Originally Posted by Hipcycler
Old car guys often times have two machines....a cruiser and a hot rod. One is designed for fun and daily cruising, the other is more of a speed-exclusive machine.... Thoughts?
You asked for it...
IMO if you're going to have more than one bike, they should be fairly distinct and used for different purposes. E.g. a beat-up old one-speed beater for commuting, and a road bike. Or, one MTB, one roadie. Or, a TT bike, and another road bike for club rides. If that's the plan, go for it. But if you're looking for two road bikes, well...
Unless you're racing, the performance differences between two road bikes will be fairly minor. You're unlikely to even notice it on a short ride. Training and losing weight from the ol' midsection will give you a better performance boost than buying a whole new (expensive) bike.
If your current bike fits and is mechanically sound but youre going to buy the super-expensive bike anyway, just do it and forget about rationalizations. You're buying it because you want a flashy bike, end of story.
Use that as your regular ride, and keep your current one either as a backup, a spare, for inclement weather, or sell it off.