"How much did your bike cost?"

[Trek420]

I lied, $400 and it was buy one get one free (giggle, giggle). She believed me! She had no concept what a new bike cost!

Hee hee, just wait till she goes to the LBS and asks where their BOGO sale bikes are.

And a hearty welcome to TE

[Trek420]

What do you say when a coworker (let's say your boss) is looking for a bike for their DW. Shocked at the prices at a LBS of $500 or so and knowing that you have more than one bike asks "would you sell your extra bike?"

"uh, no"

But then I did go ahead and give him a lot of helpful info how to pick a bike.

[NbyNW]

everybody has a learning curve.

[malkin]

Extra bikes?

Pshaw!

[Trek420]

He'll learn

[Cataboo]

What do you say when a coworker (let's say your boss) is looking for a bike for their DW. Shocked at the prices at a LBS of $500 or so and knowing that you have more than one bike asks "would you sell your extra bike?"

"uh, no"

But then I did go ahead and give him a lot of helpful info how to pick a bike.

Heh. Our "extra bike" is off with one of the bf's co-workers for that reason - he wanted to do a bike race or triathalon or something for cancer 'cause his best friend was dying of it or something. So what initially started as us trying to help him find a good used bike (with him continuously getting sticker shock and cold feet and not buying) has somehow evolved into an indefinite loan of the spare bike - which while a good bike, is aluminum, slightly too big for me, slightly too small for the bf - but a good light, solid components road bike that has stayed around 'cause we got a great price for it and it does in a pinch if either of us needs to ride and has an issue with our other bike...

So he borrowed this bike to train while looking for a bike to buy. that was about 5 months ago, so I think I need to nag the bf to nag the coworker to give the bike back, 'cause that's a bit much.


Mostly I've bought my bikes used at great prices which still probably seem a bit much to spend on a bike to normal people, but I usually say "this is what this bike is worth, this is how much I spent on it" if it's someone that I think actually warrants an answer on how much my bike costs.

[Bike Chick]

It's no one's business really. I figure I'm going around once in this lifetime and I will spend what I want and what I can afford. I ride my bike almost as often as I drive my car in a week. The bike costs a lot less than my car and I enjoy it a whole lot more. If the bike was sitting in the garage gathering dust and never ridden, that would be different but it's not. It's an emotional attachment with the bike--I really don't know how to describe it.

Catriona, I think 5 months is a bit much too............and who says we aren't the "normal" people and everyone else has a wharped sense of a bicycle's worth????

[Cataboo]

Yeah, 5 months is a bit much for a coworker who wasn't really a friend.


As for bike worth - I think the "sport" has become entirely too yuppified. Go through craigslist or whatever where old mixtes sell for $200, or bikes that were low end in 1980 and sold for $150 now sell for $250.

There's no reason a wicking jersey should cost $60-120... Or bike shorts should cost $250... the only reason is that people are willing to pay.

I was driving the other day with a fiberglass kayak on my car and 4 titanium bikes on my bike rack and started calculating what the retail value of all the stuff was on my car vs. the price of the car.

[Owlie]

Hee, no one cares. My bottom-end road bike attracts no attention.

[HipGnosis6]

When asked just the other day, I told my co-worker that my bike had paid for itself just in the cost of bus passes I did not buy during the year I bike commuted. I let her do the math - around here a bus pass is about $70/month, so a year's worth is just over $800. (That's actually more than I paid, but I didn't see fit to mention that.) She looked totally shocked, until I reminded her that she had just proudly announced that she had bought a designer handbag on sale for $400! So what's a better use of the money.... a purse that will be out of fashion in six months, or a bike that I've gotten a thousand commuter miles on and years of use out of?

I also have gotten "you paid that much for a TOY?" to which I respond, "It's no more a toy to me than your car is to you."

[abejita]

I hate that question so much! People ask how much my camera stuff costs, how much my dog costs, how much was my bike. And a lot of times, it is really creepy people asking...except about the dog...the creepy people don't come around him, LOL!

[Trek420]

.... just "car light" But I enjoy my low-milage discount on insurance. Tempting though. If I gave up my car this is a lot of bikes

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...e-for-you.aspx