"How about REBSO for ridiculously expensive bike shaped object for something like a $15K Cervelo ..."

Picked this off another thread and liked it. I agree, too. Should be the go to term for bikes priced into the more money than brains category.

People should mind their own business.

What other people buy or how much they spend is their business, not anyone else's.


-Tim-

+1

Sorry, Tim, and sadly,for once you and I are in total accord. Although I might make an exception for buyers of cocaine, and politicians - no connection between those intended, by the way.

to a large extent, I agree.
However, once someone starts referencing cost as a requirement for an arbitrarily set mythical baseline of 'good', then they open themselves up for criticism.

oh, and bragging about the cost of something, like rapha for example, and speaking down on other products due to a name brand. That brings deserved criticism and makes for entertainment!

+1

Yup- how this site works.

How can this be true when there are so so many examples of people posting about what they just bought, for the whole interwebz to read? They choose to make it everybody else's business and open it up for discussion.

The most expensive bike I have sold was priced at 11,000. Nope, didn't criticize the customer, but I do have an opinion about the purchase. One of my colleagues had one go out the door at 18,000. Just can't see the value in a bike priced out there into the cosmos. Spend 6-7 grand on a bike and take the other 5,000 and help put some people on good bike shop bikes. Or is that being too altruistic?

That's your opinion based on one event in a person's life.

It follows the distribution curve of wealth. Or at least, it should. There are exceptions but we just don't know what they are. For instance, a sudden and unexpected large inheritance, an exercise of stock options from a high technology employer plan, a big legal settlement, etc.

About the charitable giving: it would be connected but a separate issue, as it may have very little to do with the purchase. Meaning, the charitable giving could be even higher than a mere purchase of bicycle.

A consumer would tend not to disclose his/her financial position to a bicycle retailer compared to his/her financial planner or tax accountant. Colleague or no colleague.

Exactly ...

We don't know if a person has given $180,000 to their favourite charities during the year, and then decided to spend $18,000 on a bicycle for themselves.

And it's not our business.

Of course it is, and this entire website is half devoted to "is X worth paying more instead of the cheaper Y?" type of threads. You also have to have your head in the sand if you think forums are not places where people put forth opinions but only rock-solid supportable fact. It's certainly valid for a given poster to express an opinion, especially if the OP asks the question or opens the discussion, as to whether spending lots of money on a bike, part or whatnot, is a waste of money that might be otherwise better-well spent.

Thank you, Sy Reene, for your well worded reply. All I am looking for is how others see it. Not that it is right or wrong or a violation of social justice or something. The thought goes through my mind whenever a big sale goes through the register. Believe me, high price tagged items are a major contributor to our bottom line, and welcomed. Just have to pay respect to my inner voice asking me at what point does a sale stop making sense?

Let your light shine before men....

I gave close to $9000 to charity last year. I'm not talking about appreciated stock but cash outlay.

In 2018 I bought a box of diapers and two bags of groceries every week for the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at my parish. That's $1700 worth of diapers alone.

There was a woman going through cancer treatment who got a settlement from Social Security and then was scammed out of the money. Her medications sometimes made her confused and someone took advantage of her. She was homeless. I helped her pay for a place to stay. There are others. You get the idea. There is also the weekly tithe to the church.

I also pay some of my mother's bills but I don't consider that charity. She has electric heat and her electric bill is >$350 every month. Car repairs. Washing machine died. I take the commandment seriously.

Anyway, so I built a custom bike in 2018. It didn't cost $10,000 but it cost more than most people's bikes. Step up to the plate and tell me I didn't have a right, that it is "ridiculous" as the OP put it and I'll tell you that my conscience is clean when I ride it.




-Tim-

This isn't what you said in the first post.

Asking when a purchase stops making sense is a legitimate question.

Your first post called it ridiculous. That's judging others. It isn't right.


-Tim-

It's not the price of the bike that matters, rather it's the cost per smile while riding.

I disagree. We all live in the same world, and affect each other.

If you were driving behind a vehicle belching smoke, would you say "I should mind my own business- they have the right to pollute the air as much as they want"?

Or would you say that that person's behavior is a problem.

Consumption is pollution, and gross consumption is gross pollution.

No one is innocent, & if you listen carefully, you can hear our descendants cursing us.

I know people that couldn't comprehend spending 5-7k on a bike. I didn't spend that on my Ridley, and I don't talk about what I spent because again, most people can't comprehend a few grand on a bike.

Rebso is just an opinion, just like bso is.

Yup, and anyone who spends more on a REBSO than I have into any of my cars, motorcycles, or trucks is either a sponsored rider, or coke user

Have you ever been in the LBS trying to get your wife's bike done and home so you can go riding, when a lycra clad REBSO owner comes in and steps in front of you and demands instant service? Happens around here occasionally ...

90% of what I base my decisions on is opinion ... Mine, or someone else's