while i agree that it would suck to scratch up your new bike, i have to say that i operate under the philosophy that it's a bike, and it should be ridden. and the more one pays for a bike, the more one should ride it.

for the first week that i owned my pursuit bike i coddled it and treated it so well...but then i got whacked on it by some idiot in a pickup truck. the fork got thrashed but that was it. i felt so sick to my stomach while i was riding it later and i kept thinking "i just ruined my ****ing bike, i just ruined my ****ing bike." but the thing is, later still, after it sorta sunk in, i realised that i could've been killed. and then i felt even MORE sick to my stomach. i got a new fork for my bike on the cheap, and i ride the hell out of it now. it's made to be ridden. same thing for my pinarello that i sunk a bunch of money into. i used to avoid riding it during the day when i lived in boston, for fear that i'd get hit, or crash it or something else would happen to it...but i got over it because i realised that it's a bike, and it's made to be ridden, and anything that happens to it while riding it will only make it happier...excluding being completely demolished or stolen. if i ever get hired as a courier, that'll be my work bike. paint chips and scratches make it look better in my opinion. a bike with paint scratches is still the same bike. it's just as light, the same amount of work still went into it to make it and get it to you. the scratch is just a reminder that you're enjoying the hell out of it. it's gonna happen sooner or later.