Is it possible to hide a new bike from your spouse? <help

synchronicity
synchronicity Posts: 1,415
edited August 2008 in The bottom bracket
I just put down a deposit on a new bike yesterday... it was calling to me from the local bike shop window for well over 6 months... my exact size, my preffered colour, discounted, you know how it is! I couldn't resist!! :o

Although the bad news is I've got this terrible feeling of dread for when by partner finds out. I bought it for £1730, so not cheap (but some people spend waaaaay more!! :P)

I'm wondering if my partner notices my bikes enough to know what brand + colours they all are. What's the take on this by other members? Do non-cyclists recognise individual bikes, or do they all look the same? :lol: The letters: P I N A R E L L O aren't exactly very understated. :lol:

I'm contemplating exiting the back-door for a few months once I get the bike, at the very least, when it enters the household, I'll have to sneek it in. confused2.gif
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Comments

  • synchronicity
    synchronicity Posts: 1,415
    Oh... I forgot option #8:

    reluctant submission: if you discover that she responds with something like option #7 & there's no way in the world you're allowed to keep it - flog it on ebay.
  • robmanic1
    robmanic1 Posts: 2,150
    She'll know, they just do!

    My mrs noticed I'd fitted some new grips the other week :shock: , I never knew she was taking an interest (I think she just likes to let me know she knows I've been spending).

    I take it you don't smoke, or drink to excess, or visit the bookies everyday? This is the basis of you case for the defence.


    Just front it, what's the worst that can happen (copyright Dr,Peppers 2006)?
    Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    distract her with something shiney...
  • robmanic1
    robmanic1 Posts: 2,150
    Tell her it was in the sale and you're actually saving money by buying it, this will confuse her enough to make good your escape.
    Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/
  • robmanic1
    robmanic1 Posts: 2,150
    .....or, tell her you bought it for her and when she finds it's too big for her to ride tell her that the shop operates a no-return policy so you'll have to keep it.
    Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/
  • APIII
    APIII Posts: 2,010
    Unfortunately, years spent forcing my wife to sit through hours of tour de france, spring classics, etc. on eurosport, she is now fully clued up on the bikes they ride, so I have no chance of sneaking a new one through :cry: My last bike took four months to arrive - still not enough time for me to come clean about it. When it arrived, I had to hide it in my bike bag for a month before I'd convinced her it was a necessary purchase :oops: . I'm not proud of my actions, but presenting my new bike in xmas week wasn't an option :!:
  • beverick
    beverick Posts: 3,461
    My approach is between nonchelant and deceptive.

    Providing that the new bike is a similar colour to an existing one she won't notice unless i get them both out at the same time.

    The ploy would work.

    As recently as June, she tried to get into a Vauxhall Vectra parked near my car "because it was blue, and estate and had "56" in the number plate.

    Needless to say I don't have a Vectra......

    Bob
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173
    Why would you need to hide it? Are you ashamed? Surely not. Stand up for yourself man.
  • Bikerbaboon
    Bikerbaboon Posts: 1,017
    if your married then its uin sickness and in health....... just explain that this is your sickness
    Nothing in life can not be improved with either monkeys, pirates or ninjas
    456
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    I have a disease...


    I'm have chronic bike purchasing
  • Bronzie
    Bronzie Posts: 4,927
    Is it possible to hide a new bike from your spouse?
    Yes*
    http://trekbikesuk.typepad.com/slicktai ... -wags.html

    * - but if she finds it, boy are your nuts in peril :oops:
  • SCR Pedro
    SCR Pedro Posts: 912
    Hey there, I say you go on the attack, and attack hard.

    If you earned the money, it's entirely up to you how you spend it. It's just that simple.

    I know for certain that if I bought a new bike I would be justifying it to nobody. Also, if her indoors starts to nag you, just go out and ride for a couple of hours to get away from her.

    Cheers
    Pedro
    Giant TCR Advanced II - Reviewed on my homepage
    Giant TCR Alliance Zero
    BMC teammachineSLR03
    The Departed
    Giant SCR2
    Canyon Roadlite
    Specialized Allez
    Some other junk...
  • andy_wrx
    andy_wrx Posts: 3,396
    edited July 2008
    Bronzie wrote:

    Ooof, the spelling & grammar !

    I blaim the teechurs.
  • LOL, I had a similar dilema..

    i Found it easier to buy her one.. Rockhopper PRO.. nice bike though..

    at least that way she couldn't argue about my deposit on a Stumpjumper FSR Expert..

    Collecting both on Monday. 8) . Cant wait..!!! Sleepless weekend, me thinks..!!
  • Doobz
    Doobz Posts: 2,800
    pretend you allready have a Pinarello and keep saying - I am going out on my pinarello - when it arrives she will look at the writing and thing "ohh thats what he was going on about"

    Unless she knows a tad about bikes and she secretly wants one herself.

    You could try the honesty / reverse psychology method.

    Sit down next to her and make the scene worse then it is.
    Explain how you have done something really bad.. like really bad.. She will have horrible images in her head about you and the secretary at work or something. When you mention the bike she will LOL and go.. "Ohh you silly boy thats okay.. I thought you have been fu*#king Mavis from the office or some cheap hookers.. "
    cartoon.jpg
  • tiny_pens
    tiny_pens Posts: 293
    A guy who I work with has the following plan:

    He has been after a new carbon FS mountain bike for his collection. His plan is to give his old FS bike to his wife and ride around on his hard tail for a couple of months only to then declare that he really needs another FS bike so that he can buy the one he has been looking at.

    Tiny Pens
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    beverick wrote:
    My approach is between nonchelant and deceptive.

    Providing that the new bike is a similar colour to an existing one she won't notice unless i get them both out at the same time.

    The ploy would work.

    As recently as June, she tried to get into a Vauxhall Vectra parked near my car "because it was blue, and estate and had "56" in the number plate.

    Needless to say I don't have a Vectra......

    Bob

    Ha ha! You got to leoove them haven't you? My bird got her Smart car sprayed the brightest pink available cos it's her fave colour ........ good grief!!
  • attica
    attica Posts: 2,362
    How about going for the innocent "Who put THAT there?"
    or "I'm looking after it for a friend while he gets his garage/shed rebuilt"
    "Impressive break"

    "Thanks...

    ...I can taste blood"
  • Bronzie
    Bronzie Posts: 4,927
    andy_wrx wrote:
    Ooof, the spelling & grammar !
    Just as well he flogs bikes for a living eh?!
  • BigG67
    BigG67 Posts: 582
    SCR Pedro wrote:
    Hey there, I say you go on the attack, and attack hard.

    If you earned the money, it's entirely up to you how you spend it. It's just that simple.

    I know for certain that if I bought a new bike I would be justifying it to nobody. Also, if her indoors starts to nag you, just go out and ride for a couple of hours to get away from her.

    Cheers
    Pedro

    Yep that's exactly what I do......honest.....I do.....I really really do......honest.......BTW anyone seen my knackers anywhere around here.... :shock:
  • BigG67
    BigG67 Posts: 582
    One of my mates only ever buys black or dark grey bikes. It usually causes enough confusion to keep him clean.

    But lately his Mrs has stopped being tough on the spending, he reckons half the fun's now gone out of buying kit... :cry:
  • tjm
    tjm Posts: 190
    My approach is to agonise over it out loud. Discuss with her at length how you really want the bike, how much you would use it but that you know it is a bit frivolous and you shouldn't really be spending the money. Have all the brochures to hand and discuss in detail the pros and cons of the different bikes and how that affects the cost - act like you think she really cares and can help.

    Do this for a few weeks at every opportunity - at the dinner table, when she watching something on the telly etc etc.

    it isn't long before she gets fed up with it and lays down the law "do what you damn well like but stop going on about it.."
    "Yes dear, whatever you say dear....." :lol:
  • biondino
    biondino Posts: 5,990
    Do you have any other expensive vices? We're all allowed some treats and luxuries, and if this is yours then I'm not sure she can complain. And if the new bike is even more likely to have you going out and getting fit and sexy, to her advantage, then where's the problem?

    Or just lie about the price.
  • synchronicity
    synchronicity Posts: 1,415
    I can see I'm not the only one... all the responses here are just BRILLIANT! ROFL.gif I feel that virtual masters are amongst us here.

    If only I could somehow combine them all into the PERFECT response... icon_smile_tongue.gif

    The trouble is:

    - if I say it's for her, even though it's a size too big, she'll acknowledge it's a 'Homer present', take it anyway, thank me for it, then promptly sell it. :x

    - all my other steeds are 100% black, this frameset is white.

    I still have 2 months to decide... but I think I'll go for the "pretend nothings wrong" attitude. And I'll make sure that my legs are hiding the word "pinarello" when I take it out. *gulp*

    Yes, luckily bikes are my only vice, and she wants me to get out & ride more, not less. That's my first or second source of ammunition... although I do have other bikes I could ride...

    Let's face it, I'm dead meat. icon_smile_dead.gif

    I'm pretty sure that by hiding it, WHEN she finds out, that'll be two things I've done wrong... I could always say that it's another one of my rental bikes... hehehe...
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    1) Keep it at a mate's house. When you leave your house, head off on your old bike to your mates and swap. Reverse the swap on the way home.

    2) Lie "Is that a new Pinarello?" "What - this old thing?"

    3) Tell her you got it at 50% off. Its a widely know fact that anything at 50% off is, in fact, free as you have purchased it with the 50% you've just saved. With this line of logic, you can make a net profit on anything that is reduced below 50%. At 40%, you've saved 60% and you pay for the item with part of that 60% and still have 20% spare to buy more things.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • Nuggs
    Nuggs Posts: 1,804
    My wife cycles so there's no way I could get away with it.

    When I bought my bike, I bought her one too. That way everyone's a winner!
  • CHRISNOIR
    CHRISNOIR Posts: 1,400
    Bronzie wrote:
    Yes*
    http://trekbikesuk.typepad.com/slicktai ... -wags.html

    * - but if she finds it, boy are your nuts in peril :oops:

    That's brilliant! Good effort, Bronzie, Sir!
  • ricadus
    ricadus Posts: 2,379
    - all my other steeds are 100% black, this frameset is white.

    Tell her you've had a near miss with a car recently and this white one is to ensure maximum visiblity during the dark winter mornings...
  • fast as fupp
    fast as fupp Posts: 2,277
    a good beating is in order for an uppity wife-youll be doing her a favour
    'dont forget lads, one evertonian is worth twenty kopites'
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    My experience is that after many years of marriage I have somehow given over "ALL"
    of "OUR" finances to the wife. While this may sound like a very bad idea, it is probably
    for the best because she is able to actually save money, whereas I an an idiot in that
    respect. If it was all up to me I'd have tons of bikes and no money for anything else.
    With the wife doing it we have a few spare dollars for vacations and the like. I have
    two bikes and 4 sets of wheels and I'm finding that it's enough. Can only ride one at a time. And I do like our ski vacations.

    Dennis Noward