dr_max

yes, buying multiple cars, multiple $15,000 bikes and multiple things you don’t need will keep à lof of mouths fed in a system where more than 56% workers couldn’t live without 1 week of salary because of the depts they contracted over time by over consuming themselves things they doesn’t need.

I guess you are a proponent of the « Dont blame the player, blame the game » philosophy.

Bah Humbug

Much of that goes the other way, with vendors unable to offer their services for sale (or knock-ons, like no traveling to races that aren’t happening). The point stands, though. If we unwind all of these “frivolous” spends, we’ll wind up not much above the subsistence farming my parents and my in-laws and many people worked very hard to get their children out of.

dr_max

5000km in 6 months outdoor
cross country skiing during winter
running during autumn and spring

triathlon schedule too

genejockey 

No, I grew up when I stopped thinking I deserved them, and others didn't, because I could enjoy them and I believed they couldn't.

Yes, but the pro riders don't pay for it, do they? It's all the Freds riding the $10,000 bicycles, and demi-freds riding the $3000 bicycles. I can tell you, as an old fat guy who rides bikes in the demi-fred category, there aren't enough riders passing me on an average weekend ride to pay for all that techological development.

rubiksoval

So mediocre at everything?

dr_max

my grand parents bought a refrigerator that worked for 50 years.
these days you are lucky if it lasts more than 10 years.
do we justify throwing 4 away in dumpsters sent overseas

you think iPhones should be obsolete after 2 years so we have to change every 2 years to keep our ways of life at whatever ecological cost possible to justify what your parents were running away?

dr_max

you can describe your life like that if you want.

my life is passionate at everything

tomato coupe

Yes, and I don't think spending $5k on a bike can be justified for only 5,000 km per year.

rubiksoval

Passionate doesn't equal good. At all.

rubiksoval

A dollar per km a year.

Gets more bang for the buck the slower he goes, I guess.

genejockey 

There's a term for this. "The Paradox Of Thrift", where what is INDIVIDUALLY virtuous - living within your means, buying only what you need, making do with less - is disastrous when practiced throughout an economy. If everyone buys only what they need, a lot of people CAN'T buy what they need, because their paycheck depends on people buying things they don't need.

And we've taken a turn down a longer and bumpier road than we were expecting when we threw leg over saddle, haven't we?

AlgarveCycling

Do you think you are qualified to decide what others need to be happy? This is going to annoy you but I have spent over 23000 euros on bikes in the past 12 months alone. My wife's e-bike, my 29er MTB and my two road bikes. Guess what? I've got a Dura Ace Di2 group on order for one of them as an upgrade. Wheels upgrade will follow. Makes me happy. You, me, most of us spend more than we need to on this great sport/hobby. Neither of us really needs more than an entry-level road bike but we both have more than that. Why?

Because we can, and we want to. Sure, some folks like to impress others. It happens, human nature, they want to show how well they have done in life via financial means. So what? It doesn't hurt anyone. Let them.
Most who can afford luxury don't do so for showing off though - that is a construct of your own bias that you are falsely projecting because of some warped ideology. Most buy the best that they can afford simply because they want the best that they can afford - that's what makes them happy.

Do you live in a basic home? Or do you have more rooms than you need? Car? Is it all you need or more? Do you eat frugally too, not buying a better cut of steak or organic produce because basic is all you need?
The ideology you want to project is mired in a rats nest of potential hypocrisy.

tomato coupe

Potential?

genejockey 

(And what about those of us who own not 1 x $13,000 bike, but rather 4 x $2-3000 bikes? Clearly I don't NEED 4 road bikes, esp considering how far I DON'T ride. But I appreciate the qualities of each, and I ride all of them in their turn)

a77impala

I have three road bikes, one carbon, one titanium and one steel, all with 9 speed cassettes with 11/32 gears and 50/32 in front. The biggest difference is the steel one is harder to carry up the steps to our second floor apartment!

AlgarveCycling

So not a lot, really. Average? I'm not being flippant either. I'm at nearly double that with more than 100m climbed per 10km too on average. I know plenty doing more than me as well.

genejockey 

The advantage of living in a house - only 4 steps to carry the steel bike up.

Trakhak

Is showing off evil?

Trakhak

Passion is the root of all evil.

farnorth51

UCI banned recumbents in 1933!

farnorth51

The UCI banned recumbents in 1933!

dr_max

Vegan home
Multigeneration LEED certified home
Solar roof
bike commuting when I can downtown hospital
Tesla Model 3 for the night calls at the country hospital
I lend my mountain bike is half the time to friend so they can enjoy outdoors sun en he doesn’t but have one

if you wanna see a hypocrite, go look into the mirror my friend

indyfabz

I ride my $5,000+ custom ti bike less than that. I also didn’t feel the need to justify the expenditure to anyone, including myself. I bought what I wanted and could afford it.

tomato coupe

My comment was aimed at Dr Self Righteous. I don’t actually care how much anyone spends on a bike.

AlgarveCycling

You are amusing, if nothing else. Immaturity and a lack of real experience shows though - you keep projecting nonsense based upon an evidently deep-seated need to feel superior somehow.

While I certainly don't need to explain/justify anything to some random on the internet, I'll humour you just as an example of how our usernames hide people with vastly different backgrounds to you.

I grew up in Apartheid South Africa. I've witnessed the worst of have and have-not society. My Father put two kids through school and University alongside my sisters and I from impoverished households. I've had my home vandalised, ransacked 3 times, been shot at by armed burglars, been hijacked, been involved in a bad situation saving my sister from the man who was raping her and I lost my mother to violence when I was a teenager. I've also had an extremely privileged life. A comparatively luxurious one compared to very many folks I grew up with and worked with.

I arrived in my birth country, the UK, in my late 20's with less than two weeks rent to my name and forged a living - a good one. I bought the Porsche 911 I wanted for my fortieth birthday (997.2 C2); a goal alongside a really good home that I had set for myself. I support 3 charities - two for kids, one in the UK, one in SA and Save the Rhino in SA. I could do more, sure, we all could but we also enjoy the trappings of our personal good fortune. I'm no altruist, I admit that. But I do something to help, however small, those less lucky. I live in a country and region now that also has great disparities of wealth. Many of my friends locally earn in a year what I make in a month. I have bought two of them bike upgrades, cycle clothing etc in 'devious' little ways so that they don't feel I am stepping on their pride. I live in a luxury sea-view home within walking distance of some of Europe's finest beaches - yeah, solar PV & thermal, rainwater capture, low energy, the works and an EV car; none of that makes us virtuous by the way - I love green energy but it doesn't signal I'm 'better' like you seem to think it does in your case.

I 'work' from home, no commute. Wife likewise. Vegan? You can stick that right up your backside! I'm a carnivore and make no apologies! But all of this us just a pissing contest. You want us to believe you are against showing off by trying to hide your own showing off with false justifications - you are virtue signalling as a means to desperately explain to us why you 'need' your lifestyle and what you have. Do you not see this? Vegan. LEED home. Solar. Helping friends but wanting recognition (fine, but recognise why...) all signals you want to be seen as superior somehow and, in your own mind, only having what you need because you have bought into an ideology that appeals to you.