% of Income on new bike - Moral Dilema

kingrollo

What % of your salary can you justify spending on a new bike ?

Heres my dilema - Earn under £30k a year - two kids, + wife to support

Present bike is an 8 year old Pinarello - which has been awesome bike - and it will be a wrench to sell it - but I really want a wilier Izoard - which with a combination of cyclescheme, September sales, and the sale of my Pinarello - I hope to get for around £1500

I commutte to work by bike, 13 miles a day - and do between 25-50 miles at the weekend, - More if occasionally I go on a club run.

Can my income + mileage justify £1500 expenditure ???

STEFANOS4784

What a stupid question.

craker

only you can decide... am in a pretty similar situation but have yet to take the plunge. I guess with cycle to work you'll be spending £400 less though.

bendertherobot

Technically, unless there's a consumer credit license, you can't do cyclescheme for more than £1000.

So yes, £1000 CAN be justified and THAT'S how much you're telling the Mrs.

Mine has no idea what Assos is. I doubt she'd understand.

redddraggon

Why not, I earned far less (like 1/3) than that and still managed to get myself two bike including one costing around £1500.

If you want one £1500 why not?

bobtbuilder

Do you have any other expensive hobbies / tastes? The new bike isn't too expensive (especially if you calculate the cost per month over 1 year), and you get a fair bit of use and enjoyment out of it.

robthehungrymonkey

Considering that you must spend 6+ hours a week on it, then yes.

Cycle to work will spread the cost too.

Stuey01

Not if it means depriving your family.
Central heating or new bike for Dad...?
School clothes for junior or new bike for Dad...?
Pay the mortgage or new bike for Dad...?
Family holiday or new bike for Dad...?
Fix the car or new bike for Dad...?
Xmas pressies for the kids or new bike for Dad...?

You get the idea, only you know if you can afford it.

What is wrong with the Pinarello?

robthehungrymonkey

Stuey01 wrote:

Not if it means depriving your family.
Central heating or new bike for Dad...?
School clothes for junior or new bike for Dad...?
Pay the mortgage or new bike for Dad...?
Family holiday or new bike for Dad...?
Fix the car or new bike for Dad...?
Xmas pressies for the kids or new bike for Dad...?

You get the idea, only you know if you can afford it.

What is wrong with the Pinarello?

Obviously.

New Bike for dad then.

tlw1

You have had the same bike for eight years........... then without doubt you deserve a new one! ("if" mortgage, etc is ok)

STEFANOS4784

robthehungrymonkey wrote:

Stuey01 wrote:

Not if it means depriving your family.
Central heating or new bike for Dad...?
School clothes for junior or new bike for Dad...?
Pay the mortgage or new bike for Dad...?
Family holiday or new bike for Dad...?
Fix the car or new bike for Dad...?
Xmas pressies for the kids or new bike for Dad...?

You get the idea, only you know if you can afford it.

What is wrong with the Pinarello?

Obviously.

New Bike for dad then.

+1

Obviously. The guy wouldn't be even asking the question if he were strugling that much to support his family :roll:

Stuey01

£30,000 isn't a lot to support a family and £1500 is a big chunk of change.
It isn't obvious at all, if it were he wouldn't be on here attempting to justify it.

If anything I would say it is obvious that he knows deep down that he can't afford it, hence the plea for validation from here, a community that is cast iron guaranteed to say "yeah get the bike".


:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

UnworthyPapaLazaru

Stuey01 wrote:

£30,000 isn't a lot to support a family and £1500 is a big chunk of change.
It isn't obvious at all, if it were he wouldn't be on here attempting to justify it.

If anything I would say it is obvious that he knows deep down that he can't afford it, hence the plea for validation from here, a community that is cast iron guaranteed to say "yeah get the bike".


:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

£30,000 is plenty to support a family!

gabriel959

I wouldn't do it.

You might be a bit better of nowadays due to the interest rates - but that is not going to last, it can't, even if other countries go Quantitive Easing happy like we did.

You only have one income, just imagine you get fired, you will need to pay the rest of the bike in full! and no income to support your family.

Not trying to spoil the party of anything mate, but how about spending half of that?

I mean I have one child but both my wife and I work (60k+) and I have postponed my new bike search until things calm down

Stuey01

£30,000 is plenty to support a family!

And to buy luxury items such as a £1500 bike when the existing or a £500 - £1000 one would do?

Just adding a voice of reason.

STEFANOS4784

Voices of reason are not welcome when new bike purchases are involved.(IMO)

STEFANOS4784

Also it depends on his particular situation. My workmate supports his partner and 3 kids, she has a part time job but it's not much. And we earn about 22k, and he lives in Bath which aint cheap so by that reckoning i'd say if he earned 30k a year he could afford to buy a new 8 grand bike annually 8)

robthehungrymonkey

I think if you're going to spend over 20 hours a month on it, £50/60 a month doesn't seem unreasonable.
Its not much more than a gym membership.

You've gotta have some fun in life. Surely?

STEFANOS4784

Plus an 8 year old bike has surely already more than paid for itslef in savings made from travelling? So looking at it from that point of view you could argue that you've already paid for the new bike with all the money you've saved commuting/exersising on the Pinarello for all this time



......... In fact just grabbed a calculator and if a bus or petrol/parking etc cost you a fiver a day then over the last 8 years you've saved £10400. Problem solved, get the bike, enjoy 8)

GavH

This is all about the 'Opportunity Foregone'. In other words, what would you do with that £1500 if you didn't buy the bike? ONLY you can truly answer that, not any of us.

kingrollo

OP Here....

Thanks Guys - I guess asking if I should spend on a bike on cycling forum , might not be the most objective - in response to few questions

There is nothing wrong with the pinarello - I was thinking of new wheels and new forks, saddle - to give it a bit of face lift - it is alu though - where as new bike would be carbon.problem with the face lift , is I am investing money perhaps £300 - £400 in an 8 year old bike - would I be revisting the issue 2 years on ?

I could get bike thats suits my needs for £800 + (Ribble Sportive for example) - but I really want the Wilier - if this makes sense - I could spend £700-£800 and still not have what I want !

I do have the money - and work in the public sector - so job is less affected (although by no means immune) by the reccession

any more thoughts !

chuckcork

My initial thought is that if you have to ask such a question, then you can't afford it. But if its your first bike in 8 years, and you intend to be riding it for years to come, then £1500 isn't so bad, particularly if considered against the cost of others ways of getting to work, the fitness gain etc.

Only question (other than whether your family can actually afford it) is whether you'll feel OK with yourself spending such an amount. If you do then go for it, not everything can be quatified in terms of money and enjoying life is just such a thing, little point in having excess cash when your 80 and not in a position to enjoy it.

STEFANOS4784

The Pinarello will slowly fall apart, tehre can't be that many miles left in the group-set and they come with a fairly hefty price tag...........

tarquin_foxglove

Stuey01 wrote:

Not if it means depriving your family.
Central heating or new bike for Dad...?
School clothes for junior or new bike for Dad...?
Pay the mortgage or new bike for Dad...?
Family holiday or new bike for Dad...?
Fix the car or new bike for Dad...?
Xmas pressies for the kids or new bike for Dad...?

Stuey01 wrote:

£30,000 isn't a lot to support a family and £1500 is a big chunk of change.
It isn't obvious at all, if it were he wouldn't be on here attempting to justify it.

If anything I would say it is obvious that he knows deep down that he can't afford it, hence the plea for validation from here, a community that is cast iron guaranteed to say "yeah get the bike".

Stuey01, you are kingrollo's partner & I claim my £5.

rhext

Is it instead of a car?

robmanic1

You only posted on here so you can tell the wife "the forum made me do it".

dodgy

I think too many are assuming it's £1500 out of a £30,000 salary. I don't think of it that way, I prefer to think of the cast as £1500 divided by years of usage and multiply years of usage by salary
I seriously doubt if the OP is going to lose his house or his family go hungry because he has something other than his family to live for, you can't take it with you as they say!
Another option is to buy the bike on 36 months interest free, there are plenty of cycle retailers who will let you do that.

Dave.

STEFANOS4784

Probably not 35k anyway.......after tax.........sorry, was just saying.......

Stuey01

tarquin_foxglove wrote:

Stuey01 wrote:

Not if it means depriving your family.
Central heating or new bike for Dad...?
School clothes for junior or new bike for Dad...?
Pay the mortgage or new bike for Dad...?
Family holiday or new bike for Dad...?
Fix the car or new bike for Dad...?
Xmas pressies for the kids or new bike for Dad...?

Stuey01 wrote:

£30,000 isn't a lot to support a family and £1500 is a big chunk of change.
It isn't obvious at all, if it were he wouldn't be on here attempting to justify it.

If anything I would say it is obvious that he knows deep down that he can't afford it, hence the plea for validation from here, a community that is cast iron guaranteed to say "yeah get the bike".

Stuey01, you are kingrollo's partner & I claim my £5.

Incorrect. I am his son, and I am hungry. And I want new football boots



Just buy things you can't afford on credit, it'll be fiiiiiine.

FatLarry

How long do you expect the bike to last? 5 years?

I totally agree with dodgy. You're not spending £1,500. You're spending £25 a month.

What do you get for £25 these days? You can't even go to a decent footie match - or join a gym - for that.

gabriel959

LOL at the people here.

But you are not only spending 1500 quid are you?

You will need new chains, cassette, probably service it sometime, truing and all the usual parts/jobs. You will also need new cycling clothes / shoes probably ... so more like 2000 grand I would say