A comment a NON bike riding acquaintance made today...
 

I do some PC repair out of my house and store 2 of my bikes in my office/repair room. So I sometimes get questions about my bikes. I tell people I like to ride, and lately that I'm planning a 4 day bike trip this fall. I don't say "bike tour" because they would have NO clue what that means. So today I'm showing off my bike telling this acquaintance about my bike (not really a friend but somebody I have known for a long time). Of course he asks how much stuff costs. The COOL grips (that he has never seen on a bike). How much the rack and bag cost I tell him and he gets this are you F...ing nuts look on his face and says I'm crazy. Well he actually said "your f...ing crazy".. I wanted to say something like .... "Well I don't spend 3 bucks a day 365 days a year on F...ing cigarettes, so I have to spend my money on something." But I didn't of course... Instead I just said the usual... ITS what I DO....

Just kind of pissed me off today...... Anybody else have something like that happen.. Or just me..... ?

Side note.. I have no clue how much cigs actually cost... But a pack a day at 3 bux... That's over a thousand dollars a year... I could get a lot of cool stuff for my bike for a grand..... LOL

A pack is closer to $8-9 with all the local taxes here in Chicago. I heard reports of $10 packs for imports like Dunhill, etc. Just more ammo to spend more on bikes!

Many of my friends and especially my brother get that attitude when I tell them about my bikes and all the stuff I have. My brother can't believe I'd spend more the $200 for a "really nice" bike. :rolleyes: The only time the F word comes up is when they say, :wtf:?

Often when I'm discussing bikes with an acquaintance who knows I ride and is thinking about giving it a try will choke when I tell them that a low end, entry level hybrid will cost around $300. They really choke on the price of a low end, entry level road bike.

In his defense he wasn't being nasty when he dropped the F bomb... But it was one of those days where it just struck a nerve.. OVER it now LOL

The 2 friends that were riding with me but went AWOL as of late. One of them called me yesterday wanted me to look at a listing he found on Craigslist for a bike. It was a 2009 GF Cobia frame size that would fit him. Had disc brakes and good components, hardtail with lockout front forks. Looked VERY nice the guy took great pictures. He wanted 600 bucks for it. My friend contacted the guy had first dibs on the bike.. But didn't pull the trigger and it was sold to somebody else.. Anyway.... He used to be one of those guys that thought I was CRAZY for paying that kind of money for a bike. .. UNTIL I let him ride my Gary Fisher mountain bike (before I sold it). He never knew the ride difference between a K-Mart bike and a good one.

I think the average person still considers a bike a toy, so sporting-equipment-level prices surprise them.

However, I've been into bikes for 35 years and the prices for high end stuff always seemed expensive to me.