mstateglfr 

https://www.innicycle.com/

Created and made by a forum poster, this bit of tech is super cool and very well made.
It isnt just a cheap threaded steerer extender to allow a threadless stem to be mounted, it uses the steerer threading to engage, uses quality cartridge bearings, and you can easily set the bearing preload with the hex bolt.

msu2001la

Ceramic bearings should be added to this list.

SoSmellyAir

Dang, I have spent money on all of the above except the hubs and stem. Is having three pairs of Oakleys with 5 sets of lenses excessive?

msu2001la

I have spent many hundreds of dollars on excessive cycling related purchases. I do not judge others on this topic.

But yes... that seems a tad excessive.

SoSmellyAir

When I normalize the cost of those Oakley frames and lenses to the number of miles I ride, it is kind of excessive.

SoSmellyAir

Strictly speaking, are bar end caps even necessary? I have never heard of anyone's bar tape unravelling without. The first time I wrapped my bars, I could not figure out how to push them in, and so just rode without for a few months until I put on new bar tape.

mercator

End caps are more of a safety item than a luxury.

SoSmellyAir

Good to know. Luckily I have since figured out how to insert bar ends.

surak

I want us to celebrate excess in this thread, so keep 'em coming! I don't think a luxury item has to be objectively expensive, simply that there are completely usable alternatives which might not quite as nice or pleasing to the potential owner.

It could also something that, once possessed, no longer has the owner wanting to upgrade further. With Oakleys, I went through much cheaper options until I finally pulled the trigger and never looked back. I went through the same thing with lights (still surprised when I rustle through my disorganized bike junk pile to find lights that I forgot buying), though lighting keeps improving so there's always something better on the horizon to consider.

scottfsmith

I bought two things that really seemed "luxury": A Tailfin X-1 pannier rack and some Hindsight glasses.

I bike commute (well, will soon again once office re-opens) and don't like carrying a backpack on my back. The Tailfin is a massive overkill solution to that, a fancy design carbon rack costing mucho $$. The rationalization was that I have back problems and the backpack was really cutting into my enthusiasm for bike commuting. My bike has no pannier mounts but with the Tailfin no mounts are needed.

The Hindsight glasses supposedly let you see what is behind you without a dorky mirror hanging off. I'll know soon if they are any good, arriving any day now.

Seattle Forrest

Park Tool Pizza Slicer 🙂

DangerousDanR

Once you buy it. having electronic shifting on your primary bike becomes less of a luxury and more of the standard. But this baby, at over $200 US is pure luxury:

urbanknight

Clean white bar tape. The dirty stuff was still useable but looked like @#$!

caloso

This is probably going to be my birthday present to myself.

Kimmo 

Carbon seatpost and bars sure, but AFAIK carbon stems are a waste of money; they're what's called black aluminium: because they need to be strong in every direction, they're no lighter than a nice forged ally part.

Come to think of it, that makes it a perfect suggestion for this thread... You can justify it by saying you don't want to get a cold hand when you wheel your bike.

Seattle Forrest

Carbon stem won't get you struck by lightning. We lost three riders to metal stems last week.

Sy Reene

I really need some carbon fiber valve stem caps.. just to make up for the alloy wheels

Leinster

Using the cork from a $100 bottle of cabernet as an end cap is a luxury. Especially when a $2 Chuck would do the job just as well.

Koyote

This.

Even in amateur racing, you will not be allowed on the starting line without bar-end caps. If there's a crash, you don't want to take a core sample from someone's leg.

With that said, bar-end caps are not something I would ever pay for. Some bar tapes come with nicer ones, and I just re-use those.

Koyote

"Excessive" really depends on your budget constraint.

jaxgtr

I would call a rim that GP5K tires go on without ripping the skin off your thumbs a luxury.

I happened upon a guy Saturday that had a flat and not carrying a seat bag with a tube, co2 or pump, or tire levers. I grabbed a tube and co2 out of my wife's seat bag as I am running tubeless and he was running GP5K's. Snapped a tire lever and took both of us to get the damn tires over the rim. I like Conti tires, but do not want to deal with that on the road side.

Kimmo 

What if they incorporated indicators?

surak

That's a paddlin'.

That's why I take my Kool Stop tire bead jack on every ride. I have no upper body strength anyway, started doing it shortly after flatting on Conti clinchers, so don't think of it as a particular negative on the GP5k specifically.

jaxgtr

We passed him going the opposite way, but I did not notice tires being flat. On the way back, he was still walking, my wife said, I don't think he is walking cause he is tired. The kicker, is that his wife rode the other end of the MUP to get their car and come and get him, that was 14 miles away. He said, funny thing is, I have the keys....

That would be a fun conversation when he got back.

surak

Lots of mentions of carbon bars. Honestly I've never considered them before. Is the main advantage they have over alloy that they dampen more road chatter, are lighter, can be shaped more aerodynamically for the same weight, look bling, or something else?

I have a set of alloy 38cm Zipps, about the cheapest with a shape I wanted that was predrilled for Di2, on my Roubaix with Future Shock. Probably wouldn't feel a noticeable difference going carbon compared to a less forgiving frame? I don't have any real aero or weight weenie bikes, and the Roubaix is my default choice for the longest days.