I have a '92 road bike that cost me about $450 new, and a '95 MTB that cost me about $650 new. I'm 31. I probably will buy a new bike soon, but only because I made a new bike a self-reward for meeting a goal. Others here may ride more seriously, or put on more miles than I do, and thus may need nicer, newer bikes more often, but I find justifying a new bike difficult.

I did the consumerism thing in the early aughts. You're 18 now, and you're probably going to have a couple of McJobs before you start earning in the middle class. When you hit the middle class, don't go nuts! Keep living your McJob lifestyle. Maybe focus on retirement savings, maybe focus on a rainy-day fund, or even start saving for a down-payment on a house. I took my first solidly non-McJob job as a chance to go surpass the Jones'. Looking back, with debt and expenses built around a $18k job, there were a lot of wise choices I passed up when I first started pulling down $30k. But hey, I probably had an XM radio before you, an MP3 head unit before you, and a Palm-based smartphone before you - far better choices than saving for a house, right?


If you want something, research it, plan to your needs, and don't borrow to buy. Save for a couple months, for example, and buy a high-quality bike for cash, keeping in mind that "high-quality" isn't the same thing as bling. Are you really so dedicated and awesome that a $4000 bike is twice as good as a $2000 bike? It's only worth the money if you are.