Originally Posted by Cycliste
Hang on! Your wife detailed all your cycling related spendings and put them in as a deductible ? That's illegal!
She's didn't attempt to deduct (she just keeps track of everything). No one would be happier than I if I could deduct my bikes and my dog....
Two things (aside from having to pay for the health club) drive my costs way up. One is that I ride in anything, and going thousands of miles in slop on debris covered roads is hard on components. The other is that my commute is pretty long.
Although the rider is the most important component, the bike is also important. Given my typical cruising speeds, I arrive home on my 18 lb racer when there would still be over 5 miles to go on the hybrid. The touring bike (my regular commuter) would still have 1 or 2 miles left, though it would still be about 4 miles ahead of the hybrid.
Add that time up twice a day, 5 days a week, and it's worth having the right equipment. The touring bike is the right equipment for the job (which is why I use it over 95% of the time), but sometimes I like to feel sporty. If I had only few miles to go or rode mostly stop and go in town, I'd do things differently because the time savings would be very different.
Several people on this thread probably average more than 10 hours/week in the saddle. That's enough time to justify getting stuff you like.
Originally Posted by sbhikes
You are getting a tadpole trike? Well, you better budget for two because if your wife is excited about it she's going to want one too. They're the most fun thing there is.
I love fast, fun bikes. I'd been considering a highracer because they're great for distance riding and have excellent cruising and top end speeds. However, I don't like the handling characteristics.
I've been obsessed with tadpoles from the day I first saw a picture of one. It's an inherently cool design that should mesh well with my riding style.