Cyclomania

Do some of you who own previously used bicycles or fixed up bicycles regret not having the money to own a spiffy new bike?

Sometimes I wish I had a new virgin bike all my own, but then again used bikes can be such great deals, 30 dollars for a world class bike from the seventies can't be beat!

tagaproject6

Yes but I got over it when I turned 9.

But really??? Seems petty, but hey, you are entitled to your own set of values. You are after all entitled to your share of lightheartedness or resentment for that matter and there is nothing wrong with having a little pettiness against another, like a child.

Cyclomania

I'm not all together jealous. Just feel like I'm missing out. Yet realistic. Desiring not to spend the money for a "new" bike that would ride perhaps a tiny bit better than a used one.

wahoonc

I have about 30 bikes most were purchased used because they were what I wanted. There are very few new bikes out there on the market that appeal to me.

Besides I can get much better deals on used bikes, or a 2 year old demo model.

Of course I spend the savings in upgrades and customizing...

Aaron

tagaproject6

You are not missing out on anything.

CharleyGnarly

I have owned two, new complete bikes, and have built a bike from scratch with all new parts, including frame/fork (this was a BMX bike during my racing days in the '80s.) I have always bought, or been given, used bikes and have never felt I was missing out, or cheated in any way. Quite the opposite. I prefer to build my bikes the way I want them, not the way the store has them set up.
I have a Gary Fisher Mamba my bro bought in '96 that he gave me. Changed out a few parts, and voila! a bike just the way I want it. My bro-in-law gave me a '93 DiamondBack Traverse that I stripped down and converted to a single speed with extra parts and a hub donation. Totally cheap, totally mine.
I don't see a thing wrong with getting a new bike, but just don't find it necessary for myself. And I definitely don't resent those that have new.

DCB0

I used to work in bike shops and bought a few nice new bikes with my staff discount. Now I no longer work in shops and I have a family and responsibilites that get more attention than my bike fleet, so when I need something new I buy used bikesor frames and build up with parts laying around or scavenged off a bike I plan to decommission. I work with a chap who earns a little more money than me but does not have a family to support and he buys himself a 'fancy' new bike every couple of years and sells the old ones. I am envious that he almost always has nicer equipment than me, but we ride about the same speed on the same trails. Actually, he got a very nice new full suspension bike this spring and he is probably quite a bit faster than me now, but because I have not been riding much and he gets out several times per week, not because of the bike.

If my priorities were different I could buy new bikes myself, but I would rather be envious than homeless.

Booger1

I've had 2 new bikes,1976-1978...still ride them.

PatW

I buy my bikes new. But they get "old" soon enough. My current ride is 9 speeds but it rides fine and is good for thousands of miles more. I ride with plenty of others who have the new stuff with all the bells and whistles. But I have better ways to spend my energy than to resent that fact.

fietsbob

See if the C&V guys dislike their older bikes.. yours looks fine..

wahoonc

NINE SPEEDS

I don't have any thing over seven Unless you count my IGH Shimano 8 speed.

Aaron

RaleighSport

I haven't ridden a "modern road bike" so no, I love my old tanks.

shelbyfv

Cyclomaniac- 5 new posts already today? Are you sure you have that much interesting to say?

Sixty Fiver

Believe it or not...the last new bike I bought looked remarkably like yours and after that was stolen I have never bought another new bike... yours is an '83-84.

Mind you... I now have my own shop and work with a frame builder so I can build pretty much anything I want.

CNY James

my father in law has never bought a new bike... he is 60 or 62... he says that stuff doesnt matter to him but then he'll throw out a crack like "must be nice riding that carbon bike with new components" or lament that he wishes he could afford a nice new bike like mine but it's not in the budget. I say it is, he just finds other ways to spend his $, sometimes equally or more sensless than on a brand new bike.

here's my position... I bought a used bike on CL and liked it well enough but yeah I had some penis envy toward the guys with newer, nicer rigs. I decided to sell my old ride to my brother who needed it more than I did and buy a newer bike. I got lucky and found a sweet deal on my Felt. Now, with 2 kids and up until recently, a 50 hour work week, I spend more time wishing I could ride than I actually spend riding. All of that aside, I love my bike and don't regret spending the money but now that I have the bike, it seems dumb that I was ever envious.

Some other food for thought...

I had a guy in my office one day, a successful entrepreneur with high net worth. we were talking about another of my lusts (sports cars) and he told me about some of the cars he has had or currently has. I said "man, that would be great, I'm envious!" His face got real straight and he said "you know, a lot of guys think all the stuff is great and all but I look at a guy like you and think you've got it made..." I asked him what he meant and he pointed at the picture on my wall and said "all the sports cars, boats, vacations etc are great but I'd give it all up to have a family like yours" moral of the story, be envious of somebody else's life possessions but be thankful of what life has given you b/c that guy might be envious of what you have going on too...

BlueRaleigh

Just take your old bike and start replacing parts. Do that for long enough and you'll eventually have a new bike.

BlueRaleigh

There's a good life lesson right there.

CharleyGnarly

Amen to that. I am sooo much more stoked that I have an awesome family...

xrayzebra 

I'm at the peak of my career, nearing retirement age, have no kids in college, almost no mortgage, no car note, etc. When I was a kid of 18, I lusted after a fast, fancy car, and I remember seeing a really cool car coming down the street, thinking how cool it would be to have it, and then being really insulted that it would be some gray haired old fart driving it when it went by. Now that I am THAT old fart, and could afford a lot more without guilt, I drive a Subaru instead of a Porsche. Now that I could have a Porsche if I really wanted it, I really don't want it. It's just stuff.

The people in my neighborhood with the most expensive, fancy cars, are the ones who I know are also mortgaged over their heads and living beyond their means, trying to look like it's no sweat. Then, there's this old multi-buzillionaire guy in the neighborhood. He's either driving his basic 8 year old Chevy work truck, or his 1948 Jeep pick up that he restored. I guarantee you this guy could be driving a new Porsche or whatnot every week if he wanted. But when he's not on his way to the office, he's in his old Jeep truck with his dog. He probably restored that old truck in a truly first class fashion, and it looks new, but it's a '48, no AC, nothing, all original looking.

That's the vehicle that I envy in my neighborhood.

And before anybody gets all self righteous on Cyclomania for asking an honest and innocent question, or on me for admitting that I, like every human being, experience envy from time to time... get bent!

Anyway, Cyclomania, I've bought a couple of new bikes in the last year. I sold one of them with only 20 miles on it, because I liked my old one better, and I'm excited about the newest one, but it doesn't stop me from browsing CL, yearning for the perfect old bike to fix up. I keep watching for that just exactly right sized old steel frame bike that isn't too beat up and isn't too expensive, so I can mess with it and make it into something even better.

Stick with what you can afford, and keep your priorities straight. It's not how new or expensive it is, it's what you do with it. You've hopefully got a lot of years to have a number of different bikes, or to just find one you really like and use it forever.

Cyclaholic

Yehuda? ...is that you?

Ron Harry

My 2 cents
Every bike I've ever owned [mostly steel until 2003], I thought initially was a great ride...until I upgraded and found out what I was missing. Carbon Fiber was another 'world' of biking, if you ask me [not that anyone would, ha]. But even with CF, there is 'better'...and seems proportional to the price tag.

Getting on that first truly high performance bike for the first time raises one's consciousness [mine anyway] that I really didn't know what I was misisng before [ignorance is indeed, bliss]...and any blind man 'born' blind has no idea of what he's missing, right?

I drooled over high end component bikes all my life. I paid dues. Still, there does seem to be an injustice that those fine youthful athletes who can probably make the machine do summersaults, while those like me can only make it 'go' [slow]...also probably can't afford the top models [just like I never could until I got older]. It's another one of them irony's of life I guess, like the bank only giving out loans to people who don't really need 'em, that when young and CAN do things, you can't afford to do those things until your old and decrepid and can no longer do 'em.

Sixty Fiver

My frame building partner is not nearly as cute and does not smoke a pipe...

shipwreck

If I ever felt envy over the four or five thousand dollar bikes a few of my friends ride, it was thinking about how much top shelf vintage stuff I could be playing with if I was willing to charge the same on a credit card. If I had the cash, I would probably not have anything newer than 1990. In fact, if I had the cash, my collection would start to average Older, not newer.

CNY James

not all people riding nice bikes have credit card debt. Just sayin

shipwreck

Interesting. I never said they all do. Indeed, if you read what I wrote, I never said that my friends do. I said that I would have to. And I am pretty comfortable with saying that.