The Trek Card gave me 12 months no interest on my Speed Concept 7.5

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I talk to myself because mine are the only answers I'll accept - George Carlin

I second the Trek card. Open one up and they will give you 12 months interest free. But really you could open up just about any credit card and get 12-15 months interest free.

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Instagram | Team Kiwami North America

Some LBS also have financing on bikes. You could approach it from that angle vs looking for a bike company.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Have you considered PayPal Credit? Formerly known as Bill Me Later.

PayPal credit is a terrible idea. Your better off with a credit line from a credit card than a one time use credit line from Paypal.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Let me be the voice of reason here.

STOP!!!

IMNSHO there are very few things in life that should be financed, and they all have ONE thing in common. There thing in common is an expected rate of return higher than the cost of lending. That leaves us with about four categories.
1) Business start up and or expansion
2) Education (and this one is sticky, but that's another conversation)
3) Personal transportation (but only to the extent to get yourself to work and back home)
4) Real estate

Buying a bike so you can fit in with a bunch of BSDs at a triathlon is a HORRIBLE financial decision based on the limited information you have given us.

Sorry to be a stick in the mud.

If you are mad at this response I encourage you to go out and attack your next workout with anger and fury. It will probably make you faster than a new bike anyway!

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Austin Hardy -

He did say 12-24 months, but its a great idea if you can pay it off in 6 months, as they almost always have 0% interest on purchases over $99 as long as you have it paid off in 6 months. Otherwise, I agree, the APR is ridiculous.

If you don't go to the CA race you could likely pay for a bike. Looks like a lot of travel in general for someone on a budget.

Who says you need $5000 for a good bike? Anyway, Performance bike has some kind of financing and carries Fuji.

Not suggesting that is the route he should go at all but it is not one time use and is essentially identical to a CC. I don't recall the specifics but you are approved for something like 500 bucks or the cost of your first purchase whichever is greater. So if he put 1000 on it that would be the limit initially and then paid off 500 the first month he would have 500 available to him just like any CC.

What size bike do you ride? (Stack/Reach)
Have you looked into starting a charity for Hyptonia Central?
Are you trying to spread awareness about those affected by this?


I'm not trying to be a dickhead as I'm genuinely interested in your story. In order to legitimize your request (rather than proceed it with a "I'm not asking for charity") I suggest you setup a non-profit charity and then use Triathlon as the platform to spread the awareness. I think then you will find that it benefits the companies to give to charity (tax breaks) and to also be associated with good will for branding.


This is obviously if you can't find a local shop willing or able to finance you. Also I assume if financing is the case why not take out a personal line of credit with your bank (assuming your in good standing credit with them). They are typically lower interest rates than financing companies used for this. Also there is coming to grips with reality. If you don't have the money to purchase a bike, financing is not available then put together what you can and just go out there and have fun. Also if you can't afford a bike then don't sign up for destination races which will further reduce your budget. Get a bike, race local and adjust your plans, you're being a bit delusional here....

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

If I remember correctly, it used to be you would only get approved for the amount of the purchase vs having a set limit like a credit card. That's why I think its not worth having a hard credit pull for something like that. I've also read PayPal does not report your activity on your credit report so having low utilization won't help your score. Basically, you get a hard pull on your credit with no benefit in the long term.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

I'm not saying he shouldn't be financing his bike. However you're making the incorrect assumption that rate of return can only be measured monetarily. As a broke college student I funded my bike by buying it piece by piece and building it up as I could afford it, spent about 1500 in total. Looking back on it, I would place the monetary return I've gotten out of it(in terms of happiness) in the 4,000-5,000 dollar range, and would gladly have paid this extra amount to have it ready to go and rideable, when I decided it was time for a new bike, rather than having to wait a year to buy and build it.

That's great when you are a poor college student. When you have a wife and a sick kid and no money, going deeper into debt over a hobby is irresponsible and "want" sometimes has to get off the bus to let "need" get on.

Don't! If you don't have cash to buy a bike, AND don't have cash to replace it if you crashed it, then you should not be buying an expensive bike.

Seriously. Get a used aluminum P3 for $1000. It will go nearly as well as a P5. So much so that you need a wind tunnel to tell the difference.

+1... bought a used aluminum p3 on slowtwitch, scrounged up some old components I had laying around, and now I have a bike that's pretty darn close to being as fast as most current tri bikes.

Lot of assumptions about finance made in this thread. As a financial professional, I figured I'd weigh in a bit but not before this statement:

Someone mentioned that buying a bike you can't afford to buy with cash, especially when your budget is tight, is not a good idea. I generally agree with that.

That said, if you must have it - financing is not that big of a deal as long as:

• You don't pay any interest.
• Don't care if your credit gets temporarily dinged by the transaction. Whoever extends credit to you for this will want to check with the credit reporting bureaus and that will cost you some. Both the request and the relatively high utilization ratio on that line (if you're approved for say...3500 and buy a 3500 dollar bike) If you don't rely on credit very much - no big deal. If you want to buy a house in 6 months...not a good idea.

Someone also mentioned setting up a NFP and maybe get donations. Not bad, probably too involved, though. There is a misperception about the tax value of donations to companies. When a company gives their product away, it's an expense deducted from their revenues for tax purposes. Whether or not they give it to the Red Cross or just to Joe Shmoe from down the street. In other words, if you can convince a shop or a bike company to give you free stuff, the tax treatment of their giveaway will be the same as if they'd given it to Livestrong.

Good luck with triathlons but even more than that I wish you and your family the best of health!

it isn't one time use like the other poster stated, but it does ding your credit report as a hard inquiry but does not show as a line of credit. So worst of both worlds. If you are dead set on financing, do so through a normal cc with 12-15 months no interest. Could be useful in the future as opposed to a store only cc (like Trek Card)

Buying a bike so you can fit in with a bunch of BSDs at a triathlon is a HORRIBLE financial decision based on the limited information you have given us.

I agree.

Money and credit ain't crack, but just as addictive for some people. Instead of 12 step programs, this sort of thing is encouraged.

How does posting on Slowtwitch result in a positive return on capital?

My LBS offers a Freedom to Ride account that is through Syncrony. It offers 12 months No Interest. I know Trek has something similar but the Freedom to Ride allows you to finance anything over $299 I believe

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2011 Fuji D6 3.0
2012 Specialized Allez

I agree...lots of travel for a tight budget. Even assuming that he drives to every race and flies to Cali, the gas and fare costs are going to be over $1000. Factor in hotel for 3-4 nights, that's another $2k - 2.5K. Figure another $500 - $1000 for incidentals/ car maint, etc. Food could easily push the total costs up to over $6000.

Race locally for a year on the beater bike and buy something next season when you may have some more budget room.

That being said, the Trek card is a pretty good deal for what I've seen.

I should have clarified on the Trek Card.... I agree with not buying what you can't afford. I don't really use credit much and got the card to use/pay off/have low balance that would help my credit score. I could have just bought the bike cash, but used the card and paid off in six months.

Don't over-extend. I was on a ride last fall on my fancy expensive carbon road bike, and a bearded guy on what I'm guessing was a 1970's steel bike with no name on it went past me uphill like I was standing still.

It's like going to the casino... if you can't afford to lose/replace it, you can't afford to spend it. Upgrading the engine costs way less (unless you buy groceries at whole foods).

Edit: My LBS lets you use the Trek Card for everything in the store too.. not just Trek... so i used it for a wetsuit, paid off...wheels, paid off, etc etc

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I talk to myself because mine are the only answers I'll accept - George Carlin

+1

There is so much stupid on this thread yet you're completely sensible response has been largely ignored. Oh well. Guess that's why the banks and credit card companies do so well.

+2

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource