Justifying your bike buys to non-biking SOs and trying to spread the addiction

[Bad JuJu]

Three words:

Separate. Checking. Account.

Roger that, Flatlander. LOL

[CycleChic06]

I substitute SO for non-biking friends. When I bought my new bike, they could not understand why anyone would spend that much on a bike. Then my roommate went out and bought a big screen TV for the same amount of money I had just spend on my new bike...and THAT they could understand, and I could not.

[Kitsune06]

I know why THIS happens! I do it to DH (and I'm the one with the addiction) all the time! She's weighing you down so she can keep up with you!

Karen in Boise

*cries* is that why she's always a speck on the horizon ahead of me?!

That girl has some legs and she never hesitates to put them to use...

...walking all over me.

[stella]

Kitsune,

I have the same problem, my s.o. is not a cyclist and will never be! I've tried, she just won't convert!

I used to have a disposable income and was able to purchase what I wanted/when I wanted. Then I returned to grad school full-time, now my s.o. pays all the bills. Here's what I do now:

1. prioritize my list of "most wanted bike stuff"
2. ask for the cycling stuff as anniversary/birthday/x-mas gifts.
3. She loves a good wine (I don't): I total up how much she spends on the wine and say: "Since I don't drink, how about we put the equivalent $$ towards (insert bike stuff here) I want?" Part of this rationale includes: "You still get to enjoy your wine and I get to enjoy my cycling, you get to enjoy the body cycling gives me..." OR: "wine is gone, the cyclng stuff lasts!"
4. hit yard sales, craigslist for good deals on stuff. I was able to get a used brooks saddle for $20.00 for my beater bike. It was on a bike in an outdoors shop as part of a Thule rack display. I bartered w/the owner and he sold me the saddle!

I was able to get myself a new brooks saddle for my road bike this year using #3.

I hope these tips help!

[mimitabby]

Kitsune,

I have the same problem, my s.o. is not a cyclist and will never be! I've tried, she just won't convert!

I used to have a disposable income and was able to purchase what I wanted/when I wanted. Then I returned to grad school full-time, now my s.o. pays all the bills. Here's what I do now:

1. prioritize my list of "most wanted bike stuff"
2. ask for the cycling stuff as anniversary/birthday/x-mas gifts.
3. She loves a good wine (I don't): I total up how much she spends on the wine and say: "Since I don't drink, how about we put the equivalent $$ towards (insert bike stuff here) I want?" Part of this rationale includes: "You still get to enjoy your wine and I get to enjoy my cycling, you get to enjoy the body cycling gives me..." OR: "wine is gone, the cyclng stuff lasts!"
4. hit yard sales, craigslist for good deals on stuff. I was able to get a used brooks saddle for $20.00 for my beater bike. It was on a bike in an outdoors shop as part of a Thule rack display. I bartered w/the owner and he sold me the saddle!

I was able to get myself a new brooks saddle for my road bike this year using #3.

I hope these tips help!

Stella, these are good. I used #3 a few years ago when I wasn't biking and husband was and i wanted to go to Italy ( "your new bike cost X dollars so how about if i go to Italy and 1/2 of x= 1 ticket to fly there and the other 1/2 of x pays for my room!" )

[Quillfred]

I agree with Mimitabby on the vacation aspect. It is so easy to blow a few grand on a good vacation (air, hotel, rental car...).

Another tack might be to look at unhealthy habits that cost $$$. I'm thinking smoking and large amounts of alcohol could quickly make bike expenditures pale in comparison.

Cigarettes must be $5/pack/day roughly plus 4 beers a night = maybe $7 a day x 30 days = $210 a month x 12 = $630 a year. This does not include going out to drink costs which would push the cost much higher.

Plus I figure I save @$3 a day in gas money that I bike commute.

Quill

[stella]

Stella, these are good. I used #3 a few years ago when I wasn't biking and husband was and i wanted to go to Italy ( "your new bike cost X dollars so how about if i go to Italy and 1/2 of x= 1 ticket to fly there and the other 1/2 of x pays for my room!" )

Thanks, mimitabby. I know in our case, this tactic works b/c we each are getting something we want and enjoy + not being put down/or putting down what the other enjoys.

Funny you mentioned Italy, we plan on going back next year and the current compromise is: visiting a vineyard + the Colnago factory!

[mimitabby]

Yes, Quillfred, I agree. those of us with drinking/smoking spouses can generate ample bike funds by that comparison.

Lucky for me, my husband hasn't had a drink or a smoke in over 25 years..

[stella]

quillfred: good idea re: the bad habits!

fortunately, the wine drinking is not a frequent occurance + we are a non-smoking household.

mimitabby: congrats to your hubby on no drinking or smoking for 25 years! quite an accomplishment to string that many 24 hours together!

[SJCzar]

My husband, the non-cyclist, never questions how much anything costs that is bike related. Since he doesn't bike, he has no clue how much it can all add up to.....this is probably a good thing. If he really wanted to know he'd ask, so I think he prefers to live in ignorant bliss. One of his coworkers, who recently retired, died of a heart attack. This has definitely put my husband in a "live life now...don't wait to do what you enjoy" mood.

[dachshund]

When my hobby-related packages arrive at the door, my GF just orders more shoes.

[Kitsune06]

Stella, that list is awesome. I'll have to think on that.

The 'bad habits' thing might give me a little leverage, just because she does enjoy a good wine, but is extremely frugal, so knows where to find what she wants for cheap. That and whatever bad habits she has, she enjoys sharing with me, and... I also enjoy partaking in.

That said, though...
yeah, biking things (especially my biking things...) last forever... wine, beer and amusements generally don't.

She does, however, like it when I prove my need for things. I showed her the saddle I wanted, and then the measurement of my sitbones, and my saddle... told her what that means, and why it hurts (since she's never around when I go riding, or post-ride)
She said "Black leather with rivets?! It'll get stolen right off your bike!" Then I told her about the fact that it's hard leather and she said "How can that be comfortable?!" ...and I explained. Then she said "If it's so wide, how will you be able to get back behind it for downhills without lowering the seat? And if you lower the seat, you'd have to stop and put it back up or you'd strain your knees."
... and I gaped.

She's really been listening to my endless bike babble, not just waving it off! EEE!

...so maybe for my b-day or something.

[PinkBike]

everything new i get for my bike, DH wants for his. every occasion - birthday, christmas, upcoming anniversary - we give each other bike stuff. this is so cool. i got him his first mountain bike, then his first road bike, then his second road bike, pedals, jerseys and shorts galore, wheels, you name it! the thing is, he never rode before, so when i got him his first bike i didn't expect him to become an avid cyclist. he is so into it now, we can always find fun stuff to get for each other, and we really don't spend extravagantly on anything else. but our co-workers think we are aliens. i wish every couple could share a passion like this.

[stella]

kitsune,
is your GF an engineer type or scientist? It sounds like it from the way in which she positively responds to data.

if that is the case: add this to the list: data that proves that the wanted gear is also needed gear from a pragmatic, economical (in the long run) and logical perspective.

mine is a scientist: the more data the better.

[stella]

When my hobby-related packages arrive at the door, my GF just orders more shoes.

lol!