Why did you buy THAT bike????

[sq_root_of_2]

I see comments often on here, where someone will say. "I want that bike" or "I have always wanted one of those,".......etc.

So the question is why?

> Have you ridden one and really like it?
> Do you just like the looks of it?
> Have you ever bought a bike that you lusted after and then were disappointed when you rode it?
> Did you buy it because other people said it was a great bike?
> Did you buy it for status?

I know I have wanted certain cars over the years but once I sat in them and took them out for a drive they just weren't right for me. I imagine that could happen with a bike as well.

Just some questions for thought and possible discussion.

 

[barry2017]

The one I'm looking for is a new version of Lazarus, my first good bike from BITD. I loved him, we had some great events, but he was pinched by some travellers.

And yes, I put most of the dents on him through misadventure.

Here he was, carrying wood to my old mooring:

 

[mikee]

some bikes are just on a want list . appearance , interest or just to
add to existing bikes in a collection type thing
if they're cheap (and most are) its worth a punt

 

[lewis1641]

Wanted a team model khs when i was younger because it was the best bike in the shop.

Currently hankering for a late 90's proflex. Thought they looked good but very interested to see how they ride-my early 90's 852 is great. Thanks to sidewinder and his generosity there's one on its way to me right now.

 

[Stylus]

Well in my area its not like you can try out various different bikes, especially the ones we like.
Myself i've been interested in mountainbikes since i rode my friends e-stay back in the early nineties, been to a lot of expo's and stuff and made lists of all the parts that i wanted on my dreambike. But that bike never materialized.

Fast forward 15-20 years and i find myself in a pretty good job and again, wanting a bike. Next up I registered for retrobike, mtbr.com, visiting bikepro and numerous other specialists sites and then went on the local classifieds and jumped in head first and bought myself a Klein. Before you know it i'm sourcing bits and pieces and i think nothing is left untouched but the frame. Not that it is finished, i'm just riding the bike atm and have a pile of parts laying around until i have everything for the big overhaul.

So i bouht it because i always wanted something like it, this was the right size and the right time. Is it my ideal bike, no probably not, but so far its loads of fun.

 

[Terry_hill]

A big chunk of it has to be the fact we all lusted after these bikes back when we first started out and unless we had a dozen paper rounds, very nice parents or were selling our bodies we had no way of affording them.

Jump forwards 15 years and we find ourselves for the most part with jobs and enough disposable income to afford those objects of lust which have also decended in price to the point where you don't feel guilty if your not out on it every day!

I'd love a San Andreas first full sus bike I thought looked like it new what it was doing. They still seem to be pretty difficult to lay your hands on though!

 

[amandar]

A big chunk of it has to be the fact we all lusted after these bikes back when we first started out and unless we had a dozen paper rounds, very nice parents or were selling our bodies we had no way of affording them.

Jump forwards 15 years and we find ourselves for the most part with jobs and enough disposable income to afford those objects of lust which have also decended in price to the point where you don't feel guilty if your not out on it every day!

Exactly.

 

[Tad]

The one I'm looking for is a new version of Lazarus, my first good bike from BITD.

What's the story behind the battering ram?

 

[Rich Aitch]

Almost all the bikes I've had have been chosen just because I like the looks of them. The exceptions were two Peugeots- one chosen by my parents because they were paying the other a £20 deal from a mates dad when I needed a second bike for commuting- and a motorbike which was the only model of "bike" I'd ridden before and really liked. Some have just been magazine pictures that fired me up. My Kawasaki and green Stumpjumper are both in this category.
None of them have ever disappointed because their abilities easily outweigh my own skills but my 1991 Marin Muirwoods comes closest to been underwelming as although it is a loved bike it is heavier and less balletic than the rest of my machinery. I recall an annoying greb from school who lived in the next street having a Muirwoods and been very jealous. Oddly the more illustrious Marin's never seemed to be seen out and about, maybe people in Yorkshire couldn't afford them! So maybe that memory made it a bit of a [Inverse?] status buy.

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

I see comments often on here, where someone will say. "I want that bike" or "I have always wanted one of those,".......etc.

So the question is why?

> Have you ridden one and really like it?
> Do you just like the looks of it?
> Have you ever bought a bike that you lusted after and then were disappointed when you rode it?
> Did you buy it because other people said it was a great bike?
> Did you buy it for status?

I know I have wanted certain cars over the years but once I sat in them and took them out for a drive they just weren't right for me. I imagine that could happen with a bike as well.

Just some questions for thought and possible discussion.

All of the above.
I clicked each one of those, but ultimately found myself cycling through a great many bikes. I was beginning to think I was a collector, but realized, I don't have the room or funds to really do collecting justice. So I'm a rider, and as such, have really begun to prioritize fit and finish, along with durability. Unfortunately, that too, has a good deal of trial and error involved.
The one I'd say the least of the choices you provided, was the disappointed one. I'm rarely disappointed in the old bikes I pick up, and when I am, it's mostly in that the size is all wrong.

Buying a bike for status is the worst of the ones mentioned, only because the air of high status is fleeting. For me, at least, it's the least satisfying of those reasons.