The Chainlink

Do you ride a spendy bike?

Through an interesting turn of events, my old bike got wrecked and now I'm rolling on some new spendy hardware, a 2010 Specialized Epic Marathon 29er, I know, not an ideal city bike-but wow, great brakes!

 

I'm just wondering if any of the rest of ya out there use a valuable bike as your daily-driver?

 

I really, really do my best to NOT live in fear, but I'm beginning to consider how wise it is to ride this thing everyday? And if you are not reading between the lines, I'm concerned about getting my skinny ass knocked off of it, and it becoming someone else's possession in a very unhappy moment. I'm usually moving at a pretty fast pace, and also hyper-aware of my surroundings, but ya never know!

 

I plan to get something much less expensive to ride more regularly, but I'm waiting for a little cash to free up.

 

Thanks~

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on June 8, 2011 at 2:21pm

I actually use my cheapest bike ($250 invested) at least 5 times as much as my most expensive bikes ($600-700 invested). I love my city bike, a 1970s Juenet, and think it's just about as good a city bike as you can get; probably way better than a dual-boingy bike.

Permalink Reply by in it to win it 8.0 mi on June 8, 2011 at 2:29pm

scrape it up, put stickers on it, make it appear a lot less spendy

it's still the same bad-*ss machine underneath, right?

 

Permalink Reply by Jason Figler on June 8, 2011 at 2:38pm

Indeed...and truly, a non-rider, unsophisticated regular guy kinda person might see that it's sorta special looking but prolly not know much beyond that-

 

Permalink Reply by Joe Studer 8.0 mi on June 8, 2011 at 2:54pm

I ride a pretty spendy bike as my daily commuter.  (Due to a warranty replacement, my original aluminum frame was replaced with a carbon fiber frame.)  The bike is by no means flashy, but it is obviously a carbon fiber frame, and anyone with any knowledge would recognize the components as being high-end.

 

I've never been in a situation where I was concerned that my *expensive* bike was making me a target for random violence.  I've been in situations where I was nervous and much more alert about the youths blocking the path, but my expensive bike had no impact on my nervousness in that situation.  Rather, I was concerned about the fact that I looked like a person that likely had something of value on him.

 

I sometimes get nervous about locking my bike outside all day.  But I use two heavy duty locks (Kevin says that there's never been a cross locked bike listed on the stolen bike registry!), and have only had minor issues with things being pilfered from my bike.

 

Personally, I can't stand riding crappy bikes.  They shift for crap, they roll heavy, and they are not as fun to ride.  And I like for my bike to look nice, so I don't attempt to disguise my expensive bike as a crappy bike.  Maybe I'm asking for trouble, but I've been lucky so far.

 

Ride the bike you like to ride, and be sensible about security.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on June 8, 2011 at 3:03pm

The lighter the bike, the heavier the lock.

 

But really, why would you ride a top of the line, dual sus. moutain bike as a urban commuter? Unless you plan on doing this:

Permalink Reply by Jason Figler on June 8, 2011 at 3:32pm

Indeed, not ideal...but as Joe said, to paraphrase him, there is a difference, and for those of us that know what good rides like, that difference is vast.

 

My only other viable bike for my daily commute is a P.O.S., and it sucked to ride this thing for the three months or so that I did. The Epic will handle all the huge pot holes I can throw at it, and never miss a beat, and jumping curbs, etc there is never any fear or it not being able to handle it.

 

But...it really deserves a serious thrashing off-road too! Poor bike...not being put to its highest and best use :-(

Permalink Reply by S on June 8, 2011 at 5:39pm

I used to ride my moderately spendy road bike (ultegra gruppo) but I would swap my rear wheel so I just had a wheel with a dura-ace hub and not a powertap when I was going out on rides to meet up with friends.  I got a cyclocross bike that is technically a bit less spendy that I ride around now but it's still moderately fancy. 

 

Personally I'd never ride a Orbea orca or something that fairly highend around town unless I knew that it'd be in my sight pretty much at all times.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on June 8, 2011 at 5:57pm
Make it a fun group process and post it up as a Chainlink event!

in it to win it said:

scrape it up, put stickers on it, make it appear a lot less spendy

it's still the same bad-*ss machine underneath, right?

 

Permalink Reply by Michael A on June 8, 2011 at 5:59pm

I often wonder if my spendy bikes are too spendy to ride period, but the reason for spending that much on a ride is too enjoy it. If you want to buy artwork and hang it on a wall a classic Colnago makes great wall art, but it is WAY more fun to ride.

 

I do use a classic steel crit racer (Gios compact, campy c-record) as my daily commuter. Double locked within 10 ft of a guard shack at work.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 8, 2011 at 6:17pm

I used to do this exact same thing every day after school for years on my old Huffy 20"-wheeled 3-speed.  Never had so much as an issue with the bike.  It's not as hard on it as one would think. 3 flights of steps with about a dozen steps/flight.   But that was 1975 and they make bikes a lot less sturdy these days.

 

I've got 2 main bikes right now.  Neither of them are worth very much although they've got a lot of sentimental value in them.  The Ross Mt. Hood has been with me since 1992 and the other one is my dad's old Raleigh Sports he bought in '54 new.  I'd just HATE to lose dad's bike so I'm a bit paranoid about it although it's not exactly a theft magnet. 

Kelvin Mulcky said:

The lighter the bike, the heavier the lock.

 

But really, why would you ride a top of the line, dual sus. moutain bike as a urban commuter? Unless you plan on doing this:

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on June 8, 2011 at 6:18pm
I used to ride my bianchi everywhere. It did have a rack and fenders and stickers which may have helped to keep safe from thieves. But then again my redline was stolen and that one cost a lot less..... so who knows. I didn't know any better and it was my only bike so I had no choice. And I liked to get places fast while commuting.
Permalink Reply by Moc Artsy on June 8, 2011 at 6:32pm
Not at all unlike all the 4x4's and off-road ready SUV's everyone else drives in the city, so why not, right?

Jason Figler said:

Indeed, not ideal...but as Joe said, to paraphrase him, there is a difference, and for those of us that know what good rides like, that difference is vast.

 

My only other viable bike for my daily commute is a P.O.S., and it sucked to ride this thing for the three months or so that I did. The Epic will handle all the huge pot holes I can throw at it, and never miss a beat, and jumping curbs, etc there is never any fear or it not being able to handle it.

 

But...it really deserves a serious thrashing off-road too! Poor bike...not being put to its highest and best use :-(

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