StanSeven

Many people are proud of and enjoy their profession

lenA

That's what I said. If you can't find anything better to do..........

nuke_diver

Like any hobby it can be as expensive or cheap as you want. There are always some must haves for any hobby (a camera for photography, an instrument for music, a regulator for scuba diving etc). You can go cheap or have the best of everything. It depends on your personal outlook (frugal vs spender, keeping up with the Jones/making do). I play guitar and belong to a guitar forum too. Like this place the differences are all over the place. Some don't bat an eye buying a $3000 guitar because they either want it or they are pros and will get a lot of use out of it and they probably have several instruments. Others never spend more than a couple of hundred for it since it will be just fine for their needs. Like here there are always arguments back and forth but it ultimately comes down to your personality and what you can afford.

For me cycling is really cheap at least right now. I have a 32yr old bike that I paid I think $300 for new. I don't use any gear that cannot be used for other things (so running shoes not cycling shoes, regular shorts not cycling shorts etc). Even with consumables I imagine my cost/year in the $10-20 range (maybe more if I run into a rash of flats). I have far more in guitars though I am frugal there as well (compared to most). I may buy a new bike soon and if I do will likely spend in the 1-2K range but I have the means so this isn't a hardship. I am only hesitating because I'm not sure I really need it (the old bike still works well) and for the amount I ride (2 rides a week ~ 3hrs total) I don't know if it is really worth upgrading (although those mountain roads would be in range moreso than they are now)

You can always (or never) justify the price of a hobby. So long as you're happy and cost doesn't impact your personal finances go for it

Long Tom

Getting set up to ride: $1000
The confidence you feel every time you take a deep breath and FEEL your rockin' cardio capacity: priceless.

Getting set up to ride: $1000
Not being a phat *****: priceless.

Getting set up to ride: $1000
The general mood-elevation that comes with aggressive cardio: priceless.

Getting set up to ride: $1000
Benefits come ski season: priceless (ok, so this is hypothetical!)

Long Tom

In all seriousness, some proper cycling shorts and shoes/cleats will transform things for you. You'll be able to spend a whole lot more time on the bike. If you don't want to rock the Lycra....maybe you save that for your 80's Spandex band, lol... REI and other places sell shorts that look pretty normal.

cvall91

I lost 62 lbs, feel a lot healthier than ever before. Feel better about myself than I used to. Wake up every morning nice and energized (except after hard intervals at night) ready to go. And found something that I can stick to that I truly enjoy and have met a lot of people who enjoy it as well. Have I spent a ton of money achieving all of this? Yes. Do I care? No.

nuke_diver

My rides are typically 2 hrs (30-40 miles depending on terrain). I simply don't have time to spend more that at one time and shorts for that (I have gone close to 3 hrs on rare occasions (BD==Before Dog ) and never had a problem. I understand that doing things like centuries would likely need better (more cycling specific) gear but spending a whole day cycling simply isn't in the cards for me right now...maybe once I retire.

I do also have to admit that I find it fun to be the guy in the shorts and flapping tshirt with the old tube shifter bike keeping up with the young'ens in the 3K carbon fiber bikes with the full kit. As I see it I always have the excuse that if I am slow it's because of the gear

IthaDan 

I bet you're a hit at parties.

merlinextraligh

snappy comeback. Do you use that everytime you're wrong?

IthaDan 

You're missing the forest for the trees. I'll never understand the drive to be the biggest pedant on the interwebs. Wether to not a 2008 miyata can be bought for $10k is irrelevant, what matters is that cycling is a very inexpensive hobby in the universe of things that have wheels.

But maybe you missed that while jockeying to be the smartest ****** in the 41.

Gramercy

I like that bikes hold their value, so when you want a new one, you can sell the current bike and put that towards a new one.

banerjek

You don't appear to understand the N+1 rule...

Rootman

Lets face it LIVING is as expensive as hell. So why not do something that you enjoy that actually provides some health benefit? I know I'd be sitting on my a$$ in the recliner a whole lot more if it wasn't for biking. Biking acan be as cheap or as expensive as you make it.

merlinextraligh

My point which you're missing, is that cycling can be very expensive if you choose to make it so. A $15,000 bike, Several sets of $3000 wheels, $3000 power meters, $125 tires that are good for one flat, few hundred a month for coaching, thousands a month for travel and race fees and it gets expensive by most anybody's defiinition.

Your original post, which I countered, implied that the most expensive "Uber unobtainium" bike would be substantially less than 5 figures, which is way off the mark.
I corrected that. If you find that pedantic, then so be it.

Gramercy

What kind of bike costs more than 10 grand? The most expensive bike I've seen listed is 10k from Felt. I actually saw one riding over the weekend, it looks insanely over the top.

merlinextraligh

Take most of the "pro tour" level frames. Put a top end group on it, SRM power meter, and deep sectioned carbon wheels from Lightweight, Zipp, Enve, or the expensive Reynolds, and you can top $15,000 without much difficulty.

Power meters and wheels that can both be over $3000 up the ante pretty quickly.

A Trek Madone 7 series with Di2, and an SRM will set you back more than $15,000. And that's without pedals.

dtrain

Here's 13.5:
https://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/road...er-record-eps/

SpeshulEd 

I would rather buy a pro racing bike for my midlife crises than a 2008 miata.

To be honest, if your midlife crisis is a miata, you're doing it wrong.

banerjek

No kickstand either.

But it does come with reflectors. Every now and then I see someone on a great bike who actually leaves them on.

EdIsMe

I have more miles per dollar on my bikes than I do my car. I have also put more miles on my bikes in 2 years than I have on my car in 5.

I also feel like I've regressed in physical age by 5 years or so (I'm only 24 now).

Worth it isn't even part of the equation for me.

IthaDan 

I set my mental math around $10k.

Either way, the point I was trying to make was that even the lowest end of other hobbies that revolve around things that roll/fly/float is more than the uppermost end of the cycling world.

That's the thing, it's NOT expensive, well not relative compared to other 'performance' hobbies.

DaveWC

The nice thing about cycling is that it's still relatively affordable to buy the top end piece of equipment for the sport. You can own the best bike, best kit, best pedals & shoes and ride the crap out of it all for under $20k. There are lots of hobbies where $20k would get you in on the bottom tier. I also like that I can cycle from my front door to my front door. I don't have to travel anywhere by car or leave the country to cycle. Mind you, cycling in Italy was wonderful.

ClydesMoose

Noone has added in yet the cost of the disposable razors to keep the guns freshly shaven at all times.

Ray9

My mid life crisis was so long ago that my first bicycle came from the Wright Brothers. Anyway, whoever said I am sophomoric may be right. Tonight I waited until it got completely dark so I could test my new lights. Cygolites Rule! I rode the entire thirty miles in the dark in one hour and forty six minutes. I also have some nifty flashing tail lights on the back as well as a pulsating tail light on my helmet. My wife said I left the driveway lit up like a Christmas tree. The Cygolites are so bright that approaching cars dim their lights. They lasted the entire ride.

StanSeven

Just because you don't like working, why insult the poster who does?