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Old 09-27-21, 10:30 AM
  #18  
noobinsf 
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 3,265

Bikes: '82 Univega Competizione, '72 Motobecane Grand Record, '83 Mercian KOM Touring, '85 Univega Alpina Uno, '76 Eisentraut Limited

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I think for those of us who consider it a hobby, it's pretty difficult to tease out all of the different line items that would lead to a thorough reckoning of the money we've, ahem, "invested" in a single bike. Finding freebies that give you useful parts, scavenging one project to build another, buying tools and learning to use them so you can do your own work -- all of these things allow for some creative accounting. Plus, there is the sweat equity of learning by doing, which is hard to quantify.

All of that above is a different scenario than restoring a single bike that either has sentimental value or is, for one reason or another, "the bike I need to have." To have someone else do all the work and to spare no expense on parts, preparation, and finish -- well, maybe $1,300 is perfectly reasonable. It's certainly less than having a custom bike built from scratch, but it's a lot more than a bike one builds by oneself. Again, though -- if you're not a tinkerer who looks for deals as a passtime, then it's not really fair to measure against that rubric.

Just enjoy your beautiful bike -- you may have paid more for your crankset and to have it installed than I would, but someone else was able to put food on the table because they had the job. We're all swimming in the same stream.
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