Are new bikes a huge waste of money?
#26
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 7,850
Mentioned: 38 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6941 Post(s)
Liked 10,944 Times
in
4,677 Posts
Ah, yes -- another thread centered on the question "Why on earth do you people spend your money differently than I do?"
There's no better way to waste time on BF.
There's no better way to waste time on BF.
Likes For Koyote:
#27
Señor Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 5,066
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 649 Post(s)
Liked 292 Times
in
215 Posts
Yes, you pay a premium to get a new thing.
But there are a couple of real advantages in buying new - for bicycles, the two big ones I can think of are warranty (bike company warranties are not tranferrable from the original owners) and size selection (there are lots of used bikes on the market but not too many in my size).
The other thing about 'used' is that you are always guessing about the condition - even if it looks clean, that doesn't mean the hub bearings aren't worn out or the frame hasn't fatigued.
I have only ever bought used cars. Four years ago I bought a Mazda with ~60000 km on it. It needs ~$1000 worth of suspension repairs now.. The same time I bought my car, a friend bought a new Toyota. The only repair he has needed is a brake pad replacement. I know he paid more, but I feel the peace of mind he got for the extra money was worth it.
But there are a couple of real advantages in buying new - for bicycles, the two big ones I can think of are warranty (bike company warranties are not tranferrable from the original owners) and size selection (there are lots of used bikes on the market but not too many in my size).
The other thing about 'used' is that you are always guessing about the condition - even if it looks clean, that doesn't mean the hub bearings aren't worn out or the frame hasn't fatigued.
I have only ever bought used cars. Four years ago I bought a Mazda with ~60000 km on it. It needs ~$1000 worth of suspension repairs now.. The same time I bought my car, a friend bought a new Toyota. The only repair he has needed is a brake pad replacement. I know he paid more, but I feel the peace of mind he got for the extra money was worth it.
Likes For teejaywhy:
#30
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: location location
Posts: 3,035
Bikes: MBK Super Mirage 1991, CAAD10, Yuba Mundo Lux, and a Cannondale Criterium Single Speed
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 344 Post(s)
Liked 297 Times
in
207 Posts
But if I buy the current version of my bike, it would now have 11 speed, the option of disc brakes, nicer wheels and cranks and saddle, a more aero frame etc. The price has gone up to $1500ish and more, but the quality has improved year-on-year. I’m happy with the value I’ve got out of my bike for when I bought and how much I paid, but I would have got more bike for my money if I’d held off a model year or two, and would get a lot more if I bought new today.
#31
Non omnino gravis
Value is relative. Apparently, spending $5k on a bike strikes the OP as wasteful. Ask a typical non-cyclist what's the most they'd ever spend on a bicycle and you might hear $500, or more likely $200. Odd are that same non-cyclist will have a $1,000 smart phone that they will replace in 2 years... with another $1,000 model. Value is relative.
To some people, $5k or 10k or even 15k on a bike is not a lavish expenditure. Buying habits are often not about intelligence or the lack thereof. People are absolutely free to fulfill their wants to whatever extent their funding allows.
To some people, $5k or 10k or even 15k on a bike is not a lavish expenditure. Buying habits are often not about intelligence or the lack thereof. People are absolutely free to fulfill their wants to whatever extent their funding allows.
#32
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 5,791
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1020 Post(s)
Liked 463 Times
in
293 Posts
It all depends on what you are buying.
I love expensive, fine cars. I cannot, however, afford to buy them new. So for my last car, I shopped for a Certified Previously Owned (CPO) model. My wife and I bought matching CPO Mercedes convertibles, with full factory warranty, for a lot less than their price new. The cars were leased returns and you couldn’t tell them apart from their brand new counterparts.
My bikes, however, I bought them all brand new.
The difference? The cars were fully covered by their factory warranty. No worries or concerns.
A used bike, especially a CF bike, could have hidden damage not covered by a warranty. So I will not buy used.
OTOH, I will buy a used vintage or classic steel or titanium bike.
The OP’s basic premise is not necessarily flawed; he just makes blanket statements that don’t sit well with everyone here.
I love expensive, fine cars. I cannot, however, afford to buy them new. So for my last car, I shopped for a Certified Previously Owned (CPO) model. My wife and I bought matching CPO Mercedes convertibles, with full factory warranty, for a lot less than their price new. The cars were leased returns and you couldn’t tell them apart from their brand new counterparts.
My bikes, however, I bought them all brand new.
The difference? The cars were fully covered by their factory warranty. No worries or concerns.
A used bike, especially a CF bike, could have hidden damage not covered by a warranty. So I will not buy used.
OTOH, I will buy a used vintage or classic steel or titanium bike.
The OP’s basic premise is not necessarily flawed; he just makes blanket statements that don’t sit well with everyone here.
#33
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,217
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18397 Post(s)
Liked 15,494 Times
in
7,317 Posts
#34
Senior Member
And besides, nobody will ever know this bike retailed for $2500 but was had new from the LBS for only $1200 (minus wheels/pedals), so in a decade, I can probably still sell it to you for a grand and laugh all the way to the LBS to buy my next new one:
#35
Senior Member
i recently bought a bike on ebay ..it cost 5000 brand new it is carbon fiber in pristine condition with high end components...its 9 years old ..its more bike than i could afford when it was new. i bought in a auction on ebay for 1000 dollars and 100 for shipping...i ask myself why people shell out mega bucks for new bikes when they can buy it for pennies on the dollar later....there are alot of high dollar bike deals on ebay...buying new seems like a waste of money
#37
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Lebanon (Liberty Hill), CT
Posts: 8,473
Bikes: CAAD 12, MASI Gran Criterium S, Colnago World Cup CX & Guru steel
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1743 Post(s)
Liked 1,280 Times
in
740 Posts
Unless I know the bike I don't buy used. This is because I don't trust myself to pick up things like hairline cracks in a frame. Having said that, I did commit to buying a Pinarello AL frame. But, it's older and for money I could afford to lose.
Likes For bruce19:
#40
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Ohio
Posts: 2,857
Bikes: Road bike, Hybrid, Gravel, Drop bar SS, hard tail MTB
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1218 Post(s)
Liked 298 Times
in
214 Posts
i recently bought a bike on ebay ..it cost 5000 brand new it is carbon fiber in pristine condition with high end components...its 9 years old ..its more bike than i could afford when it was new. i bought in a auction on ebay for 1000 dollars and 100 for shipping...i ask myself why people shell out mega bucks for new bikes when they can buy it for pennies on the dollar later....there are alot of high dollar bike deals on ebay...buying new seems like a waste of money
other wise time is Money, and its better to work, and then just spend that money at the bike store.
buying new is called "Time management"
Likes For Metieval:
#41
Sunshine
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 16,605
Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo
Mentioned: 123 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10947 Post(s)
Liked 7,474 Times
in
4,181 Posts
Outside of work, my time is worth almost nothing. I dont produce at that time, and whatever I spend that time on is of equal value- $0. If I spend 2 hours riding bikes with my kids, or spend 2 hours on yard work, or spend 2 hours scrolling thru ebay for a bike- those 2 hours are all worth the same in terms of money- $0.
That doesnt even take into account how many on this forum are active DURING work. Even when my time is money, it still isnt spent as efficiently as it could be. And that applies to many others I know. 'Many others' = everyone I can think of right now.
A hobby neednt be calculated at a per hour pay rate. That turns it into a job.
To make it apply to ebay- If I look at ebay from 8pm to 10pm, watch tv in that time, or bake a cake and exercise it off in that time- its all worth $0 because my time is not money for most of the day.
I cant imagine living a life where my time is always worth money. It would be exhausting trying to calculate the opportunity cost for each activity at any given time.
Likes For mstateglfr:
#42
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,217
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18397 Post(s)
Liked 15,494 Times
in
7,317 Posts
Likes For indyfabz:
#43
Tragically Ignorant
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613
Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,098 Times
in
5,054 Posts
There's plenty of perfectly good used "how you spend money is wrong" troll threads on BF, not sure why OP went through the trouble of buying a new one.
Snob vs. Slob thread, no. 18,806.
Snob vs. Slob thread, no. 18,806.
#45
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 7,850
Mentioned: 38 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6941 Post(s)
Liked 10,944 Times
in
4,677 Posts
[QUOTE=mstateglfr;21097942]I see this repeated often and always chuckle since it doesnt at all apply to me or most anyone I know.
Outside of work, my time is worth almost nothing. I dont produce at that time, and whatever I spend that time on is of equal value- $0. If I spend 2 hours riding bikes with my kids, or spend 2 hours on yard work, or spend 2 hours scrolling thru ebay for a bike- those 2 hours are all worth the same in terms of money- $0.
That doesnt even take into account how many on this forum are active DURING work. Even when my time is money, it still isnt spent as efficiently as it could be. And that applies to many others I know. 'Many others' = everyone I can think of right now.
A hobby neednt be calculated at a per hour pay rate. That turns it into a job.
To make it apply to ebay- If I look at ebay from 8pm to 10pm, watch tv in that time, or bake a cake and exercise it off in that time- its all worth $0 because my time is not money for most of the day.
I cant imagine living a life where my time is always worth money. It would be exhausting trying to calculate the opportunity cost for each activity at any given time.[/QUOTE]
And yet, you (and all the rest of us) are doing that all day, every day. Each time you decide to spend your time on something, you are making a trade-off (i.e., sacrificing other opportunities), which means that you are choosing the option with the lowest opportunity cost.
Outside of work, my time is worth almost nothing. I dont produce at that time, and whatever I spend that time on is of equal value- $0. If I spend 2 hours riding bikes with my kids, or spend 2 hours on yard work, or spend 2 hours scrolling thru ebay for a bike- those 2 hours are all worth the same in terms of money- $0.
That doesnt even take into account how many on this forum are active DURING work. Even when my time is money, it still isnt spent as efficiently as it could be. And that applies to many others I know. 'Many others' = everyone I can think of right now.
A hobby neednt be calculated at a per hour pay rate. That turns it into a job.
To make it apply to ebay- If I look at ebay from 8pm to 10pm, watch tv in that time, or bake a cake and exercise it off in that time- its all worth $0 because my time is not money for most of the day.
I cant imagine living a life where my time is always worth money. It would be exhausting trying to calculate the opportunity cost for each activity at any given time.[/QUOTE]
And yet, you (and all the rest of us) are doing that all day, every day. Each time you decide to spend your time on something, you are making a trade-off (i.e., sacrificing other opportunities), which means that you are choosing the option with the lowest opportunity cost.
#46
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,217
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18397 Post(s)
Liked 15,494 Times
in
7,317 Posts
+1. A few years ago I read s story about cheap vs. frugal. According to the author, one distinction between the two is that a cheap person will spend a good amount of time trying to spend the least amount of money possible. A frugal person, on the other hand, will do some research but won't take that to excess because he/she knows that time, not just money, also has value.
#47
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Ohio
Posts: 2,857
Bikes: Road bike, Hybrid, Gravel, Drop bar SS, hard tail MTB
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1218 Post(s)
Liked 298 Times
in
214 Posts
+1. A few years ago I read s story about cheap vs. frugal. According to the author, one distinction between the two is that a cheap person will spend a good amount of time trying to spend the least amount of money possible. A frugal person, on the other hand, will do some research but won't take that to excess because he/she knows that time, not just money, also has value.
Likes For Metieval:
#48
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 29
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times
in
3 Posts
For bikes, a possible advantage of buying a new stock bike is that you can get the store to make sure it fits you, which can involve replicating your previous bike position, which can involve changing the stem length and angle. You get the manufacturer's warranty. You know that any flaws in the bike should be either their fault or your fault, and not the previous owner's fault. It's easier to get exactly what you want, if you have a preference about that sort of thing. That does matter - the question is, does it matter to you?
Bikes do depreciate fast, because the technology is changing quite rapidly. There's nothing wrong, per se, with a lot of older tech. It may be more limiting to what you can do with the bike, e.g. the gearing on 10s groups is probably a bit taller than 11s, disc brakes can perform well in a greater range of conditions than rim brakes, older road bikes probably can't take tires larger than 28mm on modern rims. However, those limits may not be material to you.
Bikes do depreciate fast, because the technology is changing quite rapidly. There's nothing wrong, per se, with a lot of older tech. It may be more limiting to what you can do with the bike, e.g. the gearing on 10s groups is probably a bit taller than 11s, disc brakes can perform well in a greater range of conditions than rim brakes, older road bikes probably can't take tires larger than 28mm on modern rims. However, those limits may not be material to you.
#49
Sunshine
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 16,605
Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo
Mentioned: 123 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10947 Post(s)
Liked 7,474 Times
in
4,181 Posts
QUOTE=mstateglfr-
I cant imagine living a life where my time is always worth money. It would be exhausting trying to calculate the opportunity cost for each activity at any given time.[/QUOTE]
And yet, you (and all the rest of us) are doing that all day, every day. Each time you decide to spend your time on something, you are making a trade-off (i.e., sacrificing other opportunities), which means that you are choosing the option with the lowest opportunity cost.
I cant imagine living a life where my time is always worth money. It would be exhausting trying to calculate the opportunity cost for each activity at any given time.[/QUOTE]
And yet, you (and all the rest of us) are doing that all day, every day. Each time you decide to spend your time on something, you are making a trade-off (i.e., sacrificing other opportunities), which means that you are choosing the option with the lowest opportunity cost.
My point was that if my time were always worth money, meaning I could be paid the effective hourly rate of what I earn at work, I would have a tough time deciding to do things that I do right now.
Last edited by mstateglfr; 08-29-19 at 12:19 PM.
#50
Advanced Slacker
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 6,210
Bikes: Soma Fog Cutter, Surly Wednesday, Canfielld Tilt
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2761 Post(s)
Liked 2,534 Times
in
1,433 Posts
Except you are not buying a NOS 9 year old bike. You are buying a bike with 9 years of use. So how much you are saving depends on the condition.
It also depends on whether you care about design changes over the past 9 years. This could mean the components themselves or the compatibly with newer standards.
For example, you want a bike with a fairly “road” like geo and also tire clearance for 35s? I can tell you from experience (looking for such a thing in 2010) that there are not many 9 year old options.
It also depends on the TYPE of bike. For example, other than tire clearance, there is nothing I care much about that differentiates a road bike from today and 9 years ago. But with mountain bikes, the changes over any 9 year period are immense, and honestly, I doubt I would even pay $500 for a 9 year old FS MTB that retailed for $5K unless is was literally never ridden.
Also, while my overall experience with eBay purchases have been generally good, I have had less than stellar luck when it comes to bikes and bike frames.
And unless you live in a very populated large area, good used options can be limited.
It also depends on whether you care about design changes over the past 9 years. This could mean the components themselves or the compatibly with newer standards.
For example, you want a bike with a fairly “road” like geo and also tire clearance for 35s? I can tell you from experience (looking for such a thing in 2010) that there are not many 9 year old options.
It also depends on the TYPE of bike. For example, other than tire clearance, there is nothing I care much about that differentiates a road bike from today and 9 years ago. But with mountain bikes, the changes over any 9 year period are immense, and honestly, I doubt I would even pay $500 for a 9 year old FS MTB that retailed for $5K unless is was literally never ridden.
Also, while my overall experience with eBay purchases have been generally good, I have had less than stellar luck when it comes to bikes and bike frames.
And unless you live in a very populated large area, good used options can be limited.