Kapusta

Anything that costs more than what I spent.

LarrySellerz

Yeah some group rides and races are way too expensive, the practice crit I went to was 40$ a session. Needlessly high barrier of entry

Kapusta

Well that’s easy: Magura MT7 brakes.

I could have just lit a $500 bill on fire instead and still come out $100 ahead.

Ghazmh

Wow three pages in and I’m just now seeing this gem of a thread. I cant speak for “Biking” in general but the biggest waste of money for me was a low end Showers Pass rain jacket.

Mtracer

Whatever you buy that you get little to no use from it. Unfortunately you don’t know what those are when you buy it. My guess is that most of us have a collection of bike accessories and clothing we never use, if not bikes.

Yan 

Any accessories related to bike packing, especially those ridiculous mushroom-like pouches that people strap everywhere on their bikes. For some reason these things are ridiculously overpriced for what they are.

indyfabz

Tell that to the folks who ride from Banff to Antelope Wells with over 200,000’ of climbing in fewer than two weeks.

Mojo31

So true. When we had our boat, the annual slip fee was as much as a very nice mechanical DA bike.

big john

I forgot to mention restoring a classic car. Even though I worked as a mechanic, building a car up from a gutted shell was a time and money sink.

A lot of nice bikes worth of money can go down that rabbit hole.

big john

I have mixed feelings about this. I have paid for organized rides and had a great time. Felt like I got my money's worth and the organizers did a great job making it fun.

The best ones are put on by a club and they just ask for enough to cover costs.

Then there are overpriced rides where they cheap out on the food and cut corners everywhere they can. You finish those rides feeling like you got screwed.

Haven't done one in several years, though.

tomato coupe

A Gran Fondo is a very different experience than riding a route solo, and a lot of people are happy to spend money for that experience.

Mojo31

Thats your best example.

wolfchild

Bike packing stuff is expensive but it's also very well designed and very practical for people who enjoy doing ultralight off road adventure trips. You have to pay to play, no other way around it.

mstateglfr 

It isnt a waste if it's what they want.
I certainly don't want a $40 water bottle, and my cabinet full of bottles that cost between $0 and $12 is proof of that, but to each their own I guess.

mstateglfr 

The biggest waste would be many name brand items that are of no better quality or design than lesser expensive alternatives.
...unless someone really likes the brand, which then makes it money well spent.

Crazy, huh?

indyfabz

No brainer: Conti Gatorskinz are THE biggest waste of money. Fact!

Fredo76

If your old trailer hitch won't come out, a bike rack that fits into your trailer hitch is a waste of money.

Take your old hitch out before you buy something else to put there, is my advice.

Reflector Guy

Strictly by chance, I found the Aquafina water bottles from the local convenience store fit my bottle cages perfectly, and snap into place and don't bounce out. Sure, they use a regular cap but since I do all my drinking while stopped, it doesn't matter anyway. It's no slower than drinking vodka from a bottle found in a dumpster.

I bought an Enve seatpost.... It's priced like you probably think an Enve seatpost would be, but it's gorgeous and the attachment and adjustment screws are really clever. I'm glad I bought it.

On the other hand, I bought a Spurcycle bell and decided it was a waste of money and returned it. The $6 bell from Dick's Sporting Goods is a lot louder and everyone recognizes it as a bike, which is something I can't say about the Spurcycle. I really think people hear it but don't recognize it as a bell.

J_Chickles

Thats one heckuva water bottle. I dont think ive ever seen one for $40

CheGiantForLife

HydroFlask
Yeti

https://www.amazon.com/YETI-Rambler-...dp/B0B3SH8Q77/

Herzlos

Anything that doesn't get used. I've bought all sorts of bits for various prices and a scary amount of it just doesn't get used. Worst offender is cheap frame bags, though I've always been strict about donating away anything that I'm not going to use so someone else can.

Or stuff that's at a level I won't benefit from. I'm a pretty casual rider (longest ride is about 35 miles and averaging about 12mph), so anything high end is wasted on me.
I've got a jersey I like from Aldi for $15 (and then 2 more in a sale for $7.50) so can't fathom spending $100 on one, but maybe one day.
I don't think I've paid more than about $5 for a water bottle, and so on.

I don't grudge anyone else getting enjoyment from kit that I couldn't justify.

Darth Lefty 

Especially when you set out to make the fools

Milton Keynes

Yeah, who really needs brakes on a bike anyway? Everybody always talking about how fast they can ride and want to zoom along on their bike but they all think they gotta have brakes to slow down with. Didn't God give them feet?

Milton Keynes

I can attest to this, from my incident last fall. But thankfully the VA paid for me to be patched up.

prj71

I'm not sure who spends $40 on a water bottle. I paid $16 for my Camelbak Podium insulated bottle. The rest of my water bottles I received for free from bike races.

Biggest waste of money IMO, with the exception of padded bike shorts, is bike apparel.

I can't believe people spend ~$100 on jerseys and mountain bike shorts. $20 for a bike jersey or shorts on Amazon gets you the equivalent of the $100 piece of apparel without the fancy brand name on it.