At least how I read OP, it's the friend who wants a new bike. OP isn't pushing the friend into getting a new bike. It's actually fairly standard, you're not a serious rider, but you decide that you're going on a long, organized bike tour, OMG I need a new bike! If you don't get that feeling right away, you get it when you start training and see all these other people on the road zipping right by you. Now, anybody who's done any of these rides knows it's not true; all types do these sorts of rides, and as long as you and the bike are in good condition and you fit OK with the bike, you'll make it eventually. But then again, if the friend wants a new bike, who am I to argue?