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How did you buy your bike ???

19K views 244 replies 191 participants last post by  Mazukea 
#1 ·
For the most this is not a cheap hobby. A typical bike is about $400-$500 which can be just about a typical American's weekly salary for an entry bike, If you upgrade to 29er's, carbon or FS bikes they can be as expensive as 4-5k for a bike. People don't make that in a month. So with the cost of living going through the roof and our bills getting higher and higher. What type of funds did you use to buy your bike.


I charged mine to the "game" ... Visa game that is for my Giant 29er.
 
#127 ·
I just bought a new bike a couple of weeks ago (Salsa Fargo Ti). I just realized that it was my first "new" bike I had bought since 1990. That one was a Bridgestone MB1. All of my other bikes have been bought used or frame upgrades with old parts or new parts on old frames. I currently have 5 road and 2 mountain bikes, plus a couple of frames just sitting. I scraped and saved to buy that MB1 back then but with age comes increased income and I didn't think twice when the deal on the Fargo presented itself. I still prefer a bargain and/or building it up yourself over just walking in an buying a bike. I really wish I hadn't sold the MB1 but I needed cash for another build (which is long gone).
 
#128 · (Edited)
At first I was a little surprised that most everyone on this thread was so financially responsible, but after thinking about it for a minute it makes sense for a few reasons:

1. Average age on mtbr is in the 40s I believe which tend to be more responsible and have more disposable income.
2. Anyone admitting to paying with a credit card then skipping payments (or making interest only payments) is going to get lambasted by the responsible guys.
3. Just because someone pays cash for a bike doesn't automatically mean he's being finacially responsible. He may be skipping other bills or not paying his child support, etc.

Having said that, it's good to see that folks are being financially responsible with "non-essential" expenses. I use that term guardedly because riding is pretty dang "essential" to most of us.

I make good money but we live on a strict budget. Live debt free including our house, have 6 months emergency fund saved, medical fund, pay cash for everything including cars. etc. (Yes we are Dave Ramsey disciples) I only allow myself $400 a month for my bike habit, including bike trips. It's tough sometimes but I stick to it.

So buying a new bike takes some patience and planning. For my latest bike purchase I sold off or parted out my two main bikes and saved my monthly bike allowance for 3-4 months and I'll have enough when the new Chilcotin comes in March (amazing how much easier it is to save the bike allowance when there's no bikes in the garage to spend money on:thumbsup:).
 
#151 ·
I freely admitted I paid probably about $100 in interest paying off my bike's credit card purchase. It was too good a deal to pass up, I probably saved more than that $100, but that doesn't really count.

I see a lot of posts stating that "it's a toy and not a necessity" so they only pay cash. I strongly feel myself that a bike is an investment in my health, my well being, and my sanity. I'd rather be out riding my expensive bike after work and enjoying it rather than wishing I would have bought it while riding a clunker.
I really wish more people would finance a bicycle over a flat screen t.v. the world would be a better place imho.

At first I was a little surprised that most everyone on this thread was so financially responsible, but after thinking about it for a minute it makes sense for a few reasons:

1. Average age on mtbr is in the 40s I believe which tend to be more responsible and have more disposable income.
2. Anyone admitting to paying with a credit card then skipping payments (or making interest only payments) is going to get lambasted by the responsible guys.
3. Just because someone pays cash for a bike doesn't automatically mean he's being finacially responsible. He may be skipping other bills or not paying his child support, etc.

Having said that, it's good to see that folks are being financially responsible with non-essential expenses.

I make good money but we live on a strict budget. Live debt free including our house, have 6 months emergency fund saved, medical fund, pay cash for everything including cars. etc. (Yes we are Dave Ramsey disciples) I only allow myself $400 a month for my bike habit, including bike trips. It's tough sometimes but I stick to it.

So buying a new bike takes some patience and planning. For my latest bike purchase I sold off or parted out my two main bikes and saved my monthly bike allowance for 3-4 months and I'll have enough when the new Chilcotin comes in March (amazing how much easier it is to save the bike allowance when there's no bikes in the garage to spend money on:thumbsup:).
 
#130 ·
Was a smoker for ten years, gave up in September 99.

My hobby back then was dirt bike / trail riding. I figured out how much I had been spending on cigarettes each month and that became my motorbiking budget. I had three new bikes over 10 years and a bunch of rider equipment. Couple of years ago I sold off my motorbikes and all the gear I had accumulated and this became my mountain bike fund.... bought my bikes that way - 2 new and one second hand.

My monthly spend now on MTB related activities is the same as the cost of smoking - the great thing with this is the cost of smoking keeps going up so my hobby money is index linked!
 
#134 ·
First bike, GE Capital financing thru my lbs. 12 months same as cash. If I can borrow someone else's money for a year for free, why wouldn't I? 2nd bike, stock options baby!

Sent from my mountain bike while crashing
 
#135 ·
The first (adult-life, that is) was bought in July 2011, for a 200-mile touring trip in the Austrian and Italian Alps. It was one of these more sporty hybrids - a Cube Nature Pro.

Then I was hooked. I started taking it up the mountains where I live (paved), then started taking it up the mountains on unpaved tracks. It wasn't really living up to the task, so I started lurking in this forum.

Then I sold the Cube. And I sold my car which I was using pretty much once every two weeks (the perks of living in Europe: you don't really need a motorised set of wheels). Then, last December, I bought a new FS29er. Now I want a road bike, too.
 
#137 ·
I should have actually mentioned it - I actually sold some stock options to get my latest bike. I used the CC, then paid it off the next month with a portion of the proceeds from the stock sale.
 
#138 · (Edited)
i did my weekly visit to freewheeler bike and i thought to my self i think its time to stop using my hard tail and get a full suspension frame. so i was looking at their frames and saw way in back with other frames piled on top was a fuji adventure hi trail frame. i instantly fell in love with it. so i asked Gordy the owner what do you want for this frame? he replied $100 and she's all yours. so i migrated the parts from my old frame onto my new frame. so that's how i bought my bike.
 
#139 ·
All of the current bikes and all of the bikes purchased in the past 10-15 years have been paid for with cash. I almost always buy used and to get the best deals, I offer cash.

Back when I worked in shops and bought new, I bought on a shop employee deal. For several years, I would sell the previous year's bike to a friend for whatever the new model was going to cost me. I had friends waiting for me to get my new bike each year so they could buy the previous year's bike. Basically my only investment was the amount I paid for my first bike from the shop and then each year my upgrade was paid for.
 
#140 ·
Me and my girl both have new bikes. We both are full grown mid 30's adults with career jobs. No kids and no plans to have any. We live a life of fun and adventure. Brought out the credit cards, paid for new bikes, sold old bikes and made the payments. Bikes are used, made to do what they are breed for and paid for ASAP. What can I say, most days life is good. Some days we fight,others we ride..!!!!
 
#148 ·
1. Bought a decent bike from an online retailer with decent parts.
2. Purchased a 2009 Marin Mount Vision 5.8 frame
3. Swapped all parts from the online bike to the FS frame
4. Saved the spec list from the Marin site on the actual 2009 MountVision 5.8 and every time I had some cash to spend on me I purchased parts to built the same/better bike as they were selling for $3600

Only thing I'm missing now it a Fox fork but I'm fine with the one I have and enjoy the bike.

P.S. the link in my sig is the old bike right after swapping the parts from the first bike. I didn't upload any pics with the upgraded parts but all the parts that were originally switched from the first bike to the FS frame have been upgraded and the HT bike has been put back together and sold to family member :)
 
#153 ·
Skipped a few months of child support and then stopped paying my mortgage to get a mortgage modification because they wouldn't modify it if I was on time. After a few months $12K super bike!

In reality I am very fortunate to be able to do as I please when it comes to bikes without effecting my monthly spending/savings. When I was younger I made bikes a big priority, but always paid cash except for my first high end bike which the shop owner where I worked let me pay over time.
 
#154 ·
I have a unique way of getting the bikes I want. I work full time for the Army and have 5 kids. I am in no way well off. I don't go into debt for bikes and I really like nice bikes.

So, I got a "job" with the local bike shop. I work two hours in the evening Mon-Thurs and 9 hours on Friday. My weekends are mine. I get a great shop discount and the hours I work are credited towards any purchase I want to make in the shop.

In the last year I've picked up a Giant Anthem Advanced X29er 0, a Giant TCX 2 cyclocross bike, tons of parts/clothing and nutritionals. I even get to ride any of the demo bikes anytime I'd like.

I basically feel like a crack whore working for the dealer to get the fix I need. Love it!
 
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