mugatu

It seems everyone is always buying and selling their bikes. What is up with that? I've only been seriously into bikes for a few years but I still own the only two I've bought/built. I've been playing guitar for ten years and would never dream of selling my axes. I guess I can't understand how everyone is so detached from their bikes. Please explain this phenomenon.

doofo

im more of a polygamist than a swinger

but swingers abound youre right

andre nickatina

i partially don't understand this either, because i know guys that literally have a different setup just about every 3 months, they sell what they have and buy something else. but if you think about it, it makes some sense in that you really get to know a lot of different bikes / parts / brands and in that sense understand what you want better.

myself personally, i'm not so bad but i do have a bad habit of buying something, than saying "hmm, well i think this could be improved..." and wanting something later on. buying 170mm cranks and now wanting 165's is one example... falling in love with a certain brand of keirin track frames and wanting to replace my own keirin frame is another...

anyways, detachment isn't such a bad thing, bikes are like anything else and are liable to theft, vandalism, or complete destruction... and that's why i'll never own a 3rensho/cinelli/paramount/insert ridiculously nice track frame here.

roadgator

im very attached to my bikes, but i also managed to destroy both my road bike and campus bike last winter. thus i have new ones now. necessity, not choice

FridgeRobot

it's kinda like not being able to have your cake and eat it too... like andre said once you get what you want the dream has become a reality and therefor needs to be replace by a new dream... usually something even nicer... ergo you see a lot of trading/buying/selling...

also bikes are some of the few things you can do this with due to the fact that parts aren't terrible expensive in the grand scheme of things... you see this far less often the more something costs... like cars for instance..

EyeRobot

Any time I have ever sold I bike I have regretted it.


Ideally: never again.

Terror_in_pink

it hurt my crotch so i got one made just for me and my crotch doesnt hurt anymore. yay.

In Absentia

It's just metal, plastic, and rubber. If you find something that suits your needs better, why wouldn't you upgrade if possible? If the bikes you have suit your needs well, then keep them.

jetbike

Upgrade-itus.

It's an affliction that can effect us all.

I personally am monogamus, but I covet, oh how I covet.

Retem

I only sell bikes that I don't really like If I get a bike and I am not really feelin it it is as good as gone

stevo

same bike for 19 years.

skinnyland

As for me, it's because I'm broke. If I want to try something new, I have to replace something I already have. Can't afford to get new stuff without getting some $$ out of the current stuff to fund the project.

Spare parts, on the other hand... Oh boy. Maybe I should quit smoking cigarettes and get a long-term build going in the basement. Could just keep amassing bits until I have enough for another Frankenbike.

Natron

I know what you mean... I have this Hoffman Condor BMX bike I've had for about 5 years now and haven't ridden it *once* since I bought my road bikes when I moved to Philadelphia but can't force myself to sell the thing. I also have this Ibanez USRG guitar from Ibanez's now-closed USA Custom Shop that I saved up for and bought when I was 15. I almost never play it these days (because I'm in love with my ESP Viper Standard) but the idea of selling it after learning so much on it, playing shows with it, etc, makes my stomach churn.

mconlonx

Part of it is the grass is greener phenomenon, but some people just get a kick out of turning over bikes. There's a lot out there, I can't own every one I want to ride at the same time, so I spend some time with one, then sell it and get another. I will probably lose money on the one I sell because there's no way you get as much money out of bikes as you put into them unless that's what you're trying to do and are crafty with parts you upgrade and the price you pay for it. Or a bike gets stolen and you need to replace it. Went through a Trek steel frame fixed conversion (stolen), a Van Dessel SuperFly (stolen), and am on an old, beater Cannondale Beast of the East M800 frame I built up with a bunch of parts. All within the space of a year. Bikes are cheap to play around with. Same phenomenon in the motorcycle enthusiast world, just that the price to play is a bit more.

sirpoopalot

why ride em when you can flip em?

sirpoopalot

also, ppl need to keep up with the latests of the hipster fashions- one week it's a vintage track bike, next its powdercoated bianchi concepts with aerospokes, next week pursuit bikes are in, then keirin, etc..gots to keep your ride fresh

shot

I'm sure people sell bikes all the time, but I also think that people are more likely to make a post on here when they are in the process of selling, buying, aquiring, etc. People talk more about what is going on when they have something going on to talk about.

chevy42083

Yeah, I never felt the need to make a "I'm still keeping my Bianchi" thread Maybe i should? How often? I've had it for 10years, would each year suffice?

Grass is greener, or simply changing it up. Some people paint their house, some people buy new wheels for their car. Some people flip bikes.

kemmer

I go through bikes pretty fast and I never really get attached to them. I bought this really cool Maruishi that I was going to convert. I stripped it down, ordered wheels and was about to put it together and put my old Peugeot conversion up for sale. Some guy came to look at the Pug and ended up buying the Maruishi instead. I was able to buy a 71 Raleigh Professional Track bike later that day (which I'm also going to sell) with the money.

The one exception has been my 95 Trek 850. I bought the bike new in 95 and have been riding it fairly regularly ever since. These days it's mainly used for pulling bike trailers, grocery runs, late night rides with my dog and occasionally some mountain biking. I have two sets of wheels for it, one with slicks and one with knobbies. I have played around with 5 different bar setups, I've had about 10 different saddles and at one time or another I have used a rack, a rear basket, a milk crate and a front basket on it. This bike has become more like a friend to me than a simple machine and though I have thought about selling it many many times, I probably never will.

yairi

I tend to get this starry-eyed vision of exactly what I want, then go out and buy it, piece by piece if necessary, often paying over the odds in order to have the exact part; then, get it all together, and a couple months later realize that a) I way overbought for what my actual needs were and b) I'd take a beating reselling it so I may as well just keep it and enjoy. It's just the way the law of n+1 works. It'll get you one way or another. Now this Van Dessel Drag Strip Courage is starting to coalesce in my mind ... argh.

mihlbach

I've never sold any of my stuff nor would I want to...I basically just ride things until they are broken or worn out or just not suited to my riding...including frames. If it fits, I'll ride it until in breaks..thats my only real justifiable excuse to buy new stuff. Except for my track bike, I haven't bought a new bike in years...I just replace parts as I need them and eventually it becomes a different bike. My first fixed gear was an old Bianchi beater conversion....a little later the only thing left was the front brake, cable, and lever...everything else got replaced bit by bit...its actually evolved into about three different bikes over time. The same thing is true with my road bike...it started out as a Specialized Sirrus flat bar road bike. The only thing left of it now is a front hub and everything else has been replaced with other stuff.

musicsucks

building bikes is just plain fun. A new bike is better than an old bike, even if it's the same.

c0urt

i can only have so many bikes in the house at once.

but i did just sell my mountian bike for a profit. YAY!

marqueemoon

I like guitars but I fully intend to cash out on the valuable stuff when the time is right. That's why I lived on beans to afford some of it many years ago.

Bikes wear out. Riding needs/interests change. Bikes take up more space than guitars do. There's also the tinkering/building part. What can you do once your bike is perfect but start over with something new?

Fugazi Dave

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, melt - upgrade it,
Charge it, pawn it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag and drop it, zip - unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
View it, coat it, jam - unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch - update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax - rename it
Touch it, bring it, obey it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop - format it.

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, melt - upgrade it,
Charge it, pawn it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag and drop it, zip - unzip it
Touch it, bring it, obey it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop - format it.

Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch - update it

Lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
View it, coat it, jam - unlock it,
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, melt - upgrade it,
Charge it, pawn it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it,

Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch - update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax - rename it,
Touch it, bring it, obey it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop - format it.

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, melt - upgrade it,
Charge it, pawn it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag and drop it, zip - unzip it,
Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch - update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax - rename it,
Touch it, bring it, obey it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop - format it.