I agree with you. Some people are too judgemental. Or maybe just jealous when they see someone on an expensive bike. Last summer I was talking to a guy who just purchased a brand new Serrotta titanium with Campy Record. Total bill was around $7500. This guy had told me that he had dreamed of having a really nice bike for years but had to wait until the kids were thru college, etc. For years he had been riding old clunker 12 speeds and was rolling his pennies to eventually live his dream. He wasn't a racer or a tri-geek, nor particularly rich, just a fifty-something age normal working fella who enjoyed riding and going on group rides with his buddies. All the power to him.

I make no pretexts to being a great athlete worthy of the equipment I ride. I'm not. I'm just a MOP age-grouper who also sells triathlon bikes. But I do enjoy having nice equipment and work my butt off for it. The last time I checked the philosophy "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" was only popular in China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I don't care. My girlfreind will have more fun poking fun at you trying to pose on yuor bike than someone like myself.

Actually, I think it's good to have good equipment. Consider yourself fortunate.

Just stay out of my way and don't try to draft..... :-)

I think that it is fun to hear other people's opinions... personally that is why I enjoy reading this site...

at the same time I do agree that it is annoying when people are judgmental about other peoples decisions or when they are make statements that are super competitive.

I enjoy passing people and I hate being passed as much as teh next person but maybe it is my novice naivite but I enjoy competing, finishing, and BSing after the race when people aren't as uptight about the race... that's why I am back for another season.

I ride expensive bikes. No apologies, I earn the money. I've always liked nice bikes. When I was a kid, I saved my hard earned money to upgrade from the Sears bike my parents got me to a Schwinn Varsity. Now that I'm old and slow, I have the nicest bike of my life and I love it! The tires on my race wheels cost more than the tires I put on my car. To me, it's not just about the engine, I like the bike! If I have to ride a crappy bike, I'm not playing anymore.

Thank you.My bikes are all 10s .They make me happy.On a good day i'm a3.5 That's my problem and not anyone elses.

FYI: Cullen is a powerful rider, versatile athlete and humble guy. God forbid you go up against him in a time trial. He's faster than he lets on.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Not long ago I was visiting a high end bicycle shop. They had sitting there a VERY expensive top of the line Colnago with the best of everything on it. This bike had just been put together for a customer who that day was coming to pick it up. I was floored when the sales manager told me the price. My comment was "dang, thats worth more than my car".

The sales manager looked at me and said "wish I could afford a car". I found out later that he has a personal portfolio of no car but $37,000. worth of high end bikes. It's all a matter of priorities.

You're right, life is all about priorities. And sport, triathlon, etc., is a very worthy one. If an expensive bike toots your horn and helps engage you in a healthy lifestyle, there's nothing wrong with that...it's better than couches, hooch and bus station liasons.

In the first half ironman I did (on a Specialized Allez A-1 with profile clip ons and no significant change to my riding position) I was supremely happy to be passing dudes on litespeed blades and such...

In all honesty, I did let a little bit of that elitist attitude creep into my mind until a couple miles into the run when they all started to pass me like I was standing still.

At that point I started to wonder if they were looking at my expensive running shoes and wondering why i had dropped so much on those.

Never again will I question anyone's gear choices. In return, I hope no one questions mine.

Woody

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Mike Hollywood
http://www.bostontriathlonteam.com
http://www.michaelhollywood.com

i don't think you have to be fast to have a sick bike. if someone want's to drop a bunch of money because they can then more power to them. one of the great things about triathlon is the diversity. the shoe story was great, but good shoes are important because they reduce injuries and keep your feet healthy. A $4,000.00 bike doesn't make you less prone to injury! i know if i had an expensive bike and guys were passing me on $600 bikes my ego might be injured a bit...hehe

Economics, if people would quit paying so much for high end bikes the price would drop into my price range.

just kidding

Richard

Whatever makes you (or anyone) happy is OK by me. Personally, I'll be riding my '99 QR Kilo until it falls apart. It's not a flashy bike, but it's enough. Well, maybe once I'm on the podium at an Ironman I'll buy a new tri-bike. :)

   I don't know what started Cullen on this thread, but I suspect it is comments that I (and others) have made reference to the "$5000 wonderbikes" in other threads. I just want to clear the air. I HAVE a $5000 wonderbike, and I'm damn happy to finally have one. I've been in the sport a long time and paid a lot of dues. If I denigrated those others who own them at all it was referring to the philosophy of "buying speed." So many threads deal with how much faster one can be if only they just spent another X hundred dollars on the latest and greatest. Not many people are at that cutting edge where gear will make more difference than simply training better. If you can afford that much bike though, no matter your ability, by all means do so. Just don't be under any misconceptions that the bike is somehow going to make you faster. Another thing I've found, just since I finally bought into the high end market, is that having one doesn't curb your lust for such bikes! I'm already working on how to aquire a certain italian piece of art ;>

One day a customer came into my store and I was grumpy. He asked "Hey, what's the fastest bike in here?" I looked around the room for a second and said "Hmmm, looks like they're all going the same speed to me..."

You still gotta pedal 'em. And I'm not always grumpy.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I have been doing Tris since 1985 on $500 road bikes, last year I spent $4000. on a bike, trained long and did an Ironman. i was more comforatable on the bike and therefore a little faster.? I am happy. It's more that worth it.

If you think bicyclists are bad, try sailors. I am new to this triathlon stuff but my other hobby is racing sailboats. It amazes me that people will spend a quarter million dollars or more for a carbon "wonder yacht" (to play on the wonderbike theme) to try and win a trophy. The same concept of trying to buy speed rather than improve yourself and your crew also applies.

My view, though, is that these innovators are necessary in every sport. If no one is willing to buy the new technology on the $5,000 bike, the $1,500 bike in 2008 will be no better than the one today. Thanks to all of those who can and will support the research and development departments from those of us who can't (yet).

While a nice bike is good for race day, I ride a nice bike (actually quite a few) because of the additional joy in training.

Honestly, I take great pride in riding more miles than I drive so it seems completely logical that my bikes would be worth more than my cars.

When I got my MBA in 2000, I promised myself that I'd buy my "dream bike." I did. Everytime I ride my Colnago C40, it is a joy and a reminder of accomplishing one of my goals (grad school). The best day I had last year was when I removed a piece of electrical tape I had placed on the headtube 2 years earlier and the color beneath it was SIGNIFICANTLY darker than the uncovered sections...Apparently, I had actually ridden my bike enough for it to fade...

If you can afford (and want to buy them), enjoy nice bikes...Just remember, the only way to truly enjoy a nice bike is to RIDE it;-)

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http://wattieink.com/elite-team/
Raising funds to help wounded veterans and racing RAAM 2013 with http://team4mil.org/
"If you are gonna charge... CHARGE HARD!"

You can also enjoy nice bikes just by looking at them. I only own one road bike that I ride (a Renaissance), but I have two frames hanging in my appartment. One is the P3 I did my first Ironman on, the other one is a thinly disguised P3 a certain somebody used in a certain French race last year. And believe me, I enjoy looking at that frame every day.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

Yeah I dont care if you dont go really fast on your pro level TT bike, and if i do stare and glare it is because im jealous and i want your bike.

But on a related note, i saw a 10 yr old boy on a midget kestrel km40 with 650 Hed Deep wheels, DA, the full meal deal. To me, its not only a waste but sad. Its dads ego wrapped up in his son.

I've sold a $3000 Yeti mtn bike to a dad and his son, the son was going off to college and needed a bike to get around the campus. a $3K bike is not a good college bike, btw they loaded it into the kid's 2002 Toyota Landrover.

But then again, i guess if you got the money, its your money and you can do what you want, you can even burn it in your fireplace to keep warm.

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

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

I showed up for my first crit with a Cinelli with full Campy. :), One of the guys said to me: "Got one of them doctor/lawyer bikes, eh?" Bwuahahaha! I kid people all the time with that line now. Ride what you like, as long as it isn't gray colored. :),

Oh, I got lapped that first race! :)

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I agree that its sad, and with how some of these kids treat their bikes at college, its pitiful. At my Sisters Dorm, up at Michigan State, EVERY floor has a bike room where you can store your bike, locked up, and away from the elements. But almost no one uses these. I saw dozens of expensive (by my viewpoint) bikes lying in the snow outside the building strapped to a rack.

But yeah, Capitalism is a great thing. If you got the bucks, you can do whatever ya please with em.

yeah my favorite is when i see guys who think its Halloween and show up to races or rides dressed as their favorite pro cyclist. I was out riding and i caught this guy in full Mapei team gear (Colnago mapei colored/designed bike, jersey, shorts etc) i had a blast dropping him just like Team Mapei's sponsorship.

Or better was at a race where i smoked past this guy that started in an earlier wave and almost stopped and asked for his autograph, cause for a moment i thought it was Mr. Armstrong. Guy had the 5900, USPS full uniform, down to the USPS socks.

Lastly, i was running on a bike trail (American river bike trail in Sacramento) and this guy was climbing a little nothing of a hill, and he looked to be dying going up this thing, standing up out of the saddle, tossing the bike from side to side having a terrible time getting up this little knoll and he was wearing the TdF Climbers polka dotted jersey.

Sometimes, posers make me laugh.

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

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

I saw a bike put together at a local bike shop a few years ago. It was a Hotta with mechtronic shifting (the bike shop owner told me the purchaser didn't think dura ace was high end enough), carbon everything (seatpost, I think it had Zipp cranks, profile bars, saddle), and HED wheels. The price was over $10,000 (Canadian dollars so about $1500 US :) ). I've never seen this bike at a race but it sure must have made someone happy to own it. I don't care what kind of bike other people are riding at races. I may be envious that I don't have 10 grand lying around to plunk down on a bike the same way that I am envious that I can't tour around the world racing various ironman events but life's too short to get annoyed with someone for having a kick-ass bike even if they don't win the race!