rydabent

BTW if it is true that there is only one way into his apartment thru the lobby, it probably violates fire code laws. He should point that out to the "office".

Little Darwin

Another aspect... It is not impossible, but someone riding a $20,000 bike is probably going to post where it impresses the most elite cyclists, and that would not be general cycling. It would be more likely in Road Cycling. Surely someone who can afford a $20,000 bike has enough smarts to post where she/he will get most sympathetic support.

But, I am open to being wrong.

OP, please post a pic of the bike with a copy of a current newspaper or go elsewhere to troll.

However, assuming this is a genuine dilemma, my suggestion is:

Find a safe storage location for your bike. If it is within easy walking distance, then your problem is solved, just carry your $800 cycling shoes with you as you walk to your bike, so that you don't have to walk like a duck. If not, then buy a cheap bike to ride to pick up your good bike. The only requirement is pedals compatible with the shoes you wear while riding your good bike. I think a $100 vintage bike should do the trick.

StanSeven

Nice! Watch the potholes with those wheels though.

The rolling case is the only thing I can come up with as well. You have too many valuable pieces to leave that sitting anywhere even with secure locks.

jfowler85

Have fun with your 30 year mortgage. Home ownership is not for everyone.

D1andonlyDman

I've got less than 5 years to go on my mortgage. It's my third home - and between the first two that I bought and later sold, I made over $300K of profit (around $250K after taxes). And my current home is worth close to 3 times what I paid for it in 1996 (I re-fied with a 15 year note about 11 years ago when interest rates plummeted). If I wanted to move, I could easily pay off the ~$50K remaining on my mortgage tomorrow.


And BTW, home ownership is quite a bit more financially prudent than owning a bike that costs $20K is. That being said, I recognize that home ownership is not for everyone - that's why the last bit of my post said "But that's just me".

AlmostTrick

Nor is owning a $20,000 bike. Or trolling.

Although out of the two, I see trolling as more attractive!

FBinNY 

I'd respect their concern about the lobby, and carry the bike in, being careful about walls, and carpeting if any. In the elevator, hold the bike vertical with the rear wheel on your foot (or non carpeted floor).

They may not like it, but given the price of your bike, should be willing to accommodate you if you are attentive to their concerns.

It's a simple matter of dialog, and mutual accommodation.

Alternately, find out how much separate insurance on the bike would cost, and ask that they either pay for the added coverage or agree to take responsibility for that amount --- in writing--- if they are taking responsibility for the safety of their bike storage area.

AlmostTrick

Along with your ransom demands if the real owner ever wants to see their bike alive again.

jfowler85

Super. I stand by what I said - home ownership is not for everyone, regardless of whether or not folks like you are adept at flipping houses - many are not. This is the internet so, while you may have made nearly 1/4 mil on selling property, I take it with a large grain of salt. Many are not as lucky as you claim to be or just enter the market at a bad time and lose a lot of money. I could be wrong, but if the op can afford a $20,000 bike, then perhaps he has enough bankroll that he can afford a nice apartment (makes sense, a snooty apt clerk may very well do something like that) and enjoys a nice standard of living but just doesn't want to deal with owning a home. Maybe he is in a transitory spot and can't commit to a mortgage at the moment.

Unless you can read the markets well - real estate, building supply, population trends, turnover rates, etc - then one would be foolish to get into a mortgage with the intent of making money off of it, especially the fixer-upper specials. Been there, it's not fun to deal with unless you can devote full time hours to it and already own the equipment to do framing, flooring, electrical, plumbing, etc.

Besides, what makes you a good judge of what is the most financially feasible for a given individual? By one measure, I could save a lot of money by buying a house, including property taxes, insurance, etc. But by another measure, that would be a poor choice for me as I have 7 open applications to various grad schools all over the country.

Agreed.

D1andonlyDman

I don't flip homes. I lived in the two I sold, and owned each for over 5 years. Home ownership, when done intelligently and within one's means, is vastly more financially prudent than owning a $20K bike is. Even for people on this forum. Neither home was a fixer-upper - both were bought as new construction. And in fact, the first one was not bought at a good time in the market - I bought it before a condo crash in Providence RI in 1983, and lived in it for 2+ years. After I moved to the west coast, I actually rented the place out for over 5 years - covering my mortgage payment - before I finally sold it at a $20K profit. The 2nd place - a vacation home in Palm Desert, was much more fortuitous in terms of market timing, as it more than doubled in value in the 5 and a half years that I owned it. But the first place demonstrates that, if you know what you are doing, you don't need to be lucky with market timing.

And someone going to grad school full time - unless you had rich parents and a trust fund - would be an idiot to buy a $20K bike, as opposed to a $2-3K bike. That would be a far poorer choice than buying a home.

jfowler85

Buy and sell within ~5 years for a net gain - I would call that flipping (btw it is possible to live in the house which you are flipping). Just because it's not on the reality TV timescale doesn't mean it's not, though you apparently disagree. It is clear that you are not committed to the property and the trend shows your eye is on profiting. That is flipping.

You're just not getting the part about how your financial literacy and practice does not necessarily directly apply to someone else. You're also assuming that buying a house is a financially good move as a matter of paradigm. This article nicely outlines exactly what I am getting at. Here is another article which refutes the always present "but it's always a good investment" argument. It is just plain dumb to view another's financial situation through your own practical experience - it should be obvious that you are not the OP, and he is not you. Like I said previously, $20k for a bike may be a very small percentage of the OP's available bankroll, in which case it's like you're arguing with someone of an average income over whether or not it's financially feasible to spend $75 on a nice dinner every now and then.

I never said that one must be lucky with the markets. I said that some people aren't as lucky as you seem to have been; I mean that figuratively and literally.

FBinNY 

Enough already!

This isn't a financial planning forum, nor a home ownership or investment forum. It's a bike forum, and the OP has a practical question dealing with his buildings management policies, which would be the same regardless of the value of his bike, except maybe, if it were a $100 clunker.

What he chooses to ride or what he paid for it, is all besides the point which is how he might approach the management company about resolving the problem.

jfowler85

But he started it.

FBinNY 

Are you my 10year old??

D1andonlyDman

Not really. The point is, and always was, that nobody should buy a $20K bike if they don't have complete control over both the security of the bike, and their personal financial situation as it relates to the bike. Anyone who is at the mercy of an apartment complex's rules for securing such a bike has no business owning a bike that's as valuable as a new car. And BTW, I always suspected than anyone who lives in an apartment complex such as that who claims to own such a bike and is not able to secure it on their own property was trolling.

FBinNY 

Actually, I'd be more likely to suspect that of someone who seizes on an opportunity to lecture people about finance and home ownership, or flaunt their own successes on a bike forum.

The OP is a cyclist who came here for help about a specific bicycle problem, and not for life advice. Let's try at least a little to stay on point.

D1andonlyDman

You don't know that about the OP. MANY folks that read his post think he's a troll. I made a simple comment to the effect that I personally would not be buying a $20K bike ahead of buying a house - and I added the comment that that was just me. Sorry, but even among bike junkies, some sense of priorities needs to be in order, and 99.99% of society at large would think that buying a $20K bicycle which one could clearly not afford to lose, while having to live in an apartment complex with unreasonable rules is the height of personal irresponsibiliity. I only mentioned the other stuff when I was challenged as being a house-flipper - something that the past decade has demonstrated could be equally fiscally irresponsible. I am simply a person who bought my houses because I lived and worked where those houses were located, and was acting like a responsible adult. And my first really expensive bike (My Tommasini that cost me about $1000 in 1985) was bought shortly AFTER I had bought my first home, and I could afford it - I could afford a rider on my homeowners insurance that covered it, and I could even have afforded it if t had been stolen. I lived what I wrote, and I believe in it. It's stupid to spend outrageous amounts of money on a bike if you can't afford a home. I was challenging the OP for being a person without a rational view of financial responsibility, and I will stand by that sentiment. And BTW, note that the OP has never returned to this thread after numerous other posters accused him of being a troll.

I have no issue with someone buying an extremely high value bike - so long as they can afford it. I don't believe that the OP could afford it, and I still don't.

79pmooney

My thoughts? The bike case was brilliant suggestion. If it were me, I would go that route while keeping my ears open to who in the apt management would be sympathetic, then approaching that person saying that I have been boxing up my bike every day for the past X months; that is works and keeps their carpet clean but is a pain to do every day. Would they mind if I carried my 16 pound bike carefully instead, taking care not to touch the carpet?

Ben

Stucky

Maybe it's a Chinarello?

AlmostTrick

LOL...

First a silly troll, then financial bickering, and now religion? I don't forecast a long life for this thread... But it was kinda fun while it lasted!

jfowler85

Yes. Please read me a book tonight before bed.

jfowler85

You don't know if that is the case. Let the man buy whatever he wants to, and live wherever he wants to.

?? Yet it's okay for you to pass financial judgment and dispense investment advice? Get real.

AlmostTrick

jfowler85

ha!

Drew Eckhardt 

Nope.

In my neighborhood, 3/2 1500 square foot ranch houses built in the 1950s are selling for $900K and ones in decent locations are double that.

I could buy a house farther from work, although then I'd be commuting 2-3 hours a day by car so I wouldn't have time to ride.