Originally Posted by
rms13
Maybe you'll run into my friend with his $10K bike in the back of his GMC pick up. Or his $5k bike. One reason he can afford the bikes is because he could afford a much more expensive car but he has priorities. He's also a competitive Ironman/Triathalete so he spends money on his bikes
My point wasn't about the price of the bike vs. the price of the truck... or even that the goofball didn't have any rack for the thing (My bike is probably worth the same as my car.) It was that he was a complete freakin' novice, wasn't in the physical condition to ride and didn't even have a clue where to ride. Yet, here he is with a high dollar racing bike.
My theory on this is that he knew he was getting out of shape & found walking and running to be unenjoyable. He sees guys on bikes & figures that looks much more comfortable, and those guys on bikes are skinny, so he wants to try it out. So, he goes to the LBS to see what he can find.
Instead of being set up with a bike suitable for a beginner (doesn't rightly matter if it's a $5000 bike or $500,) they put him on what's probably the most expensive bike they can find - even though they KNOW a racing bike is NOT the proper bike for him. The reason he wasn't on a $5000 bike suitable for a beginner is that no such animal exists that I know of outside of custom jobs.
Predatory Bike Shops combined with elitist bike snobs do more to harm the "sport" of cycling than anything...