Married, long-term relationship...

simon johnson
simon johnson Posts: 1,064
edited August 2009 in Road buying advice
morethan two bikes in the stable? You may be able to help me!

How do you do it :shock:

I've got a lovely Omega Helix full Ti with Record and Mavic OPs on Record hubs- best bike I ever had.

Now I'm about to get another beauty, partly through our work's cycling scheme, namely a Giant TCR C Zero 2008.

I just cannot part with the Omega- we've been through so much together. I'd sell my mother to keep this thing.

I'm running a covert campaign to gently ease in the idea of keeping two bikes in our small London flat; this gets a stern refusals at the slightest sniff of a suggestion.

1)no space

2)your poor

3)you don't need two bikes

So what's the secret? [/img]
Where\'s me jumper?
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Comments

  • softlad
    softlad Posts: 3,513
    the secret is to buy it first and face the consequences after... ;)
  • If you bring home the higher salary, make sure that gets noticed. I agree the Ti record bike has to stay!
    left the forum March 2023
  • FatLarry
    FatLarry Posts: 209
    A pair of Jimmy Choos might ease the negotiations
  • Smokin Joe
    Smokin Joe Posts: 2,706
    Type a letter to yourself telling you that you've won a bike in a C+ competition. Naturally there will be no cash alternative, so you have no option but to (Reluctantly) accept the prize.
  • I don't bring home the higher salary and Jimmy Choos will mean I have to forfeit the Dura Ace pedals!

    I should have started out with a fib: new bike costs £200, she'd never have known. Machiavelli would have come in useful here.


    Anyhow, I'm getting a 2008 TCR C zero for £1500- full Dura Ace (first time Shimano for me - not sure)- Ksyrium SLs. Used for a photo shoot so much cheaper.

    He's got one left in M/L if anybody's after a bargain.
    Where\'s me jumper?
  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    You can easily fit 8 bikes and 2 people in a London flat... we manage it, you just have to make sure you never have more bikes than your partner... 4 each is perfectly reasonable. Also helps if you make sure she's the better cyclist.

    So all I can really suggest is get another partner who cycles more?
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • jibberjim wrote:
    You can easily fit 8 bikes and 2 people in a London flat... we manage it, you just have to make sure you never have more bikes than your partner... 4 each is perfectly reasonable. Also helps if you make sure she's the better cyclist.

    So all I can really suggest is get another partner who cycles more?

    Well, she's got an exercise bike and a fold up so I'd only be making it even.... that'll take some doing!

    Some of you guys have it easy; I even have to hide the Condor carrier bags. I might get an online bank account to do away with incriminating paper trail- Icesave anyone?
    Where\'s me jumper?
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    I don't understand it. You tell her you're getting another bike and that's that. I have never had any problems with any women I've been involved with.
  • Slow Downcp
    Slow Downcp Posts: 3,041
    Never been a problem - my wife even bought me my Kuota for Xmas a couple of years back. Since been joined my an Enigma (although I did sell 3 bikes through choice at that point). It undoubtedly helps that I met my wife at the bike club, so she understands why so many bikes are needed.
    Carlsberg don't make cycle clothing, but if they did it would probably still not be as good as Assos
  • I have 5 personal bikes and am living in a defacto relationship. Mind you, only 3 or 4 are ever in full working condition at any one moment.
    20+ rental bikes also. :shock:

    I think the secret is not to reveal how much money is tied up in them.
    She still thinks my Pinarello F3:13frameset is worth around 250 quid!! :lol: (well maybe second hand on a very bad day on ebay it is)

    Don't lie... just don't tell the whole truth either. :idea:
    Like when she asks how much it cost, DON'T ANSWER!
    Then when she starts guessing numbers, STILL DON'T ANSWER!!
    She'll eventually pick a figure she thinks is a reasonable amount and stick with that... :arrow:
  • Get a better other half, mines as balmy as I am and keeps naming the bikes (although she is now very upset because jiminy (her rockhopper) has been stolen)

  • Don't lie... just don't tell the whole truth either. :idea:
    Like when she asks how much it cost, DON'T ANSWER!
    Then when she starts guessing numbers, STILL DON'T ANSWER!!
    She'll eventually pick a figure she thinks is a reasonable amount and stick with that... :arrow:

    Yep, just tell her what she wants to hear/the amount she'd consider reasonable for a new bicycle.

    Things are looking up though; she did get into the TDF last year and even suggested that we got to Paris to watch the final this year- she finds Cadel Evans amusing to say the least :)

    When the new bike arrives I will just pretend that selling the other was never mentioned. Should have got some sort of bicycle allowance pre-nup.
    Where\'s me jumper?
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    She's probably right - no point in having two bikes that do the same job - I felt the same about my old Mercian but it's only a bike not a child and once it's gone you wont miss it. Now of course if you wanted to spend the money to buy another bike that served a different purpose that would be different.....

    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • DaSy
    DaSy Posts: 599
    She's probably right - no point in having two bikes that do the same job - I felt the same about my old Mercian but it's only a bike not a child and once it's gone you wont miss it. Now of course if you wanted to spend the money to buy another bike that served a different purpose that would be different.....

    This is crazy talk...!!!

    I have 8 bikes, most of which are duplicate as far as purpose goes, but they each have a place in my heart.

    My advice is buy it, tough out the consequences, the next one after that is easier, and so it goes on. Eventually she sees a new bike, knows how much I paid but can't be arsed to make a fuss.

    But do always encourage her spending on shoes and handbags, the costlier the better. Once frivilous spending on unnecessary items becomes the norm, no more hassle is encountered.
    Complicating matters since 1965
  • If your other half has no interest in cycling (like mine) just talk about bikes and kit and races until she/he switches off.
    Then when the new kit or bike arrives you can say you mentioned it and they obviously weren't listening.
    If suffer we must, let's suffer on the heights. (Victor Hugo).
  • BMX Bear
    BMX Bear Posts: 198
    Sell your flat in London buy a house in the country with a big garage and a shed. Job done. I manage to fit in 4 bikes of my own and 2 for each of the kids. :wink:

    Good luck.
    www.icenivelo.co.uk - Norfolks most inclusive cycling club
  • Buy it and blame the credit crunch... if she gets confused then claim that you are reluctantly spending money because someone has to bloody start doing so... you're saving her job, after all!
    left the forum March 2023
  • tlw1
    tlw1 Posts: 21,831
    Get them wall mounted?

    Sell her exercise bike & put one bike on a turbo, that way its the same amount of kit:)

    In basic terms though, its your hobby & a lot cheaper than track days (that worked for me) :)
  • npowell28
    npowell28 Posts: 204
    Buy a pink bike, tell her that you have bought it for her so that you can enjoy quality time together. When she tells you that it doesn't fit, tell her that you can't take it back as the shop has shut down. "oh well i'll have to spray it and use it for myself". You could even spray it in water soluble paint like Bruce Willis did to his car on the remake of the Day of the Jackel. That way give it a quick wash and it's ready to go.

    Personally i'd just put it in the garage. My girlfriend would never even notice.

    Good luck.
    Cube Ltd Pro!

    Bianchi C2C via Nirone
  • simon johnson
    simon johnson Posts: 1,064
    I've lost :cry: Omega will be whored on ebay this weekend.

    An injustice has been done, and I will never forget it.

    Thanks for your help people, I tried, I really tried...
    Where\'s me jumper?
  • Ken Night
    Ken Night Posts: 2,005
    morethan two bikes in the stable? ............... I'd sell my mother to keep this thing.

    Is it really that important to your wife you don't have two bikes?

    Is it the money, something you can't/don't/won't do toether, or the time you spend on your bike, ?

    It can't be because you
    -keep fit,
    -have an energy outlet,
    -have that err, superb physique,
    -you drink less,
    -don't smoke
    -don't do drugs,
    -are more tired at night, so spend more nights in,
    -save money by comuting to work,
    -are saving the planet
    -spend time at home fettling rather than (fill in blank) [...............],
    -that you don't have a season ticket to a Premiership club and and obsess about the scores


    One technique which seems to work locally, is to announce WHENEVER a mate starts shopping for a new bike......which is frequently, even if the purchases are rather less frequent. That way, you can seem quite restrained by comparison. We're lucky, in our village to have a mate with an ever changing fleet of 10-12 bikes, which really sets quite a nicely, high bar
    “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best..." Ernest Hemingway
  • Coyote
    Coyote Posts: 212
    The problem here is you don't actually have enough bikes.

    I used to get all sorts of grief till the 4th one appeared. The fourth one confirmed for her what she thought she already knew - that I was obviously barking. So as soon as she had confirmed that she gave up trying to reason with me - then it was happy days all the way and I now have 8!
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    That's the way Ed, the more the merrier mate!! What is about women that they are compelled to do this - control how many bikes a man has, I don't understand it!
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    Move to the North of England where you can get a decent sized house and a shed!
    Sheds (or garages without cars too) are the most essential peice of kit to cyclists and married men more generally. They become even more important when you have kids. I've got a radio, seat and beer supply in mine! You need enough room to hide bikes at the back - make it look disorganised and dangerous (sharp garden tools blocking a path through etc) and she'll never make it past the first couple of steps.

    Hope that helps.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • biondino
    biondino Posts: 5,990
    Why do you need two bikes that essentially do the same job? Why not not buy the Giant (it's a Giant ffs - would you sell an Aston Martin to buy a Vauxhall)?
  • markmw
    markmw Posts: 131
    Being sweet to your other half (buying her stuff etc..) won't cut this.

    What's really the key driver here? From you other half's protestations:

    1)no space
    2)your poor
    3)you don't need two bikes

    Only 1 or 2 is really relevent here. Why does anyone have more than one of anything that serves the same function? I would venture that it's not for her to say what you need or don't need in this instance. That's your Mum's job.

    1) If it's a case of space, then I can understand that. Why not leave it at a mate's house (who has a shed, bearing in mind the potential grief at housing someone else's bike let alone his/her own) or with a relative. You might not get to ride it much but it will be somewhere safe until you have more space of your own.

    2) If it's a case of money, then is that true? You've obviously mentally committed to the new bike, so if you're short of cash, you need to ask yourself if you can justify keeping the Omega (though I note you did say you'd sell your mother to do so...). You obviously don't mind spending a bob or two (Condor bags) so you probably have the money, so what your other half isn't happy about is that you want to spend money on yourself, on something which she feels has no purpose or value.

    This won't work, but perhaps you need to demonstrate how you can afford it, that you've worked out the numbers, and have identified what you intend to sacrifice etc. For example, she suggested a trip to Paris (she calls it a trip to see the TDF but, in reality, does she just want to go to Paris?). Say that you'd love to go but would rather put the money towards the new bike, particularly since the Euro is so strong. Remember also you're not saving for the cost of the new bike, just the money you would've received from selling the old one :wink:

    My advice? "Sell" it to a mate for £20, the kind of mate who'll let you ride it anytime you want.
  • tenor
    tenor Posts: 278
    Why risk the relationship by buying an inferior bike to the Helix/Record.
    Just buy a really good second pairof wheels and put the rest of the money towards a holday?
  • Speed_King
    Speed_King Posts: 510
    Yanno what they say, if you start out wiht a lie then you have to keep lying!!!
    I would just go with prior comments and tell her you are getting a second bike and she can put up wtht it , oh and by the way i would forgo the dura-ace pedals and buy her the jimmy choo's it would be worth it.... If you really dont want to get rid of the Ti record then why are you buying a second bike btw and this is an obvious Q seeing as one of them is going to gather dust most of the time meaking this entire topic pointless as it would be a waste of money !!!!!!!!!!!!!
    G.H.Allum
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    get her pregnant, then you'll need more room but you may have no money/time for cycling :wink:

    Seriously tho' it's often about control. Don't ask me why they have to do it but they do. How many pairs of shoes/how many handbags has she got - more than 2 of each I'll bet. Any big names in there, Chanel,Mulberry,Gucci,Manolo Blahnik? v.expensive. Just ask her reasoning - low wages/high outgoing/large debt? then I can see her point.

    I have to say that my partner cycles :D and as a result we have nine bikes incl. her track bike and there might poss. be a 10th arriving as she is looking at getting a new fixed on the Cyclescheme but hopefully the old one will go. Then there are the wheels!! She's getting some new handbuilts from Paul Hewitt plus we have a dynamo hub and some other Open Pro's/neutrons. Of course she uses Shimano and I have Campag. so no compatibility really.
    M.Rushton
  • jswba
    jswba Posts: 491
    npowell28 wrote:
    Buy a pink bike, tell her that you have bought it for her so that you can enjoy quality time together.

    Planet X do a nice pink carbon number.