don't have the cajones to pull the trigger
 

arrgghh!

so i've done lots of shopping around. done some test riding. other than a few tweaks and some negotiation, i think i'm ready to buy my first roadie or cross bike.

i can't commit. i had a hard time spending $400 on a hybrid. now i'm looking at $2k bikes??!!

how did you talk yourself into finally spending big $ on a bike (realizing that "big $" is relative)?




maybe i'll just buy the db podium 1 for $229 at dicks sporting goods.

I bought a $700 Giant OCR3, and rode it for about 3 years ... my last year of racing, and my first two years of Randonneuring.

After riding a bicycle like that ... which is a decent bicycle which I still own, BTW ... and by observing other Randonneurs and chatting to other Randonneurs, I had a very good idea of exactly what I wanted in a bicycle. So, about 4 years ago, I got Machak. :)

If you ride a lot, $2,000 isn't a lot of money.

You could use the cost as an incentive to exercise more.

Sort of after-the-fact jutification for spending the money.

For me, part of the enjoyment is actually liking the bike. That includes my Fredcycle too.

Go and see what sort of car you can buy for $2000, then think of the maintenance costs on that car.

Yep, just ask a bunch of bike nuts and you'll get the answer you want to hear!

If you can find what you want in a new '06 or '05 the price will be a lot easier to talk yourself into.

None of the above! Ok I'm biased. Go to your LBS and get your measurements. Then buy a nice Vintage Light Weight and pay less than a cruiser for a bike that rides like a $1400 to $1700 bike. Just IMO of course.

I just had my 1989 Peugeot rebuilt from the ground up and it cost $280

You could take my approach and spend 4 months agonising over various bikes, then one day finally snap and buy the prettiest one you see :)

I'd agree with the above sentiment on vintage road bikes though.

If you don't feel right about buying it then it is obviously something you don't need or is way out of your price range. Find something that suits your needs that you can afford.

Don't worry about the money. Find the bike that best suits your needs and buy it. Six months from now, you will have found a way to repair any damage to your bank account and you will have a nice bike to ride.

i think that was my subconscious motivation for posting this hehehe.

you don't happen to work for mission bay multisports do you???

My worst nightmere is all of my kids standing around my coffin and talking about how sensible dad was. Don't you feel obligated to leave them a more colorful legacy than that? Buy the bike - and put a Garman computer on it!

Sometimes you just got to set back and realize that there just isn't anything out there better than what ive got! Then go ride.

5 hours a week x 40 weeks a year x 5 years = 1000 hours. So it's only $2.00 an hour, cheap!

So why don't you want to spend the money? Can you not afford it? What would you spend that money on, if you didn't buy a bike? Maybe you can commute with it and over time save yourself $2000 in gas and maintenence on the car. That way the purchase is totally justified and you can sleep at night.


And contrary to what everyone is saying, you don't NEED to spend 2k on a bike, when 1k will do for a very nice 105 equipped bike. Maybe you just need to compromise with yourself. If you are used to spending less than $400, then why not just spend 1k or even $1500?

The reason to buy so called nice things is so that you can enjoy them and feel good about it. If you are making yourself sick with worry over the expense, it really doesn't make any sense to buy it.

Just go for it.

By the way it's "Cojones" with an o.

What is wrong with being sensible(i.e. responsible)? Wouldn't it be worse, if you spent more money that you had depriving them of a home or food or clothes. Kids don't want their parents to be colorful. They want them to be dependable.

And how he left us all that money!

:roflmao:


That's how you justify spending over $2000 on a new bike. Or, if you're like many of us, you do this:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...234532&page=55

We'll even find them for you. What more can you ask of your friends in the cycling community? :D

East Hill

+n on buying a cheaper bike. A $1200 bike, hell even a $900 bike will blow your $400 bike out of the water, and riding it a lot will teach you about whether a nicer $2000 bike will be worth it to you; at that point it wont be a matter of cajones, oops cojones at all.

like others have said, it all depends on how much you ride. also remember that unlike a car, you're not going to want to trade it in after a few years and it won't lose as much value. I've got a cannondale mtb that I have spent maybe $3K on over the years and it still rides great after 12 years. Besides, you have to buy something with your tax refund, right? :D

After dropping 7 grand at the dentist in the course of 3 months, it was easy to convince myself that I deserved to "treat myself" to a new bike.

i ride 15 - 30 miles per day. (about 2500 tl from last may to december)

reasons i'm hedging;

i fear commitment. i always stress over spending a lot of $.

we can afford it. however, i'm a fred with ocp tendencies. this will be the 3rd new bike i've purchased since last june. every bike has to be exponentially better than the last for some reason. my wife is becoming concerned about this cycling "fad."

the bike itself. if i'm spending that $ on a bike, i'd rather have all components be near 105-level. the bike has 105 brifters, brakes, fd, cassette and a dura-ace rd. however, the crankset/bb/headset are fsa mega exo and the wheelsets are wh500's. i don't like the idea of spending $2k when there are a lot of components i'll end up wanting to replace right away.

another reason for hedging...its a whole new style of riding. i want to be able to do weekend credit-card tours and lots of long (50+ mile) rides. my 7300 just isn't comfortable for much more than 2 hours. i'm hesitant to spend a lot of $ on a road bike just to find out that more aggressive position/style isn't for me.

my search went like this...i want a relaxed geometry road or cross bike with mostly 105 components (and no sora). most were around $1300 or so. then, i started to see bikes with some ultegra components for a little bit more...hell, why not...lets look at them. then, i started seeing full cf bikes for a couple hundred $ more than the ultegra bikes...hell lets look at them. next thing you know, i'm thinking, instead of $2k for the felt z35...i'll spend a couple hundred more for the trek pilot 5.0........it never ends!

Well .... at least I'm not everyone!! :D

When I stepped up and bought my first real expensive bike in the 80s, I had a similar problem. The only thing I did not have to convince myself, I had to convince my wife. Much tougher proposition. If your signifigant other has no problem or you have no signifigant other and can afford it, I see no problem here.

thanks for the feedback! i've made my decision....(see the "why do mfr's do this" post).