I am not saying $5K is budget. However, from my observation, triathlon is a sport not unlike rowing (collegiate sport where people think they yell 'row-row'). Most of the people went to well known collages and typically came from good families and are now doctors, lawyers, engineers, where $100K is actually not that much for income.
Heck, most of the MD's I've come across have tax bills bigger than $100K.
Nothing wrong with any of this. Just saying, CONTEXT is most important when looking at particular sport, the demographics and what is 'affordable'.
Go give a reference point, back in the 90's, it cost $5-6K for a single shell (rowing boat) and oars to get into the sport. And that did not include rack fees and insurance.
That all said, for more those with less discretionary money, an older aluminum P3 with older Zipp wheels is crazy fast and will not slow you down! Don't try to keep up with the Joneses, you never know if they: 1) aren't paying for the equipment, 2) have more $ than Rockefeller (no joke), 3) are living beyond there means.
Sorry if this got off topic. Not properly putting things in the right context is often the source of confusion.
jrielley wrote:
Man I just cannot get over all of these threads saying $4-5k is a "budget" bike. I guess if the average income for triathletes really is $100k that might not be bad. But for me, as a teacher with a working wife, spending that amount on a damn bike seems insane! I would LOVE to drop that on something but damn this stuff is getting a bit out of hand. It is sad for me to say but no wonder why race entries and such are dropping...things are too damn expensive!