Originally Posted by
shelato12771
OK, now here's the rub. After checking out the bikes in the list offered above (many thanks to gestalt_assault), I realize that this bike IS the best deal in a bike of its kind (except for maybe the Marin Hamilton 29er, assuming you can get a bigger chainring on it).
Now the biggie: does anybody have any suggestions as to logical, legitimate arguments I can use to explain to my wife (yep, there you have it) that $600-800 is actually not an exorbitant amount of money to spend on a quality bicycle? To her, I've "already got a bike," and as with many (most?) people, her concept of bike pricing is defined by the prices she's seen on wally-bikes. So far, I've used:
-Lighter bikes are easier to ride and make daily use (in place of car) more likely.
-A bike like this one will save me in the long run in maintenance costs.
-A bike of this quality will ultimately command a better resale value than my current high tensile road-bomb.
...and I'm getting nothing but glazed-over eyes and a bunch of "yeah, I don't know..."
Sorry if this is going off-topic for this forum, but some of y'all HAVE to have dealt with this at some point. And don't tell me to leave her - not gonna happen.
(Oh, and if you know anybody wanting to unload a 20" Trek Soho S, please point them in my direction.)
When I bought my mountain bike, I bought my wife a hybrid. When I got my road bike, I bought her a Trek FX. She bought me my San Jose, I built her a single speed mixte. Now the garage is so full of bikes and parts and stuff I don't think she notices when a new frame shows up.
Have your wife take one for a test ride. It'll be so much better than any Wal-mart bike; she may end up wanting one, too.
Of course, we could just tell you to man up and get that bike. Really, when you consider how many miles you'll put on that bike, the price is not bad at all.