Complementing people's new bikes

[Chigley]

I never know what to say, to their desperate tugs of the elbow of the social approval monster called society.

I always raise my eyebrows, not enough to waste any energy, and immediately start thinking about science fiction films... anything that can make me look into the distance before the fateful question...

'You don't like it, do you? What's wrong with it?'

I have no choice then but to be honest, and state:

'An ugly rider needs an ugly bike'

 

[mickle]

I made my cousin cry when I told her that I thought her new bike was 'a piece of sh!t'. Ho hum. You cant not tell em.

 

[ChrisKH]

I had some bloke in the playground telling me he had bought a couple of bikes (Ammaco if I recall) for under £150 for him and his daughter and how great they were and how fit he was going to be................

I just smiled weakly. The next time I saw him I was on my road bike and appropriately dressed. The look he gave me, meant the clanger had dropped and he realised (potentially) what a gaffe he had made. This is a gentleman who calls his cars 'babies' and buys a new Ford whatever every two years. Doesn't like to lose face. I didn't need to say anything.

Irony of it was he had just parked his (new) car outside my house on a hill whilst picking up his daughter (who is friends with my son) and he left the handbrake off. Someone knocked on the door and informed him his car had rolled backwards, mounted the kerb, crashed into one of those roadside salt dispensers and mounted it.

 

[Carwash]

I had some bloke in the playground telling me he had bought a couple of bikes (Ammaco if I recall) for under £150 for him and his daughter and how great they were and how fit he was going to be................

Nothing wrong with that - my bike was well under £150, and it's lovely. But it was second-hand, not new. I assume the bikes in your story were brand new, fresh from Halfords?

 

[Kirstie]

One of my friends got one of those '2 for £99' bikes from the back of the paper. She asked me if I liked her new mountain bike, to which I replied 'it's lovely, but never take it near a mountain'. It got nicked within weeks. But to her credit, she rode it a lot until it did.

 

[ChrisKH]

Actually that makes me look like a bike snob but I'm not. I can't afford to be not with the top end gear some of the guys on here ride. Also if I was locking my bike up at the station, Ammaco would do just fine. It was more the fact that he would spend £18k on a car (admittedly with a Ford discount, which just about every family has where I live, well, except me) every two years but £75 on a bike.
I have said so many times 'you really would benefit from spending just a couple of £100 more' and you just get this 'are you mad?' look/response. So I don't bother now. Different priorities I suppose.

 

[twowheelsgood]

Of course all the cool kids own an old bike and do their talking through their riding.

 

[zimzum42]

I have a problem accepting the compliment. I admit all my bikes are nice, but I never know what to say to people who tell me so.......

 

[Fnaar]

This is how the exchange should go
A: "Hey, nice bike, mate!"
b: "Cheers..."

 

[Dave. T]

just bought an ammaco myself for £15.78 of ebay. its a monte carlo racer 4130 tubing and Tony Doyles sig to boot.Dont know much about it but Looks great to me and just what i needed to get me back on the road. Dave

 

[Cathryn]

I have a problem accepting the compliment. I admit all my bikes are nice, but I never know what to say to people who tell me so.......

I just beam and agree!! I love it when people complement my bike - if only they knew it was the lady I bought her from that souped her up and that I'm clueless!!

 

[bonj2]

Actually that makes me look like a bike snob but I'm not. I can't afford to be not with the top end gear some of the guys on here ride. Also if I was locking my bike up at the station, Ammaco would do just fine. It was more the fact that he would spend £18k on a car (admittedly with a Ford discount, which just about every family has where I live, well, except me) every two years but £75 on a bike.
I have said so many times 'you really would benefit from spending just a couple of £100 more' and you just get this 'are you mad?' look/response. So I don't bother now. Different priorities I suppose.

this attitude annoys me too. Even some of the people on here have something against spending a bit of money on decent kit, how often is there a post saying "Which so-and-so for less than a twenty quid?" or "Recommend me a thingy for a tenner."

 

[Noodley]

This is how the exchange should go
A: "Hey, nice bike, mate!"
b: "Cheers..."

Correct - it's the perfect conversation.

 

[barq]

just bought an ammaco myself for £15.78 of ebay. its a monte carlo racer 4130 tubing and Tony Doyles sig to boot.Dont know much about it but Looks great to me and just what i needed to get me back on the road. Dave

Well if it gets you back on the road you can't say fairer than that!

 

[TVC]

It's the same as when people insist that you say something nice when they thrust their new baby in front of you. All you can do is be polite and change the subject as soon as possible.