Does it ever Stop?
 

I'm 18, and i have in fact NO money, infact i owe visa a couple hundred bones. Toronto is Due to get smacked with 10-20cm of snow. And i Still walk talk and breath bikes. I was hoping that when ski/board season would hold my attention untill spring. But no this year my interest in skiing is dwarfed by my lust for bike parts. I have no money and i dreaming building, 1 carbon(from scratch frame included) road bike, 2 conversions, and getting a Kilo TT, This spring alone,

So does it abate with age, as you mature and move on with your life, or does it get worse as you get more disposable income to fritter away on bike parts?

never. it never stops.

you have no idea of what broke is til mom and dad stop paying the bills. (not implying that they haven't already in your case. but most 18 year olds still receive some support, if not room and board)

bad credit will really screw you as you get older, pay that **** off before you buy more bike stuff.

some people get better at resisting the urges, some don't. peek over into the road forum for tons of examples of the latter.

buy ****, don't buy ****, just don't stop having fun on the bike. and srsly pay that visa bill.

Yes.

It get worse as you age. Take myself, for example. I turned 33 this month and this year I bought a 2007 Kona Stuff MTN bike, a 2007 Kona Paddy wagon, built a fixed gear beater and I bought an 84 Honda Nighthawk 450 thats gonna bug me all winter long whenever I go out into the garage. Mind you, the Paddy and Stuff were insurance replacments on bikes that got stolen, but thats how it goes. The hobbies will get you if you don't keep it under control, or have a wife that will keep them under control for you.

there's really no need for neophyte enthusiasm to bring you to ridiculous levels of consumerism. focus your energies on riding bikes, not buying them. then - yes, it will ever stop.

marketing is great at fooling people into thinking what they currently have is not enough, when in fact they have more than a lot of other people.

desire is the cause of suffering. and marketer scum LOVE to create desire.
yes, there is valid marketing.

sometimes it doesn't stop, it just changes directions for a little bit— i put bikes on hold for a while while i saved up for some camera gear i needed, but my car still needs two new fenders, paint, and a few other things i couldn't fix myself. i got in the iro gb at a good time. pretty soon, though, it'll be over for bike purchases for a while.

It gets worse... :lol: :(

i'm 25. it hasn't stopped.

best of craigslist
 

"We live in an advertising culture where we are constantly told that the only thing that stands between our current state and wholeness is a particular commodity."

I sold a bike frame to stop myself from building it up...now I have two complete bike resurrected in it's ashes:o

I think about/look at/read about bikes all the damn time, but hardly ever buy anything. I've been planning to get a comfier saddle since early spring!
Disposable income has just arrived so I guess the course the disease takes will be evident by next may... If I'm on a new frame by then, there may be cause for concern:)

first you go from having enough money to upgrade from your conversion to a tarck bike. then you have two or three track bikes and a roadie. then you get a cross bike. then you have a kid and get a bike trailer. then you start wondering why all the kids these days drive so dangerously and you get an orange reflective jacket. then you think that your really cool brooks is just not as comfortable as it used to be, and a recumbant is really aero and great for long rides anyway. then you discover the joy that is wool jerseys, and start noticing that modern bikes are really ugly and impractical. then you hit mid-life crisis, and get a custom rivendell.

it is inevitable.

I won't get a rivendell. Maybe some custom carbon bike? That should get me over a midlife crisis really nicely.

I respect a slow 50 year old on a rivendell way more than I respect a slow 50 year old on a bike made for a 22 year-old racer.

Its still here for me and Im 42 ;) but I dont think it becomes a BAD habit, its just a great hobby is all, as long as you can afford to buy whatever bikes/part you want and dont find yourself buying parts instead of paying bills or even worse buying food! I dont see a problem =) as for the credit? Clear it up, dont just make the minimum payment, thats the trick of it ;) then when your done paying it off dont get anything on credit that you cant pay cash for, that way you know you can pay it off right away and that builds good credit ;) I hate credit, at my age Ive figured out if I cant buy it cash I guess I dont need it :lol: I do have great credit but thats only there if some emergency should come up, but I buy everything else cash :D

read this and reread this op

is there a support group for those that have a bike addiction?

The system is designed for you to crave consumption, thereby feeding a bottomless pit of consumerism instead of your soul.


I spent quite a long time building crap bikes and learning about the production, design, and maintainence. Now, whenever I see some campaign or object marketed toward me, I can scutinize it according to quality, rarity, and usefulness. Not a lot of quality things are rare, not a lot of rare things are useful, and nothing more useful than knowledge, tools and drive.

Get out of the rat race before you forget that you're the rat.

Josh, you've inspired me. Thanks.

pitboss, happytruck, and genericbikedude:


+omigoshaliens!

The first bike I built,a road bike, I built up top notch. It cost a lot of money and I put it all on credit card. 4 years later I just now paid off the bill in full. That bike now sits in the other room, with the other ******* frames, waiting to be built up and sold, only needs wheels though. Now I ride a Centurion road bike, rusty lugs and chipped paint, with Exage components and biopace rings. For a conversion I ride a road frame I found in the garbage with a mish-mash of mid level components. I couldn't be happier with either of my bikes. I am no champion but I regularly ride with the "fast" group during the road season. It's not about the bike but time on the bike. I love to work on bikes and I love to ride bikes but I have learned that no matter how much money you put into a bike you won't be any faster unless you put the time in the saddle. Lastly, it's fun to watch the people on the unobtanium frames slowly lose your wheel when you reach down to shift your six speed drivetrain, yes I only have one chainring on all of my bikes.

It stops if you stop it. Be happy with what you have. Get rid of the credit card.