How does ageing affects your purchasing prospects?

[fossyant]

Cannot say I have noticed that.

However, I tend not to look at expenditure in terms of "will it improve ... whatever", but, rather, I think, "if I don't spend it, the children will".

Or the council will when you have to go in a Nursing Home, god forbid.

 

[fossyant]

There comes a point when you start to expose yourself to ridicule. I've seen overweight septuagenarians turning up for an evening "10" on £6000 TT bikes, which might enable them to go round in 28 minutes 30 instead of 29 minutes. To be brutally honest, no-one over about 35 has a hope in hell of winning a major stage race, so those MAMILs - or, as the Americans would have it, "dentists on Pinarellos" - are fooling themselves if they think they need such a machine. It doesn't do any real harm, though.

Keeps the cycling market going though.

 

[Smudge]

I dont buy expensive high spec on anything, even though i could afford to if i wanted. I wont buy cheap crap, i just buy stuff that is at a certain quality level i think will serve its purpose for me, i dont need anything more. This goes for cars, motorcycles, cycles, watches, clothes, hifi, anything really.
It was different when i was younger. I always wanted the more expensive cool stuff...... but i'm long past all that.

 

[rogerzilla]

Cycling is one of those markets where there is a real sweet spot for price/performance. If you buy a light bike and put fast tyres on it (few bikes come with the best of tyres, even quite expensive bikes), that's as fast and/or efficient as you're going to get. Weight and tyres are the two important things. Other stuff might save a few grams, last longer, look nicer or be more convenient, but you really are into diminishing returns. Anyway, I'd rather have five different £1000 bikes than one £5000 bike

 

[Ajax Bay]

Weight [is one of the] two [most] important things.

Nope - well not the weight of the bike and its bits; and not your body weight either.

 

[Cycleops]

It was different when i was younger. I always wanted the more expensive cool stuff...... but i'm long past all that.

That's right, who are we going to impress?

 

[rogerzilla]

Nope - well not the weight of the bike and its bits; and not your body weight either.

Go on, I'll bite. Why is weight not important?

 

[lane]

I don't justify it I lie about it.

 

[Slick]

Go on, I'll bite. Why is weight not important?

I spoke with a guy today who spoke at length on rigidity being much more important than weight.

 

[ColinJ]

20-25 years ago, I could afford to spend thousands of pounds on bikes, and did.

Now, in my cash-strapped mid-60s, I can't, so I don't!

If I had the money I would probably update my collection of bikes one last time, and then make them last until my dotage, which is becoming scarily closer with every year that passes...

 

[vickster]

It's my money. I only have to justify spending to myself. I could stick more in a pension but that's really boring I suppose I could go back to working 5 days a week but that's boring too I'm fortunate in that I still earn rather more than I can justify spending on stuff to myself

 

[rogerzilla]

I spoke with a guy today who spoke at length on rigidity being much more important than weight.

It's important to the extent that it reduces tyre scrub or brake rub.

 

[cyberknight]

getting older just means kids need more stuff so i cant afford or justify expense.

 

[cyberknight]

I spoke with a guy today who spoke at length on rigidity being much more important than weight.

according to the blurb pro teams fork out aero is everything these days

 

[lane]

To me even a relatively expensive bike is good value. The frame on my bike is guaranteed for 10 years so if I divide cost by 10 it's very little cost per year. Hopefully it will last more than 10 years.