Do I need to be talked into or out of a new-to-me bike?

[owlice]

Please help...

Background
My current (and only) bike: Giant Sedona, purchased eight or nine years ago. Big, solid, fat knobby tires, hybrid. Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. I rode it on my C&O Towpath tour (200 miles), on the Wild Goose Chase metric century, for a 24-hour-as-much-as-you-can-ride cancer fundraiser. This year, I plan to do the GAP (150 miles), Wild Goose, and the fundraiser in addition to my normal riding. I don't ride like some of you, but I do ride, mostly paved trails, sometimes hard-packed trails.

The tax refund: enough that I, even with a kid in college, feel comfortable buying myself a new bike this year, spending up to maybe $1K on a faster bike, road or touring. This is an indulgence for me.

Temptation
A friend has a barely-used Trek 7300 (wsd) that she wants to sell. It's pretty, lighter than my current bike, and at what I consider a reasonable price. I haven't tried the bike yet, but it will likely fit. If it has 100 miles on it, I'll be surprised.

Reasoning or justification?
I want it. I do. It's such a pretty bike!

Do I need it? No. If I buy only one bike this year, it should not be a hybrid/comfort bike, because I do want something faster so if I'm still dead last in the Wild Goose Chase, I'm not SO dead last!

("If"... I typed "If".... oh, dear....)

But I would definitely ride it, it's lighter than my current bike and definitely a step (or two or three) up in the comfort bike department, and, have I mentioned this? It's pretty. Already has a rack and bike computer.

Regardless of whether I buy this bike, I'll still buy a road or touring bike. I just might not be so tempted to spend as much on it, which means I wouldn't get as good a road/touring bike, right? I haven't picked one out yet, haven't even looked, as I'll wait for the refund to arrive before starting.

I have the cash available to buy the pretty bike now, though.

What to do, what to do??

[Biciclista]

sorry dear, we only encourage here. Go with the love. if it feels good, go for it.

[Grits]

I would take the cash, add it to the tax refund and buy the best road bike I could afford.

[Biciclista]

good answer Grits

[redrhodie]

I just bought new wheels that I don't "need", so I'm in no condition to talk you out of anything. My justification, a good deal, and I'll enjoy them. Keeps riding fresh. Keeps life fun. Money well spent.

[indysteel]

I would take the cash, add it to the tax refund and buy the best road bike I could afford.

This^^^^ more or less. I, personally, would take a look at the road bike and touring bike offerings to get a handle on what you get for your money. And keep it mind that you rarely just buy a bike. There's always a few accessories that you want/need. If it looks like there will be extra money from that, then get the 7300. Otherwise, don't.

[owlice]

sorry dear, we only encourage here. Go with the love. if it feels good, go for it.

I suspect the choice of forum on which to ask shows a certain bias; I could have posted this on a "save all your money for the future" forum.

I would take the cash, add it to the tax refund and buy the best road bike I could afford.

I can't justify spending that much. About $1K is all I'll lay out for a bike/s (for me) this year. That "college" thing, you know, and I'd like to buy the kid a bike this year, too, since he's way outgrown his last bike. (Putting books on his head didn't help; he still grew.)

I should probably not even consider this until I ride it, which I'll do tomorrow. I was looking at it this morning, though, and it's prettier than I'd remembered...

There's always a few accessories that you want/need.

Already in the budget: lights, new rack, helmet. Anything else will have to wait.

Good idea to start testing road/touring bikes, though. Such a chore, but I'm sure I can manage.

[Cataboo]

I'm with everyone that says get a road or touring bike with the cash.

Unless your friend is going to sell you the trek at a price that you know you can sell it for and get your money back later. You're in a good area for doing that, bikes sell for a lot on the DC craigslist.

Basically, once you get a road or a touring bike, you're maybe going to want a beater bike to run errands on that you won't worry too much if it gets stolen - and your giant sedona sounds like a better bike than the trek for that. So I think when you get a better bike, you're going to want to keep your sedona and sell the trek. IF you're confident you can get most of the money you invested in the trek out of it when you're ready to do that - then sure, buy it with the idea you're selling it when you can afford to buy the bike you really want.

But with $1,000 for a budget - you could do fairly well on the used market or craigslist. For a little bit more than that, you can get a surly at REI (I know, everyone's gonna clobber me for saying go to a chain store, maybe the price of surly's at bike shops are the same. rei'll let you return it whenever no problem though and I know you live near one)
http://www.rei.com/search?query=surl...x=0&button.y=0

The long haul trucker is $1049, the pacer is $1179. The long haul trucker's not a bad touring bike.

[Velocivixen]

Have you test ridden anything? I test rode the Trek 7300 and was not thrilled. For your rides that you want to do I would do some research, actually go test ride, ask a lot of questions then decide. You still may end up with your friends bike, but at least you will know that you considered all your options thoroughly. I mean, what if you could get something that you like much better? It could be a missed opportunity.

[Geonz]

Consider taht maybe if somebody else gets a wonderful deal on that bike it will turn them on to cycling.

Of course, if you bought it, you could loan it out...

[pinsonp2]

Not knowing exactly which model of Sedona you have, I would think the Trek 7300 would not be a huge improvement. Don't get me wrong, it's a great bike (DH has one), but it is built for comfort and not speed. I would definitely try some road bikes before I bought anything (I personally am a road bike junky). I, too, am swayed by appealing looks, but only if the bike is something better than I already have. On the other hand, if it fits, and it makes you smile and ride more, go for it. Maybe next years tax refund can buy you a road bike.

P2

[owlice]

The Trek is definitely lighter than my Giant; I had to load the bikes for Wild Goose Chase, and the difference in weight was apparent. (The Trek is also... ummmm.... prettier!) And I would definitely lend it out; the friend who rode it for Wild Goose last year will probably need to ride it this year.

I was hoping to ride it tonight, but that didn't happen. So I rode my Giant.