What do you say when non-cyclists ask you ....

[Pax]

I usually do, too.

Also, I find most people think having a brand new car is the best thing going, so I explain that I could care less about a car as long as it gets me where I need to go, and that I prefer to spend my hard-earned money on something that will directly benefit my health - my bike. That usually leaves them shaking their heads - as they run outside for a cigarette break.

A co-worker told me recently "that's just stupid, I could buy two cartons of cigs or a BUNCH of baby formula & diapers for that kind of money!" when she asked how much it cost to register for the Bike The Drive in Chicago.

[IFjane]

*lol* I rest my case, Queen!

[Python]

I smile sweetly and just say what the bike cost me - £18. Usually I get "What? You only paid £18? But it's a lovely bike!!!" My helmet cost almost twice as much as the bike. Today I bought a pair of cycling shorts and a cycling top. The bike shop had a sale on, quite a lot of small sizes so as the saying goes, strike when the iron is hot.

Cost of bike - £18. The pleasure she gives - PRICELESS!!!

[CR400]

Well in cycling circles I try to avoid it, being my bike is considered cheap for a road bike. However, in non-cycling circles people can't believe I spent $800 on it. Which always leaves me thinking you'd be floored if I could afford the ones I really want. $4,000 to $5,000 would be a nice beater bike. Its funny though when I do pull out my beater bike and it is still gasp over $200. By the way I hate steel (rusting) so my next beater will be a few hundred more to get good aluminum and real SRAM of Shimano parts. (oh its mountain).

[IFjane]

IFJane, i agree with you about the car.
My 1991 Honda is a very cool car. It got upgraded last week, i got the seatbelts REPLACED (lifetime warranty!!) and the window lubed (so it goes up and down easily again) It's worth maybe $1000. It gets fantastic gas mileage, it can carry one bike inside and as many as we can get on our hollywood rack outside.

I figure I've saved thousands by keeping this car. And that frees up $$
to buy a bike with.

mimi - I wish I had a 1991 Honda! I have a '99 Chevy pickup. Gas mileage is not great, but I live on the side of a mountain at the end of a mile-long rough dirt road & have to have 4 wheel drive to get in and out. The truck rattles & isn't pretty, but it gets me from point A to point B with little maintenance. I dread the day when I have to shell out money to get another vehicle.

[snapdragen]

I just tell them.

Me too. Most of the askers (new word?) are people at work.

[jobob]

OMG, I was at the store the other day and I happened to look over at the cigarette display - I had no idea cigarettes cost so much now. (Leebob quit smoking about 12 years ago, thank goodness)

It's hard to fathom the amt of money that literally goes up in smoke.

[li10up]

In my case it depends on the person asking. To one person, a friend, I jokingly said I could have bought a motorcycle for what it cost and to another person, a long time member of our bike club, I told him what I paid. I guess a lot of people think it's rude to ask but I don't look at it that way. Would I think it rude if someone asked how much I paid for the sandwich I was eating? I think people only think it's rude when the price is high. But I could be wrong. I've asked but I always preface it with - you can tell me to mind my own business, but ... Some people just don't like to talk about money. If I really think they are into bikes and would really like to know what kind of money it costs to own x type bike then I would tell them. But I like Lisa's answer for casual inquiries.

[surgtech1956]

I usually tell people the price. Its usually people at work too. Everybody has there 'own' thing that they want to spend money on. Some people spend $$$$ on cigs, just noticed the price at Walmart -OMG. A friend of mine at work spent over $200 on a purse. I don't even carry a purse. Look at $$$$ vacations, I don't, I love to camp. I figure I work hard, if I want to spend $$$ on my 'toys' I can. Just my 2 cents worth.

[run it, ride it]

surgtech, it's true that everyone has their own thing, and the cost is certainly relative. When the people in my bike club ask what it costs to board my horse, and I respond $325/month (CDN) they look at me like I have three heads and then go off on a self-righteous rant about how their bike (which is inevitably more expensive than mine) doesn't need to be fed and can be stored away in their garage for FREE in the winter when they're not using it! Man, I didn't even factor in lessons, supplements, farrier and vet bills, or mention that my old guy is chronically lame and I can't just switch out his old parts!

When I tell HORSE people what I pay monthly for my horse, they look at me like I have three heads and exclaim, "where did you find board so CHEAP?!" Then when they ask why I always ride bareback and I tell them I can't afford a new saddle (old one desperately needs restuffing and I'm sure the tree is warped), they tell me that I could have found a decent used saddle for what my bike cost me. Suddenly, compared to a nice saddle, my bike seems really cheap.

When lamenting about the $60+ I spent on gloves/arm warmers/frame pump at the bike shop the other day, the guy checking me out said, "yeah, but the majority of it is all start-up cost. Cycling is really very cheap."

Then I think of my parents with their sailboat, which they put more time/money/effort into than the house. They plan to retire on the boat, so I guess it makes sense to them... but now the bike AND the horse seem a lot less expensive in comparison... but to be fair, my parents make a heck of a lot more money than I do and I STILL manage to keep myself, my horse and my bike afloat (pun not intended)!

[Kitsune06]

It depends. In my work office, people tend to make enough 'disposable income' to have 'costly hobbies' so I could tell them flat out. Anyone else, or if I don't feel like it, or don't feel like justifying it, I just say "Well, you see I have both arms and legs... that means they're still waiting on my firstborn." Depending on the company, I may also throw in something like "They may be waiting awhile... "

[withm]

When confronted with a "how much" kind of question, my ex-MIL would always give a ridiculous answer - either high or low, depending on her mood and her feelings at the time toward the inquirer. And then the "glare."

When I bought my (all carbon - $$$$) bike, my sister was looking at the instruction book that came with it, and said, "Oh your receipt is in here too." I just said "Don't look." We both have a reputation for being very frugal so I'm sure she was appalled at my extravagance and that the subject was discussed at her house after I left but she never said a word to me. Fast forward a couple years, and she does sometimes make remarks like "Well my bike didn't cost near as much as yours..."

Well I'm not married, have no children to put through college, and have already bought all the graduate school I will ever need. If I smoked cigarettes, I would have spent half that amount in just a year's time so that's my justification. Besides, I still go into the bike shop 2 yrs later and tell them again how much I love my bike. It gives me more pleasure than smoking ever did.

[short cut sally]

When people at work ask what my new bike costs..I tell them on sale and at an entry level bike, it was just over $1000.00..I get the deer in the headlight stare, the swallow, and the laugh then the "wal-mart has them for $150.00 you know" statement. I tell them, wal-mart bikes arent' the same, and I get the reply back of , "they are the same thing" I am usually walking away at this time as there is no point in explaining the difference because they've already got their own oppinion and have now concluded I have more $$$ than brains..Which I tend to differ, besides most of them smoke heavily and i don't. I've come to appreciate my biking friends even more.

[spazzdog]

I tell them "it's worth more than that 12 yr old, rust-eaten old JEEP I drive".

spazz

[Batbike]

I like Lisa's answer ... going to remember that!

Shoot, I think cycling is expensive! I have yet to "stop buying" for my sport! If it is not components, than it is clothes or equipment. In fact, I am now working on creating a bike -- taking an old frame/fork and transforming it to a rideable bike. I am trying VERY hard to not spend much money, looking for gently used bargains, and it is still going to cost me somewhere around $400 to create a bike!

Then, once I do that, I will just HAVE to upgrade my "good bike" ... that is easily another $400+ ... even more if I add everything ... but what is the fun in that? I mean, if I upgraded all at once, what would I do next year?

Really, if all those non-cycling people knew how much time, energy, and money I spend on cycling they would cringe -- I can't imagine telling them! Geez, my husband doesn't get it and he rides a little and lives with me! Bike lust is a terrible and expensive thing ... but OH so much FUN!