How long are people precious with new stuff?

mrc1

I go through three stages:

1. Initial OCD phase which lasts a few weeks (in the case of clothing/kit), around 10 uses (helmet/lights) or a few months (new bike).

2. Middle phase where I accept that some damage/marking/wear is to be expected - usually until the first year of use - so one winter for winter clothing/lights).

3. Almost total lack of care - generally after the first year of use - next winter for winter gloves etc.

So for example - new assos shorts.

1. Washed in the little wash bag thing using the sample of assos washing liquid in a small load with absolutely no velcro included. Almost brought to tears when they got oil stained. Kept hung up in the wardrobe and treated like a new born child.

2. Learnt to live with oil stain that wouldn't wash out. Relegated to general washing pile but still in the bag and only washed with light colours and stored in a drawer with other cycling gear.

3. Found them a few weeks ago in the bottom of my wardrobe with a pair of gloves stuck to them via the velcro tab, hadnt been washed after last turbo session (they stank) so I just threw them in to a general load of washing.

This applies to pretty much all my purchases - am I alone?

optimisticbiker

hmmmm... think this is normal human behaviour, familiarity breeds contempt (or something like that)...

Commuter bike - 2007 vintage... almost cried when it got a scratch at 1 month old... now only service when its getting desperate

Road bike, just 1 y old, still treat fairly well...

Gore bib shorts and tops, plus new team kit... all under a year old, still go in washing machine on a 30deg wash with nothing else, and get hung carefully out on airer while still damp to dry :roll: helps I have 3 sets, one on, one in wash, one waiting...

turnerjohn

man thats me to a tee :shock: .....providing I haven't bought new beforehand

Twostage

Depends what it is. I have some sound processors in my bedroom-studio that still have their clear plastic display protectors on and they are at least four years old.
Bike clothes get worn and then shoved in the wash.
Chain whip gets returned to its plastic sleeve after use.
My carbon fibre bike spent longer than necessary on the landing (according to SWIMBO). It could do with a bit of a clean now.

itboffin

Yup wearing expensive Rapha jerseys and Castelli everyday on the commute now and considering making the current best bike my dry commuter :shock:

Which means of course NEW BIKE

king_jeffers

Depends what it is/how much it cost.

Phones – handle with great care initially, protect at all costs for a few months. Then when I notice a scratch on the screen I couldn't care. Its out of the case, chucked in bag, on floor, used as a hammer etc, etc...

Bikes – generally well looked after. My commuter cleaned once a month although when I first got it was more like once a week. Current road bike, clean after every two/three rides had it for around 2 months.. Hopefully I can keep it this way although I'm not sure!

Other things, high value stuff like guitars I've had for years are still loved and like new, I have others beaten up... Guess depends what it is.

rolf_f

My Look 585 is now a little over two years old. Today I noticed that the carbon non drive side crank inside face had gone slightly milky near the pedal thread. I washed over it with a little black paint to tone it down and then lacquered it. When it's properly dry I'll t-cut it to make an invisible repair.

I look after my stuff so tend to be fairly precious with it indefinitely. My Dawes is 22 years old and I still get bothered about marks on it.

redjeepǃ

I'm still pretty OCD over my bike after 3 years, but every time I ride it somebody asks me if it's a new bike so maybe I'm doing something right. Most other things have followed the same pattern you describe.

mrc1 wrote:

Kept hung up in the wardrobe and treated like a new born child.

I'm slightly concerned that you'd hang up a new born child in the wardrobe...(boom, boom, tish.....)

itboffin

Rolf F wrote:

My Look 585 is now a little over two years old. Today I noticed that the carbon non drive side crank inside face had gone slightly milky near the pedal thread. I washed over it with a little black paint to tone it down and then lacquered it. When it's properly dry I'll t-cut it to make an invisible repair.

I look after my stuff so tend to be fairly precious with it indefinitely. My Dawes is 22 years old and I still get bothered about marks on it.

Your fettle-fu is strong

centimani

Yeah, i think most of us do it...
Brand new Bianchi (at the time), just a few days old. Leant up against the garden fence, wife moved it and it fell over as she walked off.... :shock: FFSSSSSSS, you'll damage the carbon forks !!!!!, they'll cost £100 alone :x (i cant believe i said that with hindsight :oops: )
to....
That same Bianchi at 2 years old used to get left in my workshop at work, one OCD guy there used to berate me for it...'it'll get ruined in here, you're welding right next to it'....my response...'nah, its a tool, its meant to be used, not wrapped in cotton wool'
Mind, welding right next to it was a bit much :oops:

mrc1

Redjeep! wrote:

I'm still pretty OCD over my bike after 3 years, but every time I ride it somebody asks me if it's a new bike so maybe I'm doing something right. Most other things have followed the same pattern you describe.

mrc1 wrote:

Kept hung up in the wardrobe and treated like a new born child.

I'm slightly concerned that you'd hang up a new born child in the wardrobe...(boom, boom, tish.....)

Probably explains why I'm banned from babysitting my niece....

On the other side of the coin, one of my mates who is a terrible driver bought one of the at the time brand new Alfa Romeo Mitos a couple of years ago. He lives in Notting Hill so coupled with his terrible driving, I predicted it would be bashed up a fair bit within a few weeks. He was relaxed about it and adopted his normal "if it happens it happens" attitude. I went over to his a couple of months after he got it and it had a massive scrape on the rear wing, dents on both doors, a cracked wing mirror, knackered alloys from curbing and a cracked windscreen. His response "I didn't buy a car to worry about it"

ddraver

There's a legend about Steve Peat (GB DH God) who when he got a new, beutiful, personalised helmet would drop it on the floor as soon as he took it out of the box to get out of the first stage ASAP...

redderekthelampshade

I'm a keen photographer and my photography kit is kept immaculate.. The bike is a different story, I have only one.. It's used for commuting, dragging the kids in the trailer and thrashing around trails.. I've had it since 2008 and I think it's been cleaned once - yesterdays rain made it look clean but I've dragged the kids around in the trailer this morning and it's filthy again :-)

itboffin

Clearly the honeymoon is over for my best bike as it now lives in the garage with the others and as I just noticed has the odd surface scratch, also it's not quite as clean as it used to be :roll:

davis

mrc1 wrote:

On the other side of the coin, one of my mates who is a terrible driver bought one of the at the time brand new Alfa Romeo Mitos a couple of years ago. He lives in Notting Hill so coupled with his terrible driving, I predicted it would be bashed up a fair bit within a few weeks. He was relaxed about it and adopted his normal "if it happens it happens" attitude. I went over to his a couple of months after he got it and it had a massive scrape on the rear wing, dents on both doors, a cracked wing mirror, knackered alloys from curbing and a cracked windscreen. His response "I didn't buy a car to worry about it"

I'm the same as him with cars (well, hopefully without the terrible driving bit). My car sits for days at a time in car parks, covers thousands of miles on motorways, carries whatever rubbish I'm toting about this week... None of these things are good for its bodywork, but I knew that's what its life would entail, so I bought a car I wouldn't care about. No point worrying about dents or scratches on a cheap old runabout; it's already done its depreciating. Mechanicals, tyres, and the glass bits are looked after though (well, apart from a whopping great crack in the windscreen which has been there for 5 years and hasn't spread a bit). Wouldn't have bought the new Alfa for that!