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life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice?
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So I wrecked my 7 year old road bike on saturday. Derailleur hangar snapped while riding and the derailleur broke the seat stays and chain stays on my main bike. I have gone back to riding my spare bike ( an old Cannondale CAAD 4 that is wayyy too small) and have a TT bike for TTs and Tris. I do race alot of road races though, so I will need a new race bike sooner or later.

While looking for a replacement I've been offered a really good superbike deal by my local sponsor shop- a Bianchi Oltre XR4 framset for almost half price. it's a smoking deal I'm not likely to get again and the oltre is really a bike I've lusted after. I could buy something cheaper- after all a superbike frame at half price is still a relatively big expense- but the price is really good.

Thing is, I'm also saving for a house and my wedding next year. spending on a bike isn't really going to wreck those plans, because I've been disciplined- I already have a good amount squirreled away (~$50k for a downpayment on a house and renovations, ~$12k for wedding costs, and my fiancee is chipping in a similar amount for both), but any little bit I can put away would help given these large expenses in about a year's time. This wasn't a planned expense though, so I'd have to dip into some of my spare cash and live abit lean for the next few months.

Slowtwitchers who have had more life experience... your thoughts?
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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I bought a super bike as a wedding present to myself. Same cost as the engagement ring so it evens out.. I made sure I kept my savings for the bike separate.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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Certainly I always stare with wonder and incomprehension at people's lavish spending on a single day of their lives. Many tens of $1000's on basically being queen for a day, feeding a load of tenuous acquaintances, and financially hobbling yourselves as you embark on adult life... That money could kit out your house, or buy a couple of cars, or be holidays for the next 5 years... Or buy a bike and still be the above....

Some of my friends had lavish weddings, some of their marriages are already over. Money well spent?. It's easy to express the same love in a small, private legal ceremony where you aren't under pressure to spend $500 on special napkin rings and another $1000 on harp players FFS. I went the cheap route and i'm still married 15 years later and we don't regret our way of doing it for a second.

A long way of saying - buy the bike. You always need your toys.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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If she loves you and it was meant to be she will understand...
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [Shambolic] [ In reply to ]
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Shambolic wrote:
If she loves you and it was meant to be she will understand...
this 100%
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [RCCo] [ In reply to ]
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Fortunately (or unfortunately) I am marrying an asian girl. Asians have a strong tradition where a fancy wedding dinner is pretty much the norm, so its a non negotiable here. We arent planning anything very fancy by asian standards, trust me. Just a 'medium sized' wedding.

The thing is, it's also in asian culture for wedding guests to give a token of blessing to the couple and this usually takes the form of cash. Most guests usually cover the cost of their seat at the wedding dinner and I expect to recover most of the wedding expenses.
In Reply To:
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [Shambolic] [ In reply to ]
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Shambolic wrote:
If she loves you and it was meant to be she will understand...

Couldn't agree more! And that understanding is why my house fund has just been used to order my crash replacement bike that the insurance company are arguing over and may never pay out fully for.

Along with the first reply!

I will be asking my GF to marry me and I know that we will be spending next to nothing on the wedding. Yes we will want to celebrate it with our friends but that doesnt need to involve spending thousands on napkin rings(love that!!) and other useless rubbish that serves no purpose. We will be using the 'wedding' money for some nice additions to the house we plan to buy.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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You're choosing a *Bianchi* over your future-wife? Priorities man...

Ordinarily I'd tell someone to suck it up and look after their future, but you sound like you have it financially sorted, and you've made a few sacrifices to get there. So buy the frameset and make yourself happy. It won't do either of you any good to have you feeling like you 'could have' had the bike that you wanted.

Just make sure that your wife can go out and buy something she's been wanting, whatever that is. (If she can think about anything other than her wedding - I've just had this same scenario. The wedding was wonderful, we're saving for a house, and I'm putting a bit away for a P3 to replace my old Quintana Roo.)

'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [georged] [ In reply to ]
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For balance you should probably also ask this question on a less "male" forum ;)
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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davidalone wrote:
So I wrecked my 7 year old road bike on saturday. Derailleur hangar snapped while riding and the derailleur broke the seat stays and chain stays on my main bike. I have gone back to riding my spare bike ( an old Cannondale CAAD 4 that is wayyy too small) and have a TT bike for TTs and Tris. I do race alot of road races though, so I will need a new race bike sooner or later.

While looking for a replacement I've been offered a really good superbike deal by my local sponsor shop- a Bianchi Oltre XR4 framset for almost half price. it's a smoking deal I'm not likely to get again and the oltre is really a bike I've lusted after. I could buy something cheaper- after all a superbike frame at half price is still a relatively big expense- but the price is really good.

Thing is, I'm also saving for a house and my wedding next year. spending on a bike isn't really going to wreck those plans, because I've been disciplined- I already have a good amount squirreled away (~$50k for a downpayment on a house and renovations, ~$12k for wedding costs, and my fiancee is chipping in a similar amount for both), but any little bit I can put away would help given these large expenses in about a year's time. This wasn't a planned expense though, so I'd have to dip into some of my spare cash and live abit lean for the next few months.

Slowtwitchers who have had more life experience... your thoughts?

We know enough about bikes. I don't know enough about your fiancé to give you advice.

If she is not going to make you poor and divorce you in the future, it's a tougher call. If she is like women who file for divorce to cash out, then no.

Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [IT] [ In reply to ]
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She out earns me by quite abit and that is going to remain for the forseeable future, so I don't see that as a very high likelihood of happening.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [IT] [ In reply to ]
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IT wrote:
....We know enough about bikes. I don't know enough about your fiancé to give you advice.

If she is not going to make you poor and divorce you in the future, it's a tougher call. If she is like women who file for divorce to cash out, then no.
While I find this whole thread odd (asking on a public forum about how to manage your personal life has always seemed pretty odd to me), this comment in particular just seems weird.

Surely those two queries about his fiance are reasons whether or not to marry her rather than whether or not to buy a bike!

It reads like you think women come in these two options and you're asking which he ordered! If it's not stated on the order confirmation, how can he tell which type he's got? ;)
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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Have you gotten a professional fitting yet? You need to make sure the measurements on that ride work before you make the investment.

Oh, and make sure the Bianchi fits too.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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Discuss it with her and make the decision together. I have a lot of life experience and this is what I would do. It doesn't matter what people on an internet forum think you should do.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [JRTX] [ In reply to ]
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I can only second this advice.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]
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Ai_1 wrote:
IT wrote:
....We know enough about bikes. I don't know enough about your fiancé to give you advice.

If she is not going to make you poor and divorce you in the future, it's a tougher call. If she is like women who file for divorce to cash out, then no.

While I find this whole thread odd (asking on a public forum about how to manage your personal life has always seemed pretty odd to me), this comment in particular just seems weird.

Surely those two queries about his fiance are reasons whether or not to marry her rather than whether or not to buy a bike!

It reads like you think women come in these two options and you're asking which he ordered! If it's not stated on the order confirmation, how can he tell which type he's got? ;)

You've seen some of the other stuff he's posted, right?

Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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[pink]Do you see yourself riding your wife in another 7 years?[/pink]
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [mspeas] [ In reply to ]
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I have found this strategy works well and if you have good negotiation skills will work dividends whilst retaining trust. I am in similar position with wife earning a bit more than me, but have discussed my way to a second hand TT bike and Assioma power meter - both ideas were initially shot down in flames but I persevered without being a tool about it. Being switched on about deals when they come up also works well...
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [Richard Blaine] [ In reply to ]
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Richard Blaine wrote:
Ai_1 wrote:
IT wrote:
....We know enough about bikes. I don't know enough about your fiancé to give you advice.

If she is not going to make you poor and divorce you in the future, it's a tougher call. If she is like women who file for divorce to cash out, then no.

While I find this whole thread odd (asking on a public forum about how to manage your personal life has always seemed pretty odd to me), this comment in particular just seems weird.

Surely those two queries about his fiance are reasons whether or not to marry her rather than whether or not to buy a bike!

It reads like you think women come in these two options and you're asking which he ordered! If it's not stated on the order confirmation, how can he tell which type he's got? ;)

You've seen some of the other stuff he's posted, right?
Fair point. I shouldn't be too surprised.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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davidalone wrote:
Fortunately (or unfortunately) I am marrying an asian girl. Asians have a strong tradition where a fancy wedding dinner is pretty much the norm, so its a non negotiable here. We arent planning anything very fancy by asian standards, trust me. Just a 'medium sized' wedding.

The thing is, it's also in asian culture for wedding guests to give a token of blessing to the couple and this usually takes the form of cash. Most guests usually cover the cost of their seat at the wedding dinner and I expect to recover most of the wedding expenses.
In Reply To:

Our wedding was pretty low-key. It was still expensive for a one-day affair, but we wanted to avoid anything that seemed overly fancy, gaudy, extravagant, etc. That didn't fit either of our's tastes. And yeah, she's Asian. Other weddings we've gone to on her side have been fancier than ours, but not by *that* much.

I will concur that most of the guests on her side gave us cash as a gift.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [Bob Loblaw] [ In reply to ]
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Get the bike.
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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davidalone wrote:
Fortunately (or unfortunately) I am marrying an asian girl. Asians have a strong tradition where a fancy wedding dinner is pretty much the norm, so its a non negotiable here. We arent planning anything very fancy by asian standards, trust me. Just a 'medium sized' wedding.

The thing is, it's also in asian culture for wedding guests to give a token of blessing to the couple and this usually takes the form of cash. Most guests usually cover the cost of their seat at the wedding dinner and I expect to recover most of the wedding expenses.


It's also "Asian tradition" for the bride's family to pay for the wedding. ;)
Last edited by: aravilare: Jan 4, 18 5:30
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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If you’re asking us if it’s right it’s probably wrong
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [JRTX] [ In reply to ]
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JRTX wrote:
Discuss it with her and make the decision together. I have a lot of life experience and this is what I would do. It doesn't matter what people on an internet forum think you should do.

This
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Re: life decisions- superbike or savings for marriage- advice? [davidalone] [ In reply to ]
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It's pretty simple...you ask her what she thinks. If you buy this bike and she's against it, it will be the most expensive bike ever.

Right now...no kids (I assume)...no house...this is the time to buy a relatively luxury item.

In my situation...if my wife really wanted something I thought was stupid I'd get it for her if I could...and she has never balked at the price tags of my stupid bike purchases, but the ones I make are generally ones I've planned on for a long time and get a lot of use out of.
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