Good one!
 

See it all the time on the bike trail. A friend of mine called it - "more money than legs". Another one along the same theme are way overweight people that are so proud of spending big bucks to save a gram of weight.

So typical. Love it.

The truth ... :thumb:

http://c0389161.cdn.cloudfiles.racks...65988.full.gif

You're not suggesting that heavier people shouldn't have great equipment are you?

Lol!

No! They can have good equipment. They just shouldn't be allowed to have better equipment than he feels he can afford.

Sometimes bike shop owners and mechanics have disagreements on this topic. Suppose, for instance, a customer wants riser handlebars and a mattress saddle retro fitted to a Madone bike. Ka-ching baby! That's what we do. That's how we earn our living. It's not like it's the last one on earth. Trek will make more Madones.

I think I understand what you meant to say, but I don't agree with how you said it. I don't want anyone deciding what I should be allowed to have as long as it's legal. However people who are overweight should be counseled that before spending extra money to save a few ounces on the bike they would yield more improvement from better physical conditioning, including loosing weight. If after such council they choose to spend money - that's their right.

I for one am not the lightest of riders, at the high end of what is considered normal for my height. I will not spend money to save a lot of weight on the bike (except the wheels), I will to make it stiffer, reduce friction and more aerodynamic but going from 17 to 15 lbs is of little value until my body weight is under 150 lbs and that would take a lot of effort.

I think we've all pondered and discussed this question quite a bit. In my club, I have near about the cheapest bike of anybody -I ride Al whereas I'd guess that 2/3 of the club is riding either full carbon or Ti. I'm by no means the fastest in the group, but there are quite a few riding $3-5k bikes who are considerably slower. So "SHOULD" they be spending so much money on bikes when they don't really have the ability to match? Sure they should. I don't think they have any illusions that the bike is making them faster. They ENJOY having nice bikes.

I think of it this way. I drive an inexpensive car - a Honda Fit. If I had chosen to spend an extra $5k to get a Civic would people be looking at me thinking that I'm not a good enough driver to merit a better car? Of course not. So why give grief to people who enjoy the feel and aesthetics of a top-line bike? They're spending about as much extra as one would spend to drive a slightly nicer car, right? And many of them spend more time on their bikes than they do in their cars.

I don't need a bike shop counseling my about my health or weight or anything except bikes (when I ask for it). I'll get the health counseling from my doc.

I'm not the lightest guy either and I've been riding decent mileage for a long, long time. But let me say this - upgrading wheels made a huge difference for me and made gave me a lot more range and climbing ability. These would be wheels that are probably beyond my ability. Do I wait to lose weight or go out and ride and make it as easy as it can be so it's as fun as it can be? What if I intend to lose weight? Do I buy a heavier lower tech bike for my weight and then buy another one later the same year when I've lost sufficient weight and gained sufficient experience to be worthy?

This whole nonsense about how you don't deserve a good bike until you are "worthy" or lose sufficient weight is silly. Good bikes are more fun to ride. If you want to buy the lightest bike parts and spend your last nickel on it, so what? It's your money.

J.

Actually, I utterly disagree with everything you said except for the last sentence. It's a bike shop not a social service agency. The bike shop's job is to sell bikes and bike stuff not to explain to customers why they shouldn't buy high end bike stuff.

Riding a bike is a personal choice. The type of bike you ride may not be the fanciest one, but on the other hand, it very well can be. It's all in what you feel comfortable riding with the money you alloted for the bike. How much you weigh, what type of clothing you wear, what type of bike and how you load it up, is the personal choice of the rider. I never quite understood why someone else felt the need to question someone's choices in life. We all have our crosses to bare.

I generally have no problem with people spending their money however they want. But one point came out in another thread (can't remember if it was here or over at road). A bike designed for a 145 whippet with 10% body fat and good flexibility may not work very well for a Clyde who can't touch his toes.

Here it is (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ith-Experience). Makes some sense:

"...what's the point of a nice bike if you're carrying around a bunch of extra weight? So you can't handle five pounds on the bike, but 30 around the middle is okay? Why not save the money and spend it on a trainer or something?

Further, it's very unlikely that really nice bike is even the right bike for you if you're overweight and/or slow. The drop is likely to be too much if you have any kind of a gut, and the wheels unsuitable for your weight. Unless your core is strong enough, the riding position is probably going to be all wrong for you - even if you're not overweight. This is why we keep seeing racing bikes on this very forum with frankly ridiculous spacer stacks. Big guy on a carbon post? Unnecessary, and asking for trouble.

The shame of it is, if these guys would just stop shopping for racer/poseur gear and do the miles, they would simultaneously appreciate the nice gear when they need it, and know when they need it. And probably find they don't need much of it.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. If some guy works hard to afford his new carbon wunderbike, it's his money to spend. Some people like riding, some people like gear. Most people like both, it's just when the pendulum swings too far one way or the other that things get a bit silly."

I saw a four-hundred pound guy on a carbon TT bike on a bike path. He was undoubtedly the most uncomfortable cyclist I have ever seen. He had to swing his knees out to avoid hitting his ample abdomen. I hope the bike was borrowed from a relative for the day and that the seat post wasn't carbon. I was wondering if the bike was a reward/incentive for getting down from five-hundred pounds. I'll never know and I don't really care. On the up-side, when these folks fork out big bucks for nice equipment it means some bike shop (or internet site) did some ka-ching, which helps keep them in business to serve me, and that there is a good chance of some nice stuff showing up on Craig's list or eBay.

I guess I was not clear - I did not say that the bike shop should council anybody about weight loss, although there is a lot of discussion as to how a good bike shop should work with customers to get them the right bike, not necessarily the bike they came in to buy. I for one am not in retail so I won't comment on that. What I meant to say was that if anything, when asked, a person should be given good advice as to what actions will help the most. I did not say nor did I mean to insinuate that a shop should do that. Now if you read my post completely I did say I would buy better wheels just as you have and just as I have. I guess you did not get that far before outrage kicked in. Now as far as the rest of what you have said - I agree, that was what I was trying to say.

See above. Thank you for agreeing with the main point I was trying to make, people should be free to make there own choices for what ever reason, my other point being that given the opportunity, those choices should be with the best available information, not sure whether or not you agree or disagree with the later half.

... and so what? If that's one's opinion, then don't do that if one is ever in that situation, I guess. As much as others may want it to be so, the only person that gets to vote is the one writing the check. Even if someone else considers it silly.

I guarantee you that there are a lot of people who think all "those skinny guys in skin tight lycra riding $5000 bikes" are plenty silly too. All depends on your context. In fact, I'd wager that there are a LOT more people who think that is odd if we were to put it to a poll. "He paid HOW MUCH FOR THAT BIKE?!!!!"

J.

Sorry I misunderstood what you were trying to say.

J.