Yes, this is only my second post (after a wonderful obligatory intro), but I've been lurking around here for a couple of months now...

So I seem to have gotten the bug, and gotten it bad. It all started when a bike seemed like a good solution to a once weekly transportation need, and I started looking for something cheap and crappy that I could abuse and not care about. That lasted all of a few hours until I started noticing local CL ads for beautiful steel road bikes, like the kind I grew up seeing around me and in the movies (I was an '80's BMX kid, in terms of what I actually rode).

Two days later, a local guy (with a ton of character) made me jump through all sorts of hoops for to buy his nice, rideable 1981 Lotus Unique for $70, and it's been all downhill from there.

The bike is great, and I love both riding it and working on it, so I can't understand why I can't stop scouring Craigslist and Ebay for more bikes? I don't need another bike, so why am I so interesting in buying another one (or two... see below). And why can't I stop watching Breaking Away every other night?

OK, all that crap aside, this is my request for advice: right now I'm watching a local ad for a $250 '86 Lotus Legend in nice, original condition, and a $385 Basso Paris in nice shape, but with a mishmash of low-mid level Japanese components on it. Those are asking prices, BTW. I want to buy them both. And I want to buy them really bad. How do I stop myself?

Yes, they are both my size (or very close). The Lotus is really, really pretty, and I love the whole Lotus story (or lack thereof, but whatever). And the Basso is, of course, l'italiana that the Dave inside of me is demanding that I get.

Am I crazy? It's a decent amount of money, but nothing too insane, especially considering my rent is three times what it would cost to buy them both, and I blow similar amount on the little bull**** that life seems to demand on a regular basis (groceries, phone bill, buying some broad dinner...)

What should I do**********