Vintage Raleigh

I have 5 bikes - too many to ride really. All I need are a shopping and a longer distance rider.
The International was an expensive exercise, two are gas pipe boom bikes, one a gas pipe frankenbike for my daughter and one a 90s road bike in need of a restoration - after the International project I'll feel guilty about doing that one up. Faffing about does keep me sane though

Chrome Molly

Cycling is my main and favorite hobby. It also keeps me in decent shape while other guys up and down the block are toting around 30-140 extra pounds. The longer my cycling is a way of life the less guilty I feel about having a few nicer bikes in with the cheaper projects.

The neighbors have rv's, motorcycles, boats, etc. Everyone has something that is a drain on the budget vs how everyone else thinks it "should" be. You are your advocate and cycling is not betting on the ponies, a $40k bass boat pulled by a $50k truck, or anyone else's comparative business...

Fahrenheit531 

I could've written this part. Well said.

qcpmsame 

Thanks much, Its totally true, in 2012 I was in Stage 3B renal failure, rated as morbidly obese, had endured 16 major surgeries in 10 years and was addicted to Rx pain killers. I started riding to take my mind of the pain, and to try and exercise instead of lying around being useless. Lost over 100 lbs, have all lab numbers in the optimal area and have a 40+ year marriage to the girl from HS I fell in love with in the 9th grade. Life can be pretty good when you work at it. No sweat to talk with her about things, she reciprocates and she has a totally successful business and makes a "bit" more money than I do, too.

Glad that you feel the same JOx.

Bill

northbend 

Nope. No guilt here.

repechage

My bikes out value my cars.
Excluding the wife's here.

rccardr 

Nope, no guilt here, either.
Daughter is married & off the payroll, we watch our grandson one day a week and spoil him rotten.
Wife and I both worked our butts off for 45 years, lived well below our means, and retired early enough to enjoy it.
Bikes are much cheaper than chasing blondes and buying red Corvettes. Or ar least that's what I tell my wife....

Essthreetee

I have 5 bikes. The most expensive was $600. And in order to get it, I sold my bass guitar. So essentially it was zero out of the budget. The others were free, and I spent about $200 to upgrade them. Again, I found the money by selling off other parts or things that I no longer used. I TRY to not take funds out of the family account, but if I do...my wife knows about it.

My wife and kids come first. Their needs and desires are always met first.

sloar 

My kids are still young enough to bleed me dry. Its getting close to the dreaded time to buy my oldest her first car.

Fahrenheit531 

@Essthreetee: Just noticed your signature. The rubber duck quote is classic, and I'll never be able to un-see the drowning man.

obrentharris 

Now that both kids are through school I do spend more money on bikes for myself. But I always had one nice road bike and one nice mountain bike. My two kids had nice bikes also. My son loved mountain biking, so as he outgrew each bike, I made sure that the new one was on par with mine. It seemed only fair. Money was never so tight that I had to choose between having a couple of nice bikes and paying for bikes, music lessons, and soccer gear for the kids: For that I am grateful.
Brent

mstateglfr 

My wife and 2 girls all ride...horses. Soon, we will own a horse instead of leasing one.

My bikes and riding is by far the cheapest hobby in the household. Even still, i hesitate to build too quickly and check all over for the best combo of price and quality when searching for components. Its how i am wired.

Family costs, both present and future, come first.
I used to play golf a lot. Like a whole lot and competitively. Once out of school and i had to pay for it on my own, i learned just how expenive it really is. $40-50 per round near me (which is relatively cheap). I dont play anymore, but use golf as a barometer for how insanely cheap bicycles are, relative to clubs and playing golf a couple times a week.

WolfRyder

It's amazing how much of a cash suck alcohol and smokes can be. I have slowed down on the spirits and Cig's quite a bit, but used to like a decent bottle of red wine and a good Microbrew. I used to smoke also, and hated cheap o brands to the point where I would refuse a crap cigarette. I used to smoke Export A lights or Gauloises cigarettes. Maybe because I am half French I get picky about smokes and wine.

Anyway that was a lot of cash expended every month like $150 to 200 extra. Now forget it I put put that towards bike stuff hobby.

greg3rd48 

I forgot to add that I have accrued less than 500 commuting miles on "my" vehicle in almost two years so I have certainly saved on vehicle maintenance and avoided burning untold gallons of fossil fuels in the meantime.

Essthreetee

You and me both. Except we just bought our oldest her first car...that was a GREAT memory. And the time spent with her teaching her how to drive was priceless.

It's very few who know about Rubber Duck. And the lol always makes me laugh. Also, being a math teacher, every time I write =0 I tell the kids that looks like someone with their mouth open...sideways. I can't not see it either.

Pompiere

My wife's dad was and her brothers are all golfers, so she knows how expensive it is. She has no issue with me spending money on bike related stuff. I am lucky enough to have a job that pays well and I can work an occasional overtime day to pad the budget with some mad money. I did wait until after she bought her expensive sewing machine before buying a new bike for about the same price, but both purchases were with full disclosure.

nesteel 

Anyone of the bikes I built this year could've financed a weekend trip to see my mother, easily. But instead, I find myself selling several of them off to pay off the funeral home bill after her death. Guilt? Yeah, I'm carrying more than a little.

Chris W.

This too will pass (incredibly fast too!).
Cheers,
Chris

USAZorro

Not guilt, really, but I've always felt pretentious riding the Hetchins. The 2000 Bob Jackson - never had that issue.

ddeand 

There could be guilt, but only if your hobby supercedes the needs of your family. I think many of us are mesmerized by shiney object, and we need to buy that one bike that will complete us - until the next shiney object catches our eye. In the end, we can't get our cars in the garage. As a retiree on a fixed income, I finally made peace with this affliction by limiting myself to owning only one bike per style of riding. For me that includes one mountain bike, one cyclocross bike (gravel, commute, and road), and one vintage road bike. The vintage bike is the wild card, and it will be the one that changes over time. If I find a decent deal on an old bike, I'll get it and build it up. Then, I'll choose which vintage bike I like best and sell the other. That process will likely repeat itself until I'm too old to ride or wrench. It's a nice equilibrium that works for me.

The same issues apply to guitar players. At one time, I had 16 guitars - and could hardly play any of them. Now, I'm down to one electric and one acoustic (both vintage) and am very happy.

So I agree that you shouldn't feel guilty as long as your hobby sustains itself. Just enjoy it!

Dave Cutter

Yes! Of course we do. Every normal human on Earth has exactly the same emotions/feeling as do you. And most people that have owned a dog... know that even our four legged friends know the feeling of guilt.

Guilt, shame, pride, envy, jealousy, hate, love, fear...... there are actually many more than I am going to try and list here. And I swear to God... I know I feel each and every one.

Should you feel guilty about owning a nice bike? I am clueless there. Talk to your wife, talk to your spiritual leader/guide. Spend time in meditative thought and/or prayer. It doesn't matter. We either struggle with our feeling... or we accept them. I can tend to be a bit of an asshat myself. I became a happy man only after I realized that everyone knew that about me... and was more OK with it... than I was.

I own more than one bike. Some rotate through. I buy them, restore them, enjoy them, sell them... and repeat. I don't flip bikes. But I profit enough in my spare time efforts to more-or-less pay for my cycling hobby. It sounds like you could do the same.

gugie 

Not after spending just about zero on myself for 15 years. Everything went into the house, then house and kids. Moving from California to Oregon gave us a one time windfall, I used a small percentage of it to get back into cycling, learning to braze, and building up tools. I know that once I retire I'd be chomping at the bit to do something, might as well be working on bikes, and having a bit of income while doing it.

Lascauxcaveman 

I feel more guilty about all the cheap bikes I keep hanging around. Far too many to use, taking up space.

I guess I have only one bike in the $1000 range anyway, and the next most expensive one was exactly $500. My problem is I'm blessed/cursed with ample storage space and therefore unmotivated to get rid of the underused bikes and languishing projects.

bikemig 

+ 1. I just keep an account of what I spend and what I sell. As long as I'm close to breaking even, there is zero impact on the family budget.

rgver

My bike buying and selling paid for more buying and for my bikes. My wife rolled her eyes when she saw another bike being wrestled out of the car or box of parts carried in after the flea market or box arrive from Niagara .
When it came time for our move from MA to the UK I sold most of my bikes and all my parts stash. I sold A Tommasini Competizione, Pinarello Catena Lusso, Pinarello Cadore, Centurion Ironman, brifter modded Viscount Aerospace GP, Centurion LeMans, Raleigh GP, 2 Miyata 112, Windsor Carrera Sport, Panasonic Sport 500 and 1000, Motobecane Mirage, Super Mirage and Nomade, 3 Raleigh Sports and a couple of old MTBs. As you can imagine, once all were sold it added a healthy boost to our moving fund.
All these bikes were all profit over and above the all family fun days my hobby paid for, whenever I sold a bike we would go for a meal out somewhere, sometimes we would go for a day to the beach or zoo on my bike fund.

Do I feel guilty spending money on bikes?

Yes, everytime, every bike and every part.