mpath

Ding, ding, ding! A wordsmith.

/close thread

70sSanO

I've thought about this for a few days and I think that the "older" is as nebulous as expensive or inexpensive. A Fifty Plus forum covers way too much ground, even for the people posting because as a person ages his/her opinion may change and what he values may change. A 50 year old executive may look at things a lot differently than when he hits 70. It is like asking what those under 30 think.

That said, at 65, I care whole lot less about any if this and am pretty much thankful for whatever I am still able to do, whether cycling or any number of other activities. I will say that I appreciate quality over quantity these days. That should not be interpreted as just current high end as I am from the Kenmore-appliances-lasting-20-years era and not the latest 5 year disposable high end. These days I want it to work and work well for a long time. I have built my own bikes.

My one, sort of, acquisition vice are bike parts, as I have been accumulating any number of derailleurs, chainrings, shifters, etc. to keep my bikes running smoothly beyond any possibility of me being able to.

John

eja_ bottecchia

Sounds like we share similar philosophies. I am, however, leaving the kids a little something. My wife insisted on that before I splurged on my bikes.

And remember to be nice to your kids, they get to pick your retirement home.

OldsCOOL

Some need bigger tents than others.

FrankHudson

Other than John's age being a notch younger, I could have written the same thing. Anything I ride brings me joy at my age and condition. Comfort and ease of use means a lot to me.

Historically I've been a buy it and use it a long time guy, so the initial cost fades out when looked at on a per year basis. I buy bikes because they seem to solve a problem for me and once the problem is solved, good enough. Last year I did an uncharacteristic thing and bought a fatbike because I wanted to know I could ride any day in winter and still enjoy it. At my age I don't know if I'll get decade of use out of it, but even the couple of months I've had it there have good rides. Hope it'll pay off.

But that's my bike buying philosophy: buy what solves your problem, ride it, ride it a long time, and the cost really disappears.

70sSanO

We've done the same thing, and...

... our daughter is an RN. Nothing like planning for those not-so-golden years... lol.

John

dbg

Ditto from me. Getting 4 kids fully through fairly expensive colleges is the thing I'm most proud of. That required some serious frugality --which mostly stays with me now even though I have much greater leeway. Everytime I think about splurging I remember why I didn't before --and resist. Except for entertainment, where I definitely now splurge when traveling with my grown kids. And they love to join us on trips --which is way cool.

EnjoyinTheRide

Ok, lol I am going to admit it....

I am directly in the middle of what your asking. On the far right side I am very negatively biased toward "expensive" items, and on the far left I am very positively biased towards " non expensive" Items.....I firmly believe that if you go out and purchase "the best" and pay that expensive price, you are doing it to convince others and only others. I also believe that if you purchase a very inexpensive item you are doing that convince yourself and only yourself with little regard for the outcome (example would be lightbulbs).

Being in the middle I base my bias in either direction on the item I purchase and my life experiences in which the item is involved (or to what extent). That is what drives the meter so to speak.

I own boats, I love outboards, big ones, 200 hp, 2 stroke/ 4 stroke....they are not cheap. I will spend that money....17k for a re power btw....In this case it is for "others" because I value their and my safety...If I blow a six cylinder I will buy a brand new powerhead and not a rebuild.... And yes again 18 grand after installation...

We all like cars right?? I got nice ones. German imports...no they are not porsche's...their VW's...not the most expensive but somewhere past the midpoint of what Im talking about....I simply believe foreign cars last longer yet are more expensive to purchase and of course fix...(one of my vdubs is historical, the vw factory only made 35 of this specific model. It has been in our family since purchased in Germany.) Mint shape has lasted decades....

Ahhhh yes here go...Bicycles...again the item..(And I am buying another)

I love cruisers. And I can afford any cruiser I want! How bout that electra 7 for 900 bucks...or better the Schwinn classic 7 tank worth 800 bucks.....The townies....Ohhh talk about a status quo lol...I could even afford my local machine shop to custom make me a cruiser from scratch at no holds bar on cost.....It might even cost me as much as the above outboard...And if..I really wanted it, I would have the money to afford it.....

But this semi retired hippy who has done all his research for the past six months on which bike to buy is going to settle for a walmart Huffy because of my history with those bikes and they appeal to me....Plus it is for my camp so I can ride to the beach and state park which is a nice 2 mile ride rather than take a boat or other water toys...

Its where it fits in your life

Cougrrcj

I can honestly say that I've never paid more than $200 for any one of the bikes that I currently own or even those that I've sold off over the years. That includes the '75 Fuji S-10S that I bought new in '76. That one was discounted to $190.

Gerryattrick

Yes, I admit to being biased about my choice of expensive or inexpensive bikes. I am biased towards inexpensive bikes that I have built up myself rather than bought whole, and I am biased against spending a ton of my money on the latest high spec new bike.

I am not biased at all against anyone else's choice of how much they spend on their bikes.

Glad to have got that confession of bias off my chest. Now I can get on with enjoying my bikes.

700

Diminishing returns and ageing. When I was young, I accepted 90% perfect. As I got older, the number of nines increased as my time got more precious. I can appreciate better things even if I can't always afford them. I think $1800 - $3000 bikes hit the sweet spot of 99.9 to 99.99% perfect. To get that next nine probably means $10000+.


It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up. - Ferris Bueller

Biker395 

Choices are supposed to be biased. That's the point!

I can dig the notion of building up your own bike. If I had the time, I'd pick that hobby up myself.

Gerryattrick

I'm retired so have the time , or so you would think, although it doesn't always work out like that. As well as my main rides, which I built a couple of years ago from collected parts, I am working on two more bikes - an early 80s CB mixte and a late 60s Sun road bike. The CB will be kept original but the Sun will be the frame plus other parts I have collected.

Sometimes when you build a bike it doesn't work out as expected, but when you get it right it's great.

dbg

Yeah, the hobby thing. Me too. I started building golf clubs a long time ago because I couldn't afford a high end set. Years and thousands of dollars later I had a fully developed hobby and had spent way more anyway. I've now done the same thing a few times --and now build up all my bikes, --with fairly expensive parts. It's not frugal but learning new stuff is way worth it. For me, the better indicator would be automobiles. I buy mid to upper level practical cars that are a couple of years old. That probably defines me the best.

Rudebob

Couple thoughts on this issue:

Lifes ironies:
Young Adult: Time & Talent, but no money
Middle Age Adult: Talent & Money, but no time
Aging Adult: Money and Time, but no talent (or desire)

I am usually not so concerned with the price as the value. However, I generally lean towards the best equipment I can get until the slope on the laws of diminishing returns goes notably vertical. Generally, this price point seems to occur just beyond entry level "expert" grade equipment, but not always.

Along those lines, IMO, you get less increased utility with roadbikes when upgrading. Mountain bikes, however, have a much broader range of performance along their price point range. For that reason I have way more money in my mountain bikes than my roadies.

I would rather buy late model used or "demo" equipment. Like cars, let someone else take the initial depreciation hit. The key is patience to find the guy with lots of money and no time to use it. These guys are the ones who also don't have the time to sell their stuff, which means the first guy to show up cash, even with a lowball offer can sometimes get a great deal.

Finally, I really could care less what people ride, however, I have been very impressed with the personal performance of some aging riders. I am 53 but still competitive enough that I want to be one of the strongest in my age group and hold my own well against younger riders. With that in mind when it comes to equipment, I would rather be the guy on a 300 dollar bike that convincingly passes "that guy" on a long hill who is riding a 6K plus bike (possibly younger and likely wearing wearing a yellow jersey), than it be the other way around. That gives more pleasure than any bike that money can buy.

...but your mileage may vary

Pamestique 

Before I retired, I was fortunate enough to be able to afford some nice bikes. I own a custom road bike, and 3 custom built mountain bikes. But I also own some older road bikes and what I call my "frankenweinie" bike (my first mountain bike frame plus components here and there over the years I used as a commuter). I enjoy riding ALL my bikes. My best friend is an incredible rider - her road bike cost $700 and she has done numerous centuries on it. Her mountain bike is also considered entry level and she rides my (and most folks) pants off. I never judge a person by their bike. I know some older bikers who ride pieces of junk (literally) and no one can keep up with them.

Bottom line, I am hoping what I have will do me until I don't ride anymore. I have a nice bevy of bikes to choose from and for that, I am blessed.

longbeachgary

I hate cheap bikes. Those of you out there saying that your cheap bike is “as good” as a more expensive bike are full of it. This is supposed to be your passion and yet you cheap out. PLEASE.

(just so you know, I'm only half kidding).

VegasTriker

I wonder how many of the people critical of somebody buying an expensive bike have ever ridden one. I started out on one-speed Schwinn that my dad (who lived through the depression and was almost homeless at one time) probably bought for $10. I thought it was perfectly fine and even took it on a 50 mile ride once. I went through a couple of slightly better, but not really expensive, bikes. In my late 20s I bought a Motobecane Le Champion top-of-the-line road bike and outfitted it with Phil Wood hub wheels. I bought it because I was working at a bike shop and got a really good deal on it. It was a true joy to ride compared to my other bikes. It spoiled me for ever again buying a cheap bike for my main transportation. If I needed a beater bike, I would buy a used bike but it was still way better than that Schwinn. I'd have to agree that the price of some new bikes is way more than I would ever consider paying these days even though I wouldn't miss any meals after buying one.

John_V 

They're better off than we are so they don't need an inheritance. My wife is in agreement with me. Spend it all before we die. I won't be needing a nursing home - I'm dying on my bike.

moth54

I have room to store only one bike and that has to be one that goes on the trail or to the grocery store. Plus, there are very limited picks for someone my size. So I have no idea what an expensive bike feels like to ride and never will. I do know I like to spend for good socks and outdoor gear because I have learned to appreciate the added value.

What I spend relatively more money on than the rest of you I expect is to pay someone else to service the bike. I don't enjoy doing it myself but given that I have a simple hybrid, I want it as well tuned as it can be.

We all put such money as we have where it gives us joy. For some, that's in our savings, for future use. If we can spend, we're employing someone. It's all good.

Kindaslow

One of the few answers that is honest about biases. Thanks.

We all have biases, yet some folks write very biased responses about how they don't care.....

I am biased toward MTBs. Road bikes do very little for me. I believe, strongly, that each price point up to about 10k adds measurable benefit for performance in MTBs that most people can notice. However, enjoyment can be had at a much more reasonable price.

Last, I believe the folks who brag about passing folks who are riding more expensive bikes are some of the most biased folks, and in this case I am using biased with the negative connotation some apply to it (being biased is not always a negative).

DaveQ24

I think I can address this issue, since I have the $10.5K S-works and the $200 Wal-Mart bike. The S-works is an awesome piece of equipment on every level - form, function, beauty. I was proud to buy and it am proud to own it. I'm equally proud of my other great bikes.

However, I've been happy with the Wal-Mart bike. But I honestly can't say I'm proud of it - it's decently ride-able, but it's NOT a thing of beauty or quality - welds are poor and sloppy, components are as cheap as they can be, etc. I expected it to break down a lot, it hasn't, but that isn't necessarily a typical experience, and I also, knowing it's poorly made, to go over it before riding and make sure everything seems in order, and I've tweaked a lot of little things before they became major, such as adjusting brakes, tightened a few spokes, etc. Of course, it's heavy as sin, too.

Bottom line is ... there is no way it's "as good as" my other bikes in terms of quality of components, manufacture.

But ... quality of the bicycle and ability of the rider are NOT linked -- a Chris Froome could utterly destroy me riding the cheap bike, and putting me on the expensive bike against him is NOT going to change that in any meaningful way.

Where I find "Value" in a cheap bike is ... A) it's a bike, all bikes fascinate me, I consider any bike worthy of owning for SOME purpose - even if it's a rusty old beater that I could turn into some kind of yard decoration for a season with some appropriate creativity, and B) I just enjoy the thing for what I can get out of it - with a $200 bike, it is definitely disposable, if it has a serious breakdown, it's out to the yard to live out its fate as yard art or whatever -- for what I've paid for it, I've gotten well over $200 worth of enjoyment out of it.

DaveQ24

This isn't something that bothers me personally. I know that owing a nice bike does NOT make me some uberman athlete. If someone (and there are many) out there overtakes me, I admire their superior athleticism and don't get my nose out of whack. I know and accept that I'm never going to "be a contender" and I'm ok with that.

I never saw my attraction to expensive bikes as a competitive thing - it was never about "hey, if I have this great bike, they have to respect me as a cyclist" or worse "envy me".

My attraction to more expensive bikes was much more about the technology and design and the kind of comfort and sense of enjoyment, almost "luxury" I perceive from them - granted, the "luxury differential" between an S-Works Roubaix and a $200 WM bike is probably a lot smaller than between flying in your own fully decked out luxury private jet and flying with a $79 economy ticket on Spirit or Southwest.

I think that I feel blessed to be able to have the things I have, but I also don't believe that being fortunate implies any kind of value judgment against anyone less fortunate than I am. Because that really is all my life has boiled down to - fortunate enough to be born in a certain place, time, etc to be afforded the opportunities that got me where I am now. Luck, just dumb luck.

bruce19

[QUOTE=FBinNY;19359632]
Knowing bikes the way I do, I buy value, looking to get most of the benefits of truly great bikes, without spending top dollar. IMO, that sweet spot is at the B or C lever, ie. Campy Chorus, or Shimano Ultegra or 600.

IMO, the question isn't whether people have plenty of money or not as much as it is their attitudes about consumption and spending. I don't believe that spending crazy amounts for stuff makes sense unless there's clear value, namely a measurable difference between the costly vs. the less costly but still good stuff. [QUOTE

Similar to my attitude. I check out the best of a line and then look a step or two lower to see what the "best bang for the buck" is. My bikes have (older) Dura Ace, a mix of SRAM Red and Rival, and 105. The 105 is the newest and the best. Were I to build a bike I'd probably go with 11-sp 105. Cost effective. What others do is their call.

eja_ bottecchia

I agree 100% with of all of the above, especially the last paragraph. Biases are not bad per se, as long as they are based on some sort of reasonable basis.