Is it possible to hide a new bike from your spouse? <help

ride_whenever

by that reply you are blatantly totally whipped... :P

Nuggs

ride_whenever wrote:

by that reply you are blatantly totally whipped... :P

And by that reply you are blatantly totally single... :P

ride_whenever

indeed i am, just ended a 3.5 year relationship, and currently have a lovely little 18yr old

tambo46

Have tried all the suggestons with the guitar collection but to no avail. Also it's easier to get a guitar under the bed, the bike might be a bit of a give-a-way. As someone else suggested, they always know even if they have absolutely no interest in either guitars or bikes. The last one was built up via stealth but eventually it was discovered when the wheel set arrived when she was at home!!!!

ride_whenever

Bad luck...

How about getting things shipped to work?

dennisn

ride_whenever wrote:

indeed i am, just ended a 3.5 year relationship, and currently have a lovely little 18yr old

Stay single and you'll be able to have all the bikes you can afford.
Not at all sure what an old geezer like me would do with "a lovely little 18 year old".
I used to know, but I guess I forgot.

Dennis Noward

synchronicity

I work from home, so that's not an option... the lbs wouldn't ship it anyway.

So far, the plan is to sneak it in through the garage rather than boldly announce it.

The next part of the plan is to swap a few parts over with a couple of used parts I've got lying around to reduce the impact of a full bike purchase...

I aim to ride it at least 3 times with her not knowing, so it's used and can't be returned under any circumstances. :idea:

Then I'll simply not mention it. I'll bravely take it out one day hiding the frameset as best I can with lycra.

And if she notices, I'll try and hide my anxiety and state that it's a new frame & fork. Is that a lie? Not technically...

Shaky

LangerDan wrote:

3) Tell her you got it at 50% off. Its a widely know fact that anything at 50% off is, in fact, free as you have purchased it with the 50% you've just saved. With this line of logic, you can make a net profit on anything that is reduced below 50%. At 40%, you've saved 60% and you pay for the item with part of that 60% and still have 20% spare to buy more things.

Genius

SteveR_100Milers

There is a reason why you can store your track bike at (Newport) velodrome, so no one knows you have got it. Als speaking of guitars, a friend of mine runs a guitar shop, and several of the guitars hanging on the racks are in fact owned and simply stored "out of sight" in the shop..

st68

if u can hide a new bike from her ur doin well cos like all women they have got a an extra sense for sniffin out bullsh*t either that or your a bloody good liar which i am not good at

meagain

"evertyjing IS as normal"

I can't keep track of how many come and go again - herself certainly wouldn't be bothered trying! Occasionally I get one and she says "oh that's quite pretty!".

And before I get castigated as sexist for that remark, it's often MY main criterion also. Once I get one as I like it, it goes. My attention span is very short. She's used to that after nearly 40 years...

ricadus

dennisn wrote:

ride_whenever wrote:

indeed i am, just ended a 3.5 year relationship, and currently have a lovely little 18yr old

Not at all sure what an old geezer like me would do with "a lovely little 18 year old".

Obviously he means a steel framed race bike in some garish colour scheme that was thought cool in 1990.

redddraggon

My new Langster hasn't been spotted in the shed yet.

dennisn

ricadus wrote:

dennisn wrote:

ride_whenever wrote:

indeed i am, just ended a 3.5 year relationship, and currently have a lovely little 18yr old

Not at all sure what an old geezer like me would do with "a lovely little 18 year old".

Obviously he means a steel framed race bike in some garish colour scheme that was thought cool in 1990.

No, no, no it was 1970.

Dennis Noward

geoff_ss

dennisn wrote:

My experience is that after many years of marriage I have somehow given over "ALL"
of "OUR" finances to the wife. While this may sound like a very bad idea, it is probably
for the best because she is able to actually save money, whereas I an an idiot in that
respect. If it was all up to me I'd have tons of bikes and no money for anything else.
With the wife doing it we have a few spare dollars for vacations and the like. I have
two bikes and 4 sets of wheels and I'm finding that it's enough. Can only ride one at a time. And I do like our ski vacations.

Dennis Noward

I'm exactly with you all the way Dennis. My beloved controls our finances too. Divorce would be impossibly complicated because our finances are so entangled. We claim inertia keeps us together.

If you've chosen the right life companion it's simply not a problem. Perhaps I'm lucky that my wife of 40+ years is as keen a cyclist as I am (probably keener), is the club treasurer/membership secretary and so encourages new bike purchases - especially if she can have one too

She even puts up with my spending money on toy aeroplanes and their accessories which can be just as, if not more, expensive than push bikes.

Geoff

a_n_t

I told the mrs how much the "winter" bike was worth in "tanks of petrol".
seemed to do the trick!

10 tanks of fuel sounds much better than £500

PostieJohn

BigG67 wrote:

One of my mates only ever buys black or dark grey bikes. It usually causes enough confusion to keep him clean.

But lately his Mrs has stopped being tough on the spending, he reckons half the fun's now gone out of buying kit...

She's having an affair, then.
Probably with the bloke from his LBS.

For the record, as said, go for the safety arguement.
Go out just before dusk, in nice bright clothing, come back while it's still light enough to ride, and look like you've seen a ghost.
Or more precisely a Saxo.
Have a bout of terettes after a drink to steedy your nevres (added bonus you can get trolleyed too), slowly unravel the story of your near miss.
Ending with, words to the effect of,
'and he still didn't see me, even dressed like this, how could that happen?'.
Fingers crossed she'll say
'well your bikes black'.

kerching, job done.

synchronicity

[Granville voice]
"I like it, I like it"
[/Granville voice]

I thought of a truly ingenius & novel way while I was drifting off to sleep last night. Unfortunately I didn't write it down. :x Let's hope it comes to me again.

PostieJohn

Blimey my English is terrible at 4am on a Saturday morning, sorry grammar police.

synchronicity

Just a quick update.

I went out with my partner this afternoon in the car. We pulled over to stop at a Texaco garage to get some supplies for the trip down South. And as it happened there was a guy climbing up towards us, heading up to Mt Teide.... and guess what...

She read the frame, and said it out loud: Pinarello.
And I said "I have a Pinarello -ahhhh", and walked off to get some food.

I came back, and 5 minutes down the road, I asked: "so you recognise bikes now do you?" and she somewhat dubiously says to me: "you don't have a Pinarello".

There's no hiding it now. *GULP* :oops: :oops:

EDIT: I suppose it couldv'e been much worse. She could've said something like: "And don't you dare think about getting one or else I'll cut off your balls"

APIII

Let's face it, there's nothing stealthy or discreet about a Pinarello. It just screams LOOK AT ME, I'M NEW.
If my wife threatend to cut my balls off (and it has been known), I think I'd still take the risk 8)

il_principe

But you're getting a Pinarello, a PINARELLO for god's sake! Just tell her to appreciate it for the thing of beauty it is... although not as beautiful as her obviously
:shock:

ride_whenever

That is laugh out loud funny! It is so typical though isn't it.

Mystique

"you don't have a Pinarello".

At which point you say "wanna bet???"

Doobz

synchronicity wrote:

I came back, and 5 minutes down the road, I asked: "so you recognise bikes now do you?" and she somewhat dubiously says to me: "you don't have a Pinarello".

There's no hiding it now. *GULP* :oops: :oops:

Pure Class - sorry to say this but i think your screwed

synchronicity

Mystique wrote:

"you don't have a Pinarello".

At which point you say "wanna bet???"

That thought did cross my mind.

Doobz wrote:

Pure Class - sorry to say this but i think your screwed

It's like a game of chess... you've got to plan your moves... and obviously by saying "so you recognise bikes now do you?" I was totally check-mated by her direct response. You see, in any relationship, women are always three steps ahead.

vermooten

synchronicity wrote:

I'm contemplating exiting the back-door for a few months once I get the bike, at the very least, when it enters the household, I'll have to sneek it in.

wuss

fcumok

tjm wrote:

My approach is to agonise over it out loud. Discuss with her at length how you really want the bike, how much you would use it but that you know it is a bit frivolous and you shouldn't really be spending the money. Have all the brochures to hand and discuss in detail the pros and cons of the different bikes and how that affects the cost - act like you think she really cares and can help.

Do this for a few weeks at every opportunity - at the dinner table, when she watching something on the telly etc etc.

it isn't long before she gets fed up with it and lays down the law "do what you damn well like but stop going on about it.."
"Yes dear, whatever you say dear....."

That's how I did it. Little did she know i'd already put the deposit down :oops:

robbarker

I advocate option #9 - tell her about all the stuff you don't use any more that you're selling on ebay, the very expensive service your current best bike requires just to keep it safe and roadworthy, and come up with a spurious man-maths argument proving the new bike is only going to cost you a net £30. Then add on the fact that a shiny new bike will encourage you to get out and ride more, and you can attribute that £30 to health and fitness budget, which as we all know is unlimited and pre-authorised and volia! Problem solved.

on-oneplus26

If I agree to spawn for a third time I can have a new bike........ :?

God, it is tempting