Well, that was mean.

No, she says my farts smell like roses. She doesn’t really care how many bikes I buy, it’s the time I spend riding them instead of hanging with the family that she cares about.

No regrets, but plenty of things that didn’t meet my exceptions and were kind of a PITA to sell later.

I solved the guest room mattress problem by getting her a new custom painted BMC roadmachine frameset and gravel bike at the same time I got my new road frame and gravel bike :)

I've been riding an S-Works Tarmac for the last three weeks and I'm super impressed with it. Lots of money? Yep, though I didn't buy it so there's no reason for me to justify a purchase in my mind. It's just a great riding bike. Would a Pro or Expert level ride similarly? Sure, but if you can afford the purchase, and it will make you happy, why not do it?

I would ask yourself how many hours do you spend riding your bike weekly, monthly, or yearly? Most people on this forum spend a ton of their free time on their bikes, so why not make sure that experience is as enjoyable to you as possible? That alone is reason enough for me if I were spending my money.

I had been riding the same bike for many years. It's a sentimental beast having been ridden in one stage of the Tour and then given to me by the team. I didn't think I was missing out on much; I had upgraded to Di2, put some nice aero wheels on it, and an aero road bar as well. It's paint is unique so it looks great. Why would I upgrade? I really didn't think I was missing out on much. Then I was given the Tarmac and my eyes were opened. This bike feels so much better, handles better, and is a joy to ride. It's lighter and more aero which I see in my times on regular ride segments. My racing days are over, so I don't much care about that, but it's still cool to see quicker times for identical power output.

There are people who get joy out of finding deals on bikes, or holding on to bikes for decades. I think that's awesome. Whatever creates joy in your life and doesn't hurt others I'm good with. I don't understand the need for putting people down who choose to purchase an S-Works type bike from any manufacturer. I don't see why it matters if they have the money. I don't care if they're overweight, have little experience, or ride the bike only once or twice a month. The sport needs everyone; the more the better because folks who buy the best stuff make it possible for manufacturers to trickle the technologies down to the lesser expensive equipment. No one is getting hurt...everybody wins. I don't get the hate. We all know where it comes from, but to me it's just a failure to see the bigger picture.

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Jim Manton / ERO Sports

Cyclng is a herd sport where people roll around incessantly and neurotically checking around the peloton to figure out where they fit in the hierachy. Be that physically or socioeconomically its primal programming. add to that the humbling honesty of discovering your physical prowess and having to post it on strava... Then youre just inviting compensation buying.

That said, there are a few main groups:
A) people passionate about bikes, design or tech
B) people that think they can buy speed
C) people that think they can buy status
D) people who think high end bikes are poor mans attainable ferraris
E) nerdy people that see cycling as a superpower often have good salaries
F) people that 8k sounds like a good time
G) people who need the marginal gains

For 90% anything above 105 is a statement or neurosis not a necessity

I think this video embodies what riding a conspicuous consumption bike actually feels like......



Riding 10k bikes is a way to distinguish themselves and feel evolved beyond teenagers with no money also into bikes

I have a Tarmac SL6 pro disc version and I absolutely love it. Completely different experience from an endurance bike, so snappy and responsive, lots of fun to ride.
As to the question of why an S-works when you get can get the pro version for much less, well, it’s complicated. In my club, there are a lot of people on s-works, it’s just part of the local culture, same way some neighborhoods have a BMW in every driveway. Personally I can’t bring myself to spend that much on a bike, but I sometimes ask myself what I would choose if I were going to spend that much. I love the way the tarmac rides, but I am not skilled enough to to be able to appreciate the subtle differences between the s-works and the lower level tarmac. I think for that kind of money I would be tempted to look for a more exotic brand, something that’s more of a collectors item. Colnago C64 maybe?

I think this is a good point - your local bike club culture you belong to likely has more influence on what bike you purchase than anything. My local club has always been performance orientated with more of a gravel bent to it. As we've aged and have more disposable income, it seems we've all gravitated to custom steel/ti bikes.

We did a group ride a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't help but notice that all 6 of us were on custom gravel bikes! I started laughing and made the comment to everyone that we're officially middle age bike geeks with enough disposable income to afford our "old man bikes". Within the group was my English, 2 ti T-labs, a Firefly, an Altruiste, and a fancy custom carbon Italian builder, Sarto. Quite the collection - none of us seem to talk about mainstream bikes at the coffee shops, but we all still appreciate how awesome they are and look.

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Jim -- Thanks for the insights and perspective. I completely agree the hating on people with expensive bikes who are too fat/slow/whatever to "deserve" them is misplaced.

FWIW -- I in no way intended for this thread to insult anyone who has a high end race bike but doesn't race it. I was just trying to understand why you purchased it. And also kind of searching for an explanation/rationalization for why I ALSO WANT an S-Works Venge despite having no intention of ever racing it. (Even if I were to enter a mass start race, I'd ride my aluminum bike worth less than my TT race wheels).

Anyhow, thanks all. I actually just ordered a Venge to match my Shiv. I'm sure Jim wouldn't approve of my fit on it as it will be like 3cm lower than what I'm used to riding, but I'm pretty psyched. We'll see how it lives up to the expectations. We'll see if I can set some new PBs on local segments.

And before someone says something mean about what a dick I am to buy so many unnecessarily high end bikes when 30M Americans face eviction this year due to COVID-related financial hardship, I'll be the first to admit, yes, there is a hole inside my soul. But there is a hole in all of us. You can fill yours by hurling insults at people with a nicer bike than you yet a lower FTP/KG. And I keep trying to fill mine with bikes, sweat, finisher medals, and the satisfaction of occasionally convincing a friend to get outside with me or signup for a race.

Edited for general application.

I feel like something people don't consider is sometimes the expensive bike makes you excited to ride the bike, and riding the bike is healthy exercise. Those guys who are a bit tubby riding their super bike are getting active, which is encouraging.

I guess what I am saying is if blowing 10k on your new venge means you just want to ride more, I think thats money well spent. People spend more money on stupider things that they will not use, and if you use it and can afford it then why not! My friends are younger and laugh at me blowing 4k on a race road bike (which is an insane price for what I got mind you), but I will be spending hundreds of hours on this thing and it makes me happy and I use it for it's purpose as a tool to train for my triathlon races. My friends are looking to blow 3-4k on a single trip to vegas or a beach vacay or whatever. I travel cheap and spend it on bikes and races. I feel like I get better mileage out of my purchases, but different strokes for different folk. I will admit though, my hobby makes me healthier, theirs makes them fat!

i love this outlook. thanks for that post.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Lmfao I just saw your post on WW, glad to see you went with the venge (I am just skimming the first post and realized it was you!) I think the venge looks way sicker. FWIW I would totally choose the venge over the SL7, and I just got a bike basically with similar looks to the venge because i was smitten with the looks.

Report back on how the thing rides!

I agree with this take, a $10,000 bike that you use is better than a $200 bike that you don't.

The problem with a 200 dollar bike is that it leaves you with 9800dollars more to other things and if you cant handle the distraction itll make you a worse cyclist

Okay, so I got the S-Works Venge a couple weeks ago and have put it through it’s paces with some hard rides, tempo rides, and longer endurance rides. I even took it on some light gravel. It’s awesome and has exceeded my expectations in every way.

Why get a road race bike if you don’t race road bikes?

It’s really fun to ride with a tailwind right? Well, the Venge feels like you have a slight tailwind all the time.

And now when I get on my endurance or gravel bike (which are still damn nice bikes) it feels like riding with a headwind, or through mud, all the time.

Sure there are downsides — mainly less compliance when riding over crappy asphalt, more rattling, but I think that has more to do with tire choice and pressure than anything. I’m actually super curious how the Venge would feel on 30c tubeless rubber running lower pressure and will test it out once the Turbo Cottons inevitably puncture.

I’m a happy camper. I might actually sell the Ti Enigma. I no longer see a use for it.

That's what I run on mine (on the training wheels). Challenge Strada Bianca TLR running 55/58 PSI. Comfy as can be.

Most people I know who bought the Venge ended up very happy with the bike. I love mine - the way it rides but also the looks and the confidence that this is a top notch machine in almost every aspect. I don’t ride in the mountains so I don’t care about the small weight penalty. There was no contest in my mind between the Venge and the Tarmac when I made my choice. Interesting that Specialized decided to kill it this year - as good as the bike was, there probably wasn’t enough sales to make it worthwhile.

PS I do race it from time to time and even if I didn’t - I could care less what people say. As far as custom made bikes - I think these things are actually more likely to be pure status symbols because they are made in low quantities by companies with negligible R&D budgets, this is just common sense.

I always thought the new bikes with increased tire clearance seemed like awesome machines. For what it's worth, I also rode my new rig a bit with 28's on there and holy crap, even though the tires were not top end hoops, it was noticeably smoother. The tire clearance is also very noticeable, as there seems to be room for maybe a 32 on my whip.

I have to pimp my super bike up a bit before it is "road worthy" which might be in 2021, but I am super excited to use it in the winter on the trainer and look forward to feeling the difference, although my bike resume is not nearly as extensive as yours.

How was the weight? I personally don't know if I could reeeeally notice the weight. I don't think I can discern the differences but the sex factor on an aero bike for me is what sold me on mine. I have 2 porkers now and I am not sure if I will bother getting a weight weenie, as my next bike will likely be either a gravel or some crit machine that can be easily replaced if i decide to try crits.

That's what all smart people do, and is one of the main reasons CAADs sell so well. Half the SL5/6/7s I've seen in my neck of the woods have the stems sitting on top of the leaning tower of Pisa 🙄

I get wanting a nice bike, but FFS, be honest with yourself about how you'll use it.

I bought a 2006 Specialized E-Works Tarmac. Loved it. It fell off my bike rack and was destroyed. Crash replacement bought me a 2010 S-Works Tarmac. I had that until 2018 when I changed to a Non S-Works Roubaix for the reasons you mentioned.

I was 33 when I initially bought the Tarmac and I considered myself more hardcore then. After doing Ironman and mostly long, slow rides. By my fourties, I realized I will probably never do a road race. It took a decade or more to sink in.

My first bike was a Cervélo s2 (it's still my road bike). It seemed high-end at the time but the idea of 10k bicycles hadn't entered my mind yet. I used it to commute 45 minutes to work. So sue me ;p

Why'd I get it? Well, I tested out the Cervélo and some aluminum bike I don't remember that was less than half the price. I hadn't been on a bicycle in 20 years at that point so I would have been fine with either one. I didn't follow cycling or TdF. I bought it because it was a cool bike. I wasn't trying to look pro or anything. I just liked it, had the money, and so I bought it. I got pleasure out of it every time I got on it. Turns out when I started to train for real (this year), I was glad to have it.

You have answered your own question. Because YOU want it.

However if you want a little help with your question..........Life is too short to ride a crappy bike.

Why would you buy a best bike and not use it FFS. My best bike is always the bike I ride the most.