Justifying expensive bikes

bails87

If I win the lottery I might buy a really expensive bike and then not ride it, just to wind stupid people up

Edit: Not calling you stupid, Tom, and I hope everything's working out for you.

rockmonkeysc

Myster101 wrote:

Could I afford a very expensive bike.......yes.

Could I justify buying it..........no.

Other way around for me. I can't afford an expensive bike but because I race and I tend to break bikes I managed to justify spending £3300 on my DH bike rather than spending £1500 on a budget DH bike then breaking wheels, cranks etc and finding that the I need to get a suspension upgrade costing £1000.

bails87

You could afford it then? Or did you steal it?

Scion1

It's all about if a bike makes you think wow every time you think about riding it. I've spent about £2,800 on my bike. (trek fuel). I'm glad I did because I want to ride at every opportunity. I'll say one thing, I've had my bike for almost 10 years and had no problems with any part of it. Maybe it's worth spending a little more.

mintedox

I could justify an expensive bike now, just cant afford one. Saying that though my 1k bike has had a lot less problems than my mates 2k+ bike, and it's done a load more miles.

paul.skibum

I'm saving up to buy a new AM bike partly funded by saving partly by selling my old bikes - I really like the idea of a Blur LTc but when push comes to shove I'll probably end up with something cheaper as 6300 dollars for a bike when I could do with a better car, repairs to my house etc etc then 3k seems a better bet!

I do fancy that LTc though.....

julesreece17

I've just bought a Zesty 514 2013 @ £2999. How can i justify it? because its frickin' awesome!!!

Simples...

lawman

Julesreece17 wrote:

I've just bought a Zesty 514 2013 @ £2999. How can i justify it? because its frickin' awesome!!!

Simples...

The new 514 does look rather nice, until it no doubt snaps...

Plyphon

I've not read through the thread so apologies if I tread on ground already covered.

But an iPhone over a 24 month contract pretty much comes in at the same as most mid range bikes.

Especially if you buy it on release and spend 500+ on the thing BEFORE a contract.

And that's arguably the worlds most popular electronic device.

Easily a grand plus spent there every time by millions of people.

Id rather have a Canyon Nerve AL 7.0 for that.

Chunkers1980

Well yes. But you get. 500 quid phone. Data and calls on pay as you go for similar is 15 quid per month. 35 quid per month with 'free' phone is 840 per contract, so actually 500 phone plus the 360 you would have paid on pay as you go make the iPhone a better deal... Obviously things can be different in price but on those figures it is easily justified.

The Rookie

mintedox wrote:

I could justify an expensive bike now,

Then you can't justify it...

To Alan Sugar there is no such thing as an expensive bike.....

mintedox

The Beginner wrote:

mintedox wrote:

I could justify an expensive bike now,

Then you can't justify it...

To Alan Sugar there is no such thing as an expensive bike.....

Why not?

Burnside81

I think the OP might have been asking about justifying it to THEMSELVES. I sort of know what he means, whatever budget you have there is always something a few hundred pounds more tempting you. So where do you draw the line?

If people didn't sometimes have a hard time justifying it to themselves then I don't think this thread would have rattled on for so long with so many defensive posts.

For what it's worth my next bike budget is Round £2.5k and my talent is probably worth around an £800 bike! That's how far I've managed to justify stretching my budget to myself. I haven't started on the wife yet!!

julesreece17

Its a valid question without doubt.

Before i got into MTB'ing. i walked into tredz and was astounded that people even contemplate spending thousands on a bike.

But then, i discovered Afan Valley, (literally 15min drive from my house and i had never heard of it) went up there on a £400 Gt Avalanche and loved it!!

Then you start reading about bikes, and start picking up on things, i.e. shimano groupsets, lx, slx, xt etc. Suspension, mmm, fox looks awesome. Ohh, full sus? carbonfibre?? I was like a kid in a sweet shop.

Suddenly i wanted a bike with full xt groupset. i wanted full sus, preferably fox front and rear, then i wanted carbon etc. I ended up buying a Zesty 514.

Is it justified in terms of matching my abilities? Definatley not! Is it justified in terms of, can i afford it, does it have everything i wanted, and would i have felt like i had 'settled' if id have gone for a lesser bike? Then absolutley.

So to me, its justified. To the average man in the street who doesnt know what it is, its just stupid money.

End of the day, more you know, the more you want. the more you want, the more your willing to stretch your budget.

At least, thats all true for me anyway.

stubs

Your happy...............for now till the upgrade bug bites

The Rookie

mintedox wrote:

The Beginner wrote:

mintedox wrote:

I could justify an expensive bike now,

Then you can't justify it...

To Alan Sugar there is no such thing as an expensive bike.....

Why not?

Well if the price of the most expensive bike is less than 10% of your weekly income it can't be called expensive can it - most of use wouldn't consider a £6o bike expensive.

Northwind

Today I'm going to ride my £2000 downhill bike for the 4th time in 4 months. So probably unjustifiable. But fun!

bennett_346

Dannyboy95 wrote:

This shall be interesting!

Can you really justify buying a bike worth thousands of pounds. I have a TREK and it was worth £575 and that to me is a perfectly good bike hydraulic brakes gear shift smooth so why would I buy a bike worth £1000 more?

To me a £575 is shit, so that's reason alone to buy a bike worth £1000 more.

Having done the whole cheap bike route myself.

But you asked for opinions so don't come crying to me.

lawman

Dannyboy95 wrote:

This shall be interesting!

Can you really justify buying a bike worth thousands of pounds. I have a TREK and it was worth £575 and that to me is a perfectly good bike hydraulic brakes gear shift smooth so why would I buy a bike worth £1000 more?

My first bike was a claud butler cape wrath, £400, is my Mojo HD 10 times better? Probably yes. Is it worth 4 times as much as as my 456c? Probably not. Do I need to justify either? To me I don't. I worked whilst my friends took trips around the world in our gap year, so blowing £X on a bike that would last for years as opposed to a holiday that lasted a couple of weeks, was an easy choice for me. Not being a huge drinker and having a student loan, budgeting allowed for a new hardtail frame, so again no justification.

I think it mostly depends on your situation, I was in a position to spend that kinda so I did.

Richie63

Oh yes




Lovin' it every time i go out

stubs

Dirty little carbon bitch I bet shes a goer

passout

Back to the original post - 'expensive' is a relative term, so the question is flawed.

Burnside81

passout wrote:

Back to the original post - 'expensive' is a relative term, so the question is flawed.

Not really because its relative to other bikes. Bikes range from £50 to £10k roughly so that makes £3k cheap!

Seriously though, why do so many people seem to want to shoot the OP down? To me it seems like a fairly sensible question to ask to provoke a bit of discussion.

bennett_346

It's an attack on people with money, and we're having a go at him for feeling like he needs to justify being poor.

Northwind

I don't have any money. Spent it all on titanium mountain bikes!

Burnside81

bennett_346 wrote:

It's an attack on people with money, and we're having a go at him for feeling like he needs to justify being poor.

Weren't we all poor at 17?! (I'm guessing based on his username)

I still find it an interesting question myself.

bennett_346

Burnside81 wrote:

bennett_346 wrote:

It's an attack on people with money, and we're having a go at him for feeling like he needs to justify being poor.

Weren't we all poor at 17?! (I'm guessing based on his username)

Yeah? How does that invalidate what i said?

I never asked people how they could justify their more expensive bikes though, nor did i try to convince them they shouldnt have them. Its rude at best.

Burnside81

I'm not trying to invalidate what anybody says, just having a chat. I come in peace.
People seem to be being over defensive.

When I read the OP it seems he's asking people to tell him how much better a £1500 bike will be than his current £500 one. Maybe I'm wrong and he is an offensive little bastard. Maybe he can chime in and let us know!

JayKay3000

I was thinking about getting a trance x for 2k, but we'll see how I heal post crash (early days yet). I struggle to find bikes the right size and end up getting forced into the higher price bracket (6ft 7), but have the money so I don't 'feel' forced.

See all sorts of bikes on the trail and I could care less how much they paid for it, what condition it's in or how much bling it has on it. If they're enjoying the trails as much as I am then that's all that matters.

If u've got it then use it otherwise buy what you can afford because you can't buy bike skill.

adrenalinemunki

I think the more you do something you love, the easier it is to justify chucking cash at it...

I bought my Rockhopper last year for 600 quid which felt like a lot of money... over the course of a year (and using it once if not twice a week consistently) I have chucked a fair bit more than that at it on upgrades, it now has full SLX, a reverb seatpost, reba forks, phenom saddle, the list goes on and every upgrade felt noticeable and well worth it... My next bike will no doubt be £2500 upwards, I think for most people the amount they are willing to chuck at it (in proportion to affordability) usually comes down to their enjoyment of the sport (rather than ability, certainly the case for me as I'm still pretty pants).