Wanna be commuter with a wife problem

girv73

It's a tough one to advise on without knowing your full situation, Toblerone. Who brings in the money? Are the savings allocated for something else major? Will buying a new bike put your family (you, the missus, kids?) into financial problems? When was the last time you splashed some cash on yourself?

Marriage is compromise. You won't always get what you want, but equally neither will Mrs. T., and it's important that you both come to understand that. If it's not going to cause your family any particular problems, I say get the damn bike. Maybe compromise on the price as #1000 sounds like a lot for a commuter.

Mrs. T. may not like it but she'll learn to live with it, and forgiveness is usually easier to obtain than permission.

I definitely advise against trying to hide your habit

I guess I was lucky, as me buying a new bike was actually Mrs. Girv's idea, so there was no argument to be had. Fair enough I'd had the old one for 16 years and it had broken in half, but it was still her wot said it first

We live in a 1st floor apartment and I keep the bike locked to some internal steel railings in the communal stairwell outside the apartment door. It'll make a helluva noise if anyone is trying to nick it, but so far there's been no trouble and some of my neighbours are prize idiots.

kildare

No one has mentioned the correct tactic yet. Let me give you the benefit of my 17 years experience of married life. You have to engineer that it was her decision. Mention the bike, say you aren't thatsure it is a good idea. Then mention all the benefits-health, buttock tone, costs etc-but (and this is crucial) sound uncertain. If you do this properly she will then talk you into buying the bike. Works for me-got a new Tricross I didn't really need on a cycle to work scheme(bike number5) and it was 'her idea'! 8)

I'm glad this forum is anonymised!

Slurp

kildare wrote:

No one has mentioned the correct tactic yet. Let me give you the benefit of my 17 years experience of married life. You have to engineer that it was her decision. Mention the bike, say you aren't thatsure it is a good idea. Then mention all the benefits-health, buttock tone, costs etc-but (and this is crucial) sound uncertain. If you do this properly she will then talk you into buying the bike. Works for me-got a new Tricross I didn't really need on a cycle to work scheme(bike number5) and it was 'her idea'!!

Good idea, but it can backfire. My next door neighbour tried that approach, key issue being introduction of congestion charge. She made him buy a gwhiz electric thing instead. Goodness knows why, I think she thought it would be safer. Hmmm...

TheBoyBilly

You lucky so-and-so kildare. Still, I might give it a go

justresting

what I did was this, I told her I'd popped into the bike shop in passing and next thing I knew I'd accidently put down a deposit on a bike the assistant had been recomending to me. Luckilly for me she was in the process of booking a break for her & her mother ( in Venice ) which was costing far more than the bike so I managed to get away with it.

Kushtrim

Buy a cheaper bike and leave it outside.

I bought a old Raleigh Ace for £30 from ebay with a few tweaks it's perfect. There is no reason to own a bike worth a grand. My cycle courier friend does his job quiet well with a £300 bike, for someone with a two way commute everyday there is no reason to buy something more expensive.

sc999cs

Why not buy two bikes, one each, and go for rides together? She won't want her bike left outside so it'll be unfair to make yours stay outside.

Alternatively a compromise would be a bike bag of some description. A lot of mucking about assembling and dis-assembling the bike each day but it wouldn't look as bad.

Steve C

NorwegianBlue

You think you've got problems. Try it with a motorbike.

Mithras

Second that motion....."You ride one at work, so why do you need one at home?" :roll:

blueheeler

Just joined this forum and had a good laugh at some of the suggestions...thought I would give a female perspective. ...just get a new wife who is into cycling! Total up what they spend on shoes clothes and cosmetics and you will get a big shock.Absolute rubbish that you can't spend some of your hard earned money on...yourself. Tell wife she should be grateful you are not down the pub or the racetrack. And bike comes inside...end of story.

Both hubbie and I are into cycling 9 bikes between us, soon to be 10 when my Pegoretti arrives.
If you are stuck with a dull middle aged frumpy control freak boys try a compromise by encouraging her into cycling...and if that doesn't work you might be better off without her.

that's my $0.02 worth... hope I helped.

phil_ss1

Having read and chuckled at these posts I count myself as being blessed with such an understanding wife...

Been hankering after a road bike for the weekend runs (I promised these would increase if I got a new bike) for over a year now, pointing out bargains on eBay, even putting a graph of 'entry level '(Carrera thing), 'would like' (Boardman Team), 'nice to have' (Felt F75/F5c) and 'out of league' (C.Dale System Six) on the fridge. Also been dropping into bike shops for "Manager's Specials". etc..etc..

Also pointed out to her how lardy I was 4 years ago and how commuting (which has her approval) has buffed me up and how riding more would complete the package

All I got was "What is wrong with your expensive commuter bike for the weekend? Why is that one at £x pounds better than that one at £x + £500?????" - You know the drill. :?

Well I think I've hit the jackpot!

I've bought a 16 mile old Felt F5c off eBay this week (can't wait to pick it up), I'd saved up each month (as suggested by the wife) and got it for £700 (explaining that at £1400 new it is a bargain).

When I won the auction my wife announced she was putting £250 towards the price as a late birthday present :shock:

Sting in the tail is that now she feels that she's £700 in debit, so there's been a trip to the theatre (without me) booked, a hair cut (not a £6 barber trip either!), new pair of jeans and a new coat.... So far I reckon £175. :roll:

Still I got my new bike 8)

But it's likely to now have cost the the full £1400 LOL!

Phil

linsen

I am a wife. Many years ago my husband used to cycle down to a ferry to work - we had no car. The bike lived upright in the bath in the flat. I was a bit pissed off but mostly resigned. Now we are both bike nutters. My three bikes, one of his and both the kids' bikes live in the study/music room even though we have a shed, as they are more easily accessible for adventures then. If your partner can't support your crusade to get fit, save the planet etc. then just give up trying to justify yourself and do it anyway. Life's too short!

Dustine

I would get yourself something cheap, then all the arguments for why you are cycle commuting are easier to win. Then upgrade the parts as you go along, it'll soon be a grands worth. Or after demonstrating you commitment with something cheap, THEN justify the £1000 bike...

Alternatively, as my wife just said after i related some of the funnier bits of this thread; "How many women actually KNOW that you can spend £1000 on a bike???". My problem arose some time ago, when after sitting answering the question of one of my kids about how much my bike cost, and totalling up all those shiny bits, they told HER. I got a raging wife asking me just HOW COME my bike cost more than the family car!!!! OOoooooWWWW!!!

NorwegianBlue

A lot of non-cyclists are amazed you can spend £500 on a bike, let a alone a grand.

How many times have you heard, "500 quid? You could get a nice little car for that."

Now the correct answer to that is: "No you ****ing couldn't! You could buy a pile of s***e with knackered CV joints, leaky valve seals and more clapped out bearings than a breakers yard." Furthermore it's worth explaining to these people that you don't need to pay road tax for a bike, nor does it guzzle petrol (and for a £500 car, oil) nor indeed does it cost almost as much to insure as it did to buy.

Actually there's probably a good reason not to tell them all that. They'd probably go off on a rant about how all cyclists are freeloaders...