Ive got the bug!.. £££ owch!

sancho_uk

Hi All,

I have officially been biten by the Road Bike bug and it is destroying my poor bank balance!

So initially as a MTB rider i thought lets give this Road Bike thing a go as my friends ride them. I set myself a budget of £600 and after lots and lots of looking around i found nothing that I "loved". Which is a big deal for me because if i dont love something i will quite literally get bored in a week or 2.

So I spoke to my Uncle who is a bike Road bike user and he gave me some advice on what to look for and how I may find a bargain on a 2012 model (something i was aware of from my MTB experiences). So the search continued and it was love at first site when i saw an ex demo bike "Focus Cayo 2.0 Ultegra". Downside was it was double my budget! Plus side was I had just got a Xmas bonus from work so thought I would go for it. Never been happier love it to bits!.....

Then come the accessories.. Pedals, Bib Shorts, Jersey, Base Layers, Shoes, Pedals, Water Bottles, Cages.. All being colour coded to the bike of course

Then the snow and ice! So i have been out on my bike the grand total of once! (properly).. So i thought how can i get more use out of it as i dont fancy throwing Carbon down the road in poor conditions. I have now bought a Turbo trainer "Elite SuperCrono Fluid Gel".. Which meant i then had to buy the front wheel block for said Turbo Trainer!

I dont regret any of my purchases but wow you suddenly realise its an expensive hobby, which i cant help but feel the more i fall in love with the more expensive its going to get

Thanks For listening!

jotko

I have been on a similar spending spree recently. it how you slip purchases past your other half is the most important thing!

I bought some £70 Endura bibs the other day, when she spotted them I said they were from Sports Direct and were 'in the sale'.

The perfect crime, probably.

typekitty

Haha I know the feeling - my other half recently got bitten by the bug again so we've both been bleeding money on clothing, components and events. Heavenly! Just need this ruddy snow to melt so we can actually go out and play.

Grill

In the last year cycling has earned me enough air miles to fly to Japan for free... in first class... twice...

simon_masterson

If it's any consolation, I went to the London Bike Show at the weekend, and popped in to the London Boat Show for a laugh, since it was going on next door. Our hobby is very cheap!

sancho_uk

Simon in a weird way that helps haha

Good to see people in the same "Boat" as me... (Sorry couldnt resist, i will get my coat).

I particularly like the fact we are an inventive bunch..

e.g Carbon doesnt like being cold it will have to be kept in the hall...

Honest this is the last thing i am buying now.

I know i said the last thing was the last thing, but this was on sale i couldnt pass it up

kentphil

Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that spending loads on bike/kit will make you enjoy you cycling even more. If you've got the money to burn then fine, I would too if I had loads of money. The bloke on a £300 Triban might be enjoying his cycling just as much as you!

sancho_uk

Agree completely Phil.

The chaps i cycle with have a mixture of bikes including a £300 Triban and they all get as much enjoyment as I do.

Money isnt something i throw at anything easily.. I think long and hard before making any purchase big or small, however i knew this was a safe bet as I have been cycling for years just on Mountain Bikes as opposed to Road.

When i realised i couldnt be bothered to travel to Trails etc anymore jumping on a road bike where i can get straight on it out my front door seemed like an obvious move.

I have tried to be as sensible as possible where i buy something i wont instantly want to start chopping and changing things costing more in the long run. I think i Found a nice balance with my Focus Cayo 2.0

Superbalicious

It only gets expensive when you apply the n+1 rule, where n is the number of bikes you currently have, and n+1 is the number of bikes you should have (or 'need' depending how you want to sell the concept to the missus)

Azhar

Hey sancho, u well? The bike well?

Once you have the bug you'll be surfing sites like wiggle or any other online shops thinking 'hmm I could do with that' and pretty much everything you want you convince yourself it's a need. But you will get to the point where you'll have the basics of what you need for all types of weather. Dhb stuff is good value for money and good quality and most of the stuff I have is actually dhb. If I bought brands like castelli, santini or any other brand similar to them I would have easily spent two/three times as much.

DavidJB

When I first started riding 4 years ago I looked at £200 wheels and thought I'll never spend that much on wheels. I looked at a £1000 bike and thought that was a lot.

4 years later and I think I spent about £6-7,000 on bikes/parts/clothes last year. (which doesn't include the £300 a month I spend in fuel and race entry during the season)

pride4ever

O.P. just be careful that you dont just end up spending on the bike than actually riding it as this is the case with many but yes pimping your bike is one of the bitter-sweet joys of the game. Beware though, dont get embarrassed when your pride and joy is blown out the back by some old dude on a vintage steel frame lol.

sancho_uk

Hi Az Im good and the bike is phenomenal thanks! With all the snow not really been outside much but the TurboTrainer miles i have been putting in will pay off when i can get back out (I hope)..

I do have a fair bit of DHB clothing.. To be honest, im not one for sports related brand names clothing wise.. All im going to do is sweat in them like i would the expensive stuff

However the same can not be said for my bike, which again i realise having looked at some of the bikes posted £1200 isnt a lot but to me it is! :oops: , So although I have no immediate plans to modify it thats the one area i wont scrimp on in the future.

I will be staying away from the n+1 rule i think, as nice as it would be to have multiple rides, i think i will just concentrate on maintaining the one to as high a standard as i can

I am getting to the point now where i dont think i need anymore stuff.. At least not desperately.. I do want a couple more pieces of clothing but it can wait for a bit (cant it?!?!)

sancho_uk

pride4ever wrote:

O.P. just be careful that you dont just end up spending on the bike than actually riding it as this is the case with many but yes pimping your bike is one of the bitter-sweet joys of the game. Beware though, dont get embarrassed when your pride and joy is blown out the back by some old dude on a vintage steel frame lol.

Haha this will definitely happen at some point there is no doubt about that

p1tse

I'm new to it to
Spent more than I was considering on bike
Got the minimal essesntials helmet and lights

But even things like spare tubes, locks, pump, all add up which I've yet got

mallorcajeff

It only gets worse I've been cycling 2 yrs 4 months have done over 21 thousand miles and spent in excess of 14 grand in two years but having lost nearly ten stone worth every penny.

p1tse

mallorcajeff wrote:

It only gets worse I've been cycling 2 yrs 4 months have done over 21 thousand miles and spent in excess of 14 grand in two years but having lost nearly ten stone worth every penny.

Good work
With kids my spend won't stretch that much but I can easily see how though

Also hope I don't loose that much otherwise I'll weigh similar to my toddler lol

clubsinger

spent too much in the summer in a haze of olympic glory.

ended up with a hybrid that was too big, thanks to an unscrupulous salesman. after riding it for 130 miles or so, i sell it and wait.

but that's after buying a team GB long sleeved top (a must purchase back then!), bibshorts/tights, helmet, gloves, shoes, pedals. (oh and the team sky stuff as well... i'm such a sponsor whore, all the gear, no idea.) and a pair of oakley radar glasses.


now i've bought a pinarello, and gotten a better helmet (the one sold to me, wasn't great) winter gloves, jacket, leg warmers... i bought a turbo trainer as well late last year.

so all in all, i think i've spent upwards of 3 grand on stuff in a year, don't get me wrong i'm happy about it all... as i've found something that i really enjoy (i won't when i start up again, as i'll be knackered after 5 miles) and it's something that'll keep me healthy, which in turn will cost me more money as i'll have to change my jeans and t shirts to smaller sizes!!

now i'm looking at heart rate monitors, a new iphone mount, better shoes (i'm in a sports direct pair of muddy fox atm) and possibly new wheels for the bike... add to this my profession isn't exactly cheap, with a new PA system just setting me back nearly 3 grand, and i need a new guitar!!

i need 6 numbers on the lottery! then i can buy a dogma.

VTech

I have exactly the same issue but when asking the questions some forum members don't seem to understand (or are most likely in denial) about costings.
I still feel like I've made a good choice in starting up cycling but by the time you have a bike and helmet, shoes and clothes, lights and safety equipment your into it for huge sums of money and I have seriously pondered wether the difference in products justifies the difference in price.
Time will tell I guessing

BigDaddyG

As a newbie to cycling, I have to echo some of the posts on here, its an expensive sport to get set up in (but then again so is golf, cricket etc)

DhB is a great starter brand, as a larger guy (6'4 and 17.5st - 19 when I started) I have shoe, Bib's and jerseys. I also invested in a couple of skins, sealskin gloves, and a decent jacket/Gilet and due to our lovely weather a turbo trainer which has been the best investment I have made. Along with a 2nd hand bike (Trek 1.2 and it's upgrades) I am probably all in for £1k at the moment but that can easily spiral out of control.

For me I always think is it worth spending £100 on a carbon seat post to save 50g or £500 on a wheelset to save 200g or should I just get on my bike and do 30/40/50 miles or a sufferfest video and lose that weight from an ever decreasing belly )

As a very smart man came up with 'marginal gains' theory the best gain I can make is getting on the bike and pedeling hard and burning calories!!

sancho_uk

Ah, again its good to see I am not the only one..

Sounds like a lot of you are in exactly the same position as I am..

I did have a few bits that carried across from MTB to Road but not as much as i had hoped.. Still I love the sport and on the few occassions i have managed to get out due to the Snow etc I have had a constant smile on my face.

I agree with the above.. The Turbo Trainer i bought last week is worth its weight in gold.. Trained hard on it 4 times Tues/Weds/Fri/Sat.. Got out on the road on Sunday and felt like i was flying.. I know its early days but I already felt i was getting benefits from the Trainer.. Hopefully this will continue

Thanks for all the input Ladies and Gentlemen!