants to meet her. How about if he wanted to know how old she was?

Elevation

an arm and a leg.
I like the one "not enough to make me faster."
or

I would say the exact value down to the cent... which I have memorized.

rebel1916

It's right at the point. As requested. Hell it's almost a compliment, but just a bit over the line.

LowCel 

If he is willing to take over payments he can have her.

RaleighSport

Over in C&V we love to brag about how little our "expensive" bikes cost us, expensive being relative since most are a drop in the bucket compared to the new fangled bikes you guys ride.

svtmike

Back when those were new-fangled, the really nice ones were expensive and I'll bet you're glad that someone somewhere was willing to buy them new.

RaleighSport

Hell yes I am! But relatively speaking, my Tempo cost me upwards of 500 to build (still a drop in the bucket, or a very low end beginner road bike.) And my Premis cost me about 80 dollars to buy whole, both these bikes were high end for Schwinn at the time (87/88), and I have a very similar performance level from both (despite the premis being 12 speed and the tempo being 21 and a brifter convert) Still at the time both cost less then a grand and were frowned upon by most upper end cyclists, but other than ugly duck syndrome they perform just as well as most of their higher end italian, french and english counterparts.

rebel1916

Ha, I love being able to brag about how good a deal I got on something. My deer rifle was $125. My patagucci life jacket was $60. And I'm currently putting together a Van Dessel Rivet (unpainted prototype frame admittedly) that's gonna end up being around $2k with Centaur. Booya, I looooove frugal toys.

Dave Mayer

$1,100 all-in. I built this up from parts - if a shop had done it, the cost would have been doubled or more. The most challenging operation was to service the used Chorus Ergopower levers that were filled with sweat and grime, and had been left for dead by a colleague. So most of the drivetrain was picked up for cheap.

Back to the topic of disclosing the price of your bike, there are two problem crowds here (apart from wife/Significant Other).

First is the uninformed non-cyclist. To this crowd, whose only experience with purchasing bikes is in the toy section of WalMart, any price over $300 is met with disbelief. My standard response is that I ride my bike to work every day, and even at the absurd price of $1,000, it is a lot cheaper than running a car. I explain that I need a solid, reliable steed, which is not something you find at a department store. This response makes total sense, and resonates because now the bike is a useful tool for valuable activity - like getting to a job.

The second problem crowd is the retro grouches, who think that anything other than steel and downtube shifters is an irresponsible waste. I have some sympathy with this argument, but I go back to utilitarian principles, in that integrated brake/shift levers, light alu and carbon frames and dual-pivot brakes are more functional, safer, and increase my ride comfort and performance. In the end, it is my money, and it is still cheaper than driving.

However, if I had spent $5k + on a vanity bike that was only ridden on sunny weekends, and even worse, involved driving long distances to get to the rides, then I would have nothing credible to respond with to when someone asked: "How much is that cost"?

martialman.45

My sponsor bought all my bikes (the mrs).

dtrain

Sounds like you did really well on that build. My two road bikes have been sourced similar to your manner/budget. But I don't feel the need to slam folks who have made other spending choices. Besides, the economy needs people with far looser purse strings than mine and yours...