All the gear...

dhope

Chatting to a colleague this morning who has approximately 0 interest in bikes and likes to adopt a slightly superior attitude where possible. Contractor with money to burn, Bang & Olufsen, expensive home gym, fairly cliche

Doesn't understand the idea behind a single speed (forget doesn't agree - doesn't understand).
Doesn't understand why you'd not get pedals on an expensive bike.
Wouldn't bother cleaning a bike after using it (didn't do it when he was 15 on his MTB)
Jeans were fine for any distance when he was a kid.

All fine of course, people don't have to know or care. Still, I showed a few links to bikes of different types, explained a little about Alu/Steel/Carbon/Titanium, threw in a few mentions of SRAM, Shimano etc.

Lunchtime and he's browsing £2.5k Pinarellos with full Ultegra group :roll:
Casually mentions that he doesn't really know what he should be shopping for but he'll need something to follow his son around now that the stabilisers have been ditched.

Should I call his bluff and tell him that Pinarellos are a bit common these days and direct him to something with Carbon wheels and Dura Ace Di2? :twisted:

asprilla

Contractor approaching middle age with money to burn? Surely a Cervelo R5CA is the order of the day.

lost_in_thought

Definitely. Tell him that really, carbon fibre is a bit old hat compared to titanium.

Titanium's shiny, he'll like it...


Oh and don't forget, he may get tired of it and then want rid of it, at which point you can be a friend in need :twisted:

iclestu

hell Yeah!

rubertoe

Spesh Venge.....

Well wort it cos Cav has one and it says Mclaren on it.

campbellrae1

Have a bit of fun with it, see how far you can push him, maybe a full TT bike with carbon tubs and a disc wheel? Or tell him he could even wait until Campag release their electronic groupset, can't even begin to imagine how crazily priced that will be!

But go for it, he sounds like a prat, the type my Dad has to work with, so you might as well take the pee while you have this golden opportunity.

sketchley

Tell him for ultimate performance he needs a hand built bike and you can help. Then get £5k from him in cash and go and buy a BSO from Tesco's. Hey presto new Carbon road bike for you......

Job done.

Note: this maybe illegal. IMNAL.

SmellTheGlove

I hear there's a new set Shinolo shifters that use GPS to select the optimum gear for the terrain.
Change out of a grand and a half.

EKE_38BPM

Tell him a full carbon double suspension downhill recumbent is the only way to go.

Torvid

anyone still have the link to the £5k BMC hybrid, that should do for keeping up with his little one.

walkingbootweather

Sounds like whatever he gets will be ridden twice then left to gather dust, so get him to buy whatever you fancy, then offer him half the new price in a few months time to take it off his hands.

sketchley

What about that custom carbon MTB on e-bay? That has to be the right bike for him bargain.

dhope

Torvid wrote:

anyone still have the link to the £5k BMC hybrid, that should do for keeping up with his little one.

The £4500 BMC Single Speed?
Wonder if they do Di2 shifters for that

joelsim

I reckon he'll look pretty f*cking cool down at the local rec following his son on his Ben-10 Apollo on a Cervelo TT.

Cool as...

EKE_38BPM

dhope wrote:

Torvid wrote:

anyone still have the link to the £5k BMC hybrid, that should do for keeping up with his little one.

The £4500 BMC Single Speed?
Wonder if they do Di2 shifters for that

You wouldn't need any shifters on a SS (as you know) but tell him that he needs them.

rick_chasey

Tell him that Carbon melts over 30 degrees and Cavendish actually rides a magnesium bike.

Torvid

dhope wrote:

Torvid wrote:

anyone still have the link to the £5k BMC hybrid, that should do for keeping up with his little one.

The £4500 BMC Single Speed?
Wonder if they do Di2 shifters for that

Thats the one, you can even big it up and tell him the TdF winner rides one sort of like it.

First.Aspect

Tell him to get a recumbent because it is faster. He'll fall for that.

ketsbaia

Oh and he'll need Assos gear if he's gonna sit on a such a lightweight saddle.

greg66_tri_v2.0

You lot* are really missing a trick here.

He needs a time trial bike with an 80+mm front wheel and a disc on the rear. Expensive, uncomfortable, impractical and guaranteed to make him look like a dick.

*except Joelsim

stuaff

Actually, a recumbent would be faster downhill, and on the flat much of the time...particularly if he got a velomobile.

+1 for the suggestion of pointing him in the direction of TT bikes. A few months ago we had a guy with a Cervelo P1 (I think...wasn't carbon anyway), disc wheel and everything, do an FNRttC. Apparently it was his only bike (!!). He and his mates were going on about how it was faster, etc. He didn't the whole group-riding-together thing in general. He was rather impatient and stayed up the road moaning about the delay rather than actually helping out when one of his mates punctured, he was not quick, took a detour or two because he managed to miss our waymarkers, and had a clipless moment. This was very funny

Cafewanda

You guys are pure evil, but I'd like to see the pic of whichever bike he does buy :twisted:

woodford2barbican

why not help him buy something decent and convert him to cycling?

gtvlusso

High end TT bike with carbon wheels (disc rear) - tell him they are the Audi RS of the bike world......