khatfull

As my favorite radio host here in MPLS, Joe Soucheray, says...

There are three prices you pay:

- The price you actually pay.
- The price you tell her you pay.
- And the price you pay when she finds out what you actually paid.

Not that I'd be subject to that paradigm at all...

Amesja

There's durability and there is bullet-proof DURABILITY. Most people today are just not willing to take the weight penalty of a truly durable bike although I do see that the Dutch bikes are coming back. Nothing very lightweight is going to take much of a beating -but if it is taken care of and well-maintained and not dropped/crashed any quality lightweight should last a long time just being merely ridden. But most can't take any kind of hit or abuse.

KonAaron Snake 

We had different definitions of durable. I consider durable a bike that survives if taken care of and can survive minor accidents. I wouldn't trade the weight penalty for surviving a major collision or large drop.

I will say that there are MTBs out there that are awfully durable and don't have the weight penalty of hi-ten. It is possible to make a tough as nails bike that weighs a lot less that a hi-ten or straight gauge city bike...for instance Miyatas frames, which are a bit heavier than other road bikes but are, in my experience, VERY tough. Tange two touring bikes would also fit that category. Heck...look at the abuse cyclocross bikes take, and they're usually pretty light.

People rode DB steel frames through Paris-Roubaix and do it with CF now...that's probably a lot more abuse than most bikes are ever going to take.

BigPolishJimmy

One of my buddies started calling me "the bike whisperer" he gets all glazed eyed when I start talking specs, yet I was doing it while fixing his old fuji. Most everyone is used to it now and I've really tried to cut back and just work on my bikes untill yesterday when I picked up a couple of bikes my brother snagged on trash day for me. A cro-mo Mongoose Threashold and a Fuji Sports 10. I tried to get out but my family keeps pulling me back in.

Amesja

That is Zen!

But it is all the price of finding the wrong partner. My partner would be supportive (if not enthusiastic) about anything I wanted to do with my life. She gets off on me being happy as I feel the same way about the things that make her happy.

I just don't do selfish people.

Italuminium

"honey, why have you spend all day fixing up that stupid old blue bike while MY brakes are so bad I nearly hit a garbage truck today? Or are you trying the painful break-up method?"

conspiratemus1

I am incredibly lucky. Not only is my wife wonderful in every other way, but she is also passionate about cycling herself. She knows a lot about bike specs and maintenance (although I actually do it all for both of us because she cooks for both of us) and her eyes never glaze over while I'm talking about tweaking my bikes, her bikes, or the tandem to get the best out of them. We spend as many of our leisure hours as possible together on the tandem and it is the centrepiece of our vacation plans every year. So she "gets" why being preoccupied with bike stuff is a good thing. As I say, I am incredibly lucky, especially since neither of us knew the other was an avid cyclist when we started up our relationship. Neither of our exes wanted anything to do with bicycles and for both of us it had been a solitary eye-roll-engendering pursuit in our previous lives.

I hope this doesn't sound like gloating. I'm just deliriously happy.

Puget Pounder

At least with biking, it's something that my girlfriend and I can both enjoy. I got bit by the bike bug right after getting bit by the rock climbing bug, so this is way better in comparison for her.

Not sure about the hoarding though.

BluesDaddy

I was about to launch into a dissertation on gear inches last night when I got the sense that my wife was tuning me out. She had expressed surprise when I said my newly-acquired '91 Trek 1200 was geared way too high for my local hills (it has a corncob and a double)

Henry III

I went to the local police bicycle auction this past weekend went home so frustrated. Just sitting back and hearing people talking about stuff that made absolutely no sense. The nicest thing was a Centurion Lemans in pretty good condition. People thought that thing was gold. "Why that's one of those fancy racing bikes with those skinny tires. Those tires are really expensive. Hell if I win that bike I'm just throwing away the bike and keeping those wheels."

I had to do a double take after I heard that. Luckily a fellow I know saved it but still for too much in my opinion. I wanted to speak up but I bit my tongue since nearly every person there was saying stuff like this about every other bike. It was like I was in the bicycle twilight zone and couldn't get out.

Puget Pounder

A good friend of mine made fun of my bike for being a fixie because it had skinny tires on it. I proceeded to take her to school.

uprightbent

If you are the victim of an eye roll, make sure to return fire when she expects you to listen to her describe the benefits of the new non-stick cookie sheet she just pulled out of the bag from the mall, or Oprah's latest diagnosis of "men"

Don't even get me started on Longaberger Baskets.

shrinkboy

she doesn't exactly roll her eyes, but when i'm trying to recreate the events of last night's criterium, you can tell she's ready to move along, move along....

tugrul

I got eye rolled when I suggested going to pick up that bike. What size was it btw, a 58?

23skidoo

She kept nagging and nagging me to get a hobby.....

mkeller234

I live nearby the biggest one of all. Here are a couple of my photos:

rat fink

I got yelled at last night: "IT DOESN'T FREAKIN' MATTER! WHY DO YOU CARE? NO ONE IS GOING TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!!"

Can you guess what we were talking about?

Oregon Southpaw

Mismatched rims/tires?

Also, addressing Henry III:
That is funny. I have whole friend groups like this. One of my dearest friends (from way back when and completely bereft of bicycle knowledge) proceeded to talk about bicycles since he got his first recently, a Varsity. I was excited to see him get into it, but man, he's got a few things to learn. He kept calling parts of the bike "spinny things" and "brackets". He plans on "making a fixie". I guess in this situation i'm posting here when I roll my eyes!

DavidW56

OK, I give up. What were you talking about?

DavidW56

+1 on both counts. I can't count the number of times I've heard "How many bikes do you HAVE?" Followed by "WHEN are you going to start selling some BIKES?" I did have to build a spreadsheet, finally.

KonAaron Snake 

I'm guessing doing a one group, time correct, resoration, or something similar.

Oldpeddaller

OMG - We're married to the SAME WOMAN!!!!

michael k

My girlfriend is out of town on business so I've been given a grace period.

DavidW56

^ I suspect a lot of us here are married to the same woman. I'm not quite (yet) in the same position as some other members, because the bulk of my holdings are flip bikes awaiting rehab. It's not like I have too many personal bikes...yet.

Since this appears to be a issue for the males on the forum, I'd like to see the female members chime in with their experiences. Are their significant others saying things like "Geez, first it's the shoes, now it's the bikes!", or are they saying, "Wow, another bike, cool!"

thook

Then there is the "benefits of half step gearing" chasm. I fell into that dark, lonely hole with no one to talk to about it except.....well...the bike forum. Then, there's the knot in the gut when you know you wanna turn the vehicle around just to go back and take a look at what could be something special........even though around here, it usually isn't. But, you never know!! "But, we're gonna be late!". "Oh, but it'll just take five minutes....". Not likely.

Actually, my wife's supportive of whatever it is that floats my boat. I just keep the conversations about any of it to a minimum. Can't expect her to be obsessed about it, too. In fact, I keep it to a minimum with most everyone.........save the 75 yr old man that has more vintage bikes (albeit in decrepit shape) than me. It's funny.........he's all built like Lance Armstrong yet white, bushy haired and a leathery tan. His crystal blue eyes get all wild looking and a near toothless grin spreads across his furry face. "Oh yeah??" Makes me feel not quite so odd.....