Originally Posted by es82

For me, I didn't know exactly what I wanted / needed when I got my first bike. My primary concern was "The local transit is going on strike, I want a way to get into work".

The idea of biking 100km in a day seemed silly to me at the time, and I just wanted/needed a beat around bike. Was my first time buying a bike since high-school.

So, yeah - a $500 bike at the time seemed perfectly reasonable. At the time, I wasn't looking into doing long-distance rides, multi-day touring, etc.

Then, I got peddling, and more so in the 2nd year of having my bike - I started to do longer distances, riding more often, and my needs / desires out of a bike changed. This resulted in me gifting my old bike to my friend, and buying a new bike that better fits my new needs.

I think that there are a lot of people that 'first get into it' in a similar way. They don't really know what they need / want, they mostly want a 'commuter bike', and after they get riding a bit - either their needs change, or they realize what their actual needs are.

I guess one point I'll agree on with you : If someone is specifically looking into getting into racing / cyclo cross / touring / triathlons / etc, and know "yes, I am getting this bike so I can race" -- then I do think that budget should factor a bit less into the picture.

But for someone that's just buying a bike for the first time in a few years, doesn't really know their full 'needs' yet or how they plan on biking, I don't think having a budget in mind is a bad thing