you paid how much for that bike atmo? [Archive]

saab2000

11-09-2006, 08:19 AM

eBay, the Serotta Classifieds and other classifieds are what fill my garage at a fraction of the price of new. Only way to go IMHO. That Look KG381i is a sweet ride at about 1/3 the price of new.

People pay a lotta coin to get their a$$e$ kissed at boutique shops which are happy to take their money in exchange for making the customer feel he/she is getting something better than at another store down the street.

But I do like the eye candy at those places.

Who in their right mind would pay $9,000 for a Guru?????!?!?!?!?! Gimme a Meivici copy of the Look for less!

Jeff N.

11-09-2006, 08:19 AM

Nothing is more fun for me than resurrecting a used, but sweet, frame with a new paint job and components. Jeff N.

Fat Robert

11-09-2006, 08:28 AM

i'm filled with snivelling, envious, racer-boy contempt

and it feels good

TimD

11-09-2006, 08:41 AM

$1300 for a Legend Ti + Alpha Q + King HS+ D-A BB. Stir that into your espresso or cognac.

PBWrench

11-09-2006, 08:44 AM

Just bend over please . . .

92degrees

11-09-2006, 08:47 AM

I was sitting across the table from a guy wearing a $10K wristwatch last week. I'm certain it doesn't tell time any better than the Timex on the guy next to him.

swoop

11-09-2006, 08:55 AM

you gotta haver an angle otherwise it's a story about a bunch of losers like us going into a shop and buying a bike. that's to say.. there is no story. the world needs to know how much we spend for when they hit us with their cars and look at us like we're lying when we ask for damages.
atmo.

whip it good.

davids

11-09-2006, 08:58 AM

I don't have time right now for the naval-gazing this deserves, but I thought it was a well-written, lite article. One line struck close...

"serious cyclists or well-heeled fanatics? Is there a difference?"

If the shoe fits...

J.Greene

11-09-2006, 09:01 AM

When I saw the title of this thread I thought you had been channeled by my wife.

JG

zank

11-09-2006, 09:06 AM

drain pipe is cheap.

Sandy

11-09-2006, 09:10 AM

Great bicycle purchases can be made on the Serotta Forum classified or Ebay or elsewhere, but if and only if the purchaser knows precisely what he or she is looking for, is sure of the fit, and has confidence that the seller is honorable. Used titanium bikes, such as a Legend Ti, seem ideal purchases to me.

My first thought in reading the first post in the thread is that people take advantage of people. In a bike shop, too often, uninformed cyclists or potential cyclists, are taken advantage of- Being sold what they don't need at a price that is really higher than the bike should be sold for. Make a fair profit, but don't take advantage of one who simply doesn't know too much.

Sandy

Serpico

11-09-2006, 09:16 AM

"I like to say that bicycling is the new golf.� --Noah Budnick, a deputy director at Transportation Alternatives
:rolleyes:

saab2000

11-09-2006, 09:26 AM

Well, I do have one thing to say. My fave shop in the Twin Cities is a bit of a "Boutique Shoppe" kind of place. They serve Peace Coffee and have things like an old Legnano hanging from the wall and Hyperons and Mavic Cosmic Carbones hanging from hooks on the ceiling.

Walk back into the workshop and odds are high that a big buck ride is being worked on or is sitting there waiting for it. I do know some of the dudes who pay full retail for this stuff. They are pretty good dudes and occasionally quite good riders to boot.

They just happen to have made better career choices than I did and therefore I am jealous that they can afford new stuff. But I should not resent their success. After all, those are the folks that finance all the cool stuff that I can buy.

Good stuff is ridden in pro racing, but it is largely marketing to fanatics like us. Which came first, the chicken or the egg in this case? Does technology rise to help the racers or so that the racers have something to ride that the masses will then wish to buy?

I love competitivecyclist dot com. But how many people would really pay a lot of money for a hypoxia tent if Lance and other well known riders were not known to have used them? PS, I only mention cc dot com because I have never seent them marketed anywhere else.

Fat Robert

11-09-2006, 09:29 AM

the courvoisier thing pisses me off

dudes need the fidea-kick treatment for that crap

jeffg

11-09-2006, 09:35 AM

I must admit I spent about $4000 on a custom Legend with DA-9 back in 2003, but this article is one of the reasons I have no desire to go back to NY.

I should have been a teacher in Freiburg Germany with a CDA with Centaur atmo ...

Do you sip cognac at your bike shop? A lead enima sounds more appropriate ...

Archibald

11-09-2006, 09:37 AM

Who in their right mind would pay $9,000 for a Guru?????!?!?!?!?! Gimme a Meivici copy of the Look for less!
Guru's rock! Total cycling fanatics and make all their own bikes, even their custom monocoque CF bikes are made in house. Their production values on the ti bikes are approaching Moots. One of the biggest attractions at Interbike was their new dynamic fit cycle. You kind of have to get through their sales pitch to see it, but it's worth the wait. Check it! (mms://84.233.150.200/url1/cycling/389/newshowextra1_400-001.wmv)

zank

11-09-2006, 09:38 AM

07 Centaur effin rules.

saab2000

11-09-2006, 09:38 AM

but this article is one of the reasons I have no desire to go back to NY.

Do you sip cognac at your bike shop? A lead enima sounds more appropriate ...

I will get slammed for this, but this is the kind of image I have of the east coasters. A bunch of fou fou softies drinking Cognac at the frickin' bike shop? Real bike shops have a fridge with beer cans.

$9,000 for a Guru??? That's like a $45,000 Fiat Panda sold by a Ferrari dealership!!

saab2000

11-09-2006, 09:40 AM

Guru's rock! Total cycling fanatics and make all their own bikes, even their custom monocoque CF bikes are made in house. Their production values on the ti bikes are approaching Moots. One of the biggest attractions at Interbike was their new dynamic fit cycle. You kind of have to get through their sales pitch to see it, but it's worth the wait. Check it! (mms://84.233.150.200/url1/cycling/389/newshowextra1_400-001.wmv)

You may be right, but my brand image of Guru is weak. The brand image of Moots is wildly different, at least in my pea-sized brain.

Fat Robert

11-09-2006, 09:44 AM

Real bike shops have a fridge with beer cans.
!!

real bike shops have a fridge full of EPO

saab2000

11-09-2006, 09:46 AM

real bike shops have a fridge full of EPO

And blood bags with riders' dogs' names on them.

Archibald

11-09-2006, 09:52 AM

You may be right, but my brand image of Guru is weak. The brand image of Moots is wildly different, at least in my pea-sized brain.
"May" be right? Of course I'm right! Let me put it this way: have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons.

saab2000

11-09-2006, 09:58 AM

"May" be right? Of course I'm right! Let me put it this way: have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons.

Nope, this moron has never heard of those dudes....... :cool: We didn't read them at all in high school and college.

Sorry I offended Guru, but in a wildly overcrowded market of megabuck bikes, they do little to stand above the crowd IMHO. But I will check out their website to placate the crowd.

jeffg

11-09-2006, 09:58 AM

"May" be right? Of course I'm right! Let me put it this way: have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons.

but what if Saab is the man in black? Iocaine, anyone?

Archibald

11-09-2006, 10:00 AM

but what if Saab is the man in black? Iocaine, anyone?
I love people who get my humor! :banana:

Climb01742

11-09-2006, 10:01 AM

an article like that...does it help or hurt serotta? i ain't sure.

Kevan

11-09-2006, 10:04 AM

Kiplinger (http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2006/11/bestintro.html)

and we need only the best people telling us where the best things can be found. Isn't that the best?! It better be.

Dig deep here and you too can find the best bike trail and apparel. Oh, and red wine too...

I tend to like riding in the middle of the road. Maybe I should put together a middle of the road listing.

Fat Robert

11-09-2006, 10:05 AM

my name is inigo montoya

gt6267a

11-09-2006, 10:06 AM

"May" be right? Of course I'm right! Let me put it this way: have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons.

I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?

Archibald

11-09-2006, 10:08 AM

I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?
Do you always begin conversations this way?

Jason E

11-09-2006, 10:09 AM

So, if you guys got a beautiful frame at a great deal, would you be willing to spend, theoretically, more then the cost of the frame for the perfect re-paint?

Archibald

11-09-2006, 10:13 AM

my name is inigo montoya
You killed my father, prepare to die!
http://www.lallybroch.com/LOL/guests/mandy.jpg

gt6267a

11-09-2006, 10:14 AM

so many great lines, but i also really enjoyed:

Westley: Give us the gate key.
Yellin: I have no gate key.
Inigo Montoya: Fezzik, tear his arms off.
Yellin: Oh, you mean *this* gate key.

Tom

11-09-2006, 10:14 AM

Yeah, high end booze at the bike shop is stupid. Unless the mechanics get to drink it before they work on your bike. I'm not going to begrudge somebody wanting to ride a really nice bike but reading where they'll serve me Courvoisier while I explain how I'm too stupid to replace my chain right makes me want to, in Molly Ivin's words, sit down like a tired dog and scratch.

Refill cups covered with bike grime, from a non-chain coffee shop with a stupid name like 'Uncommon Grounds', and a plate of oatmeal cookies from a customer that can't change the battery in a blinky light without the light becoming permanently waterlogged after the first rain ride are what you're supposed to find.

Beer on Fridays but only in the off season.

gt6267a

11-09-2006, 10:15 AM

Do you always begin conversations this way?

You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you.

Archibald

11-09-2006, 10:17 AM

You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you.
You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die.

Serpico

11-09-2006, 10:18 AM

an article like that...does it help or hurt serotta? i ain't sure.

in whose eyes? that's the question

to me it's kinda goofy--expensive bikes becoming the new executive power toys, but if it gets more people riding then, on balance, it's a good thing

serotta makes nice bikes. it's that simple imo. the other stuff I just ignore.

gt6267a

11-09-2006, 10:22 AM

You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die.

More pursue than study lately. You see, I cannot find him... it's been twenty years now and I'm starting to lose confidence. I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. There's not a lot of money in revenge.

Fat Robert

11-09-2006, 10:24 AM

I'm not right handed

sspielman

11-09-2006, 10:25 AM

More and more neurologists and corporate attorneys spending big bucks on bikes.....What I LOVE is when these guys start showing up to ride with the local chain gang....and begin to worship the 20 year old kid who is the real hotshot of the local racing scene and has a part-time job delivering pizzas. I think it is a good thing to add some perspective at any opportunity....

Grant McLean

11-09-2006, 10:26 AM

More pursue than study lately. You see, I cannot find him... it's been twenty years now and I'm starting to lose confidence. I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. There's not a lot of money in revenge.

"True love is the greatest thing; except for an MLT, mutton, lettuce and tomatoe sandwich, when the mutton is nice and lean and the tomatoes are ripe its so perky I love that.
--Miracle Max

csm

11-09-2006, 10:27 AM

I think if you poll the average shop, you'll find that they don't make much money on the sale of bikes. it is a very competitive business that is further hurt by mail order companies like nashbar, performance and even colorado cyclist.
you get what you pay for.

Archibald

11-09-2006, 10:28 AM

I'm not right handed
Naturally... but I find that Thibault cancels out Capa Ferro. Don't you?

chrisroph

11-09-2006, 10:32 AM

Its great to see people doing the custom thing at the high end. They have a far better chance of getting something really special than if they walk into the shop down the street and buy a trek. Some folks are too cheap to buy anything but the best.

I absolutely love my 2 TK's and my pista sasha. Part of that comes from the investment of time and thought and the interaction with two very talented and committed artists. The serottas I've owned are used standard 57's, which work great with the saddles slammed back. They are fabulous bikes but not as special to me as my customs because they lack the connection to the design and build.

gt6267a

11-09-2006, 10:34 AM

Naturally... but I find that Thibault cancels out Capa Ferro. Don't you?

But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

PanTerra

11-09-2006, 10:39 AM

"May" be right? Of course I'm right! Let me put it this way: have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons.

Aaaassss yooouuuu wwiiiiiisshh!

YO!!!

11-09-2006, 11:26 AM

My vote is for San Pelligrino outa the bottle in Chesta.

BumbleBeeDave

11-09-2006, 11:41 AM

<<<Dr. Levine bristled slightly when it was suggested that people like him may be a little, um, obsessed with what is, after all, just a bicycle.

�You do feel a connection with it,� he said. �But I don�t think anyone in our group takes it to a psychotic, unreasonable extent.�

He paused. �But my wife might disagree with that.�>>>

OK, which one of you is THIS guy?!?! He's DEFINITELY a Forum member of some sort! C'mon, now--FESS UP!! :rolleyes: ;)

BBD

BumbleBeeDave

11-09-2006, 11:47 AM

This story reminded me that I just HATE Paul Levine! . . . and I hear I'm not the only one.

Maybe we could have some jerseys made? ;)

BBD

William

11-09-2006, 11:51 AM

But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

You've made your decision then?

William ;)

obtuse

11-09-2006, 12:01 PM

You've made your decision then?

William ;)

second rate performance for andre the giant at least compared to masterpieces like the $15,000 slam match versus big john studd at wrestlemania 1.

obtuse

OldDog

11-09-2006, 12:05 PM

and it does'nt even come with lugs. SHEESH!

Archibald

11-09-2006, 12:27 PM

second rate performance for andre the giant at least compared to masterpieces like the $15,000 slam match versus big john studd at wrestlemania 1.

obtuse
Fezzik: We face each other as God intended. Sportsmanlike. No tricks, no weapons, skill against skill alone.

Man in Black: You mean, you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword, and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?

Fezzik: [brandishing rock] I could kill you now.

Man in Black: I think the odds are slightly in your favor at hand fighting.

Fezzik: It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise.

Archibald

11-09-2006, 12:29 PM

You've made your decision then?

William ;)
Not remotely! Because iocaine comes from Australia, as everyone knows. And Australia is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you!

Fat Robert

11-09-2006, 12:33 PM

Never get involved with a land war in asia, and never match wits with a Sicilian when death is on the line!

myette10

11-09-2006, 12:34 PM

Not remotely! Because iocaine comes from Australia, as everyone knows. And Australia is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you!

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

William

11-09-2006, 12:35 PM

gt6267a

11-09-2006, 12:39 PM

You're just stalling now.

William ;)

You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong, so you could've put the poison in your own goblet, trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

Tom

11-09-2006, 12:43 PM

What's that behind you?

Archibald

11-09-2006, 12:46 PM

What's that behind you?
I'm retired, I invented dice as a kid.

TimD

11-09-2006, 01:11 PM

my name is inigo montoya

My name is Juan Pablo Montoya. You got into me at Daytona, prepare to die :)

djg

11-09-2006, 01:12 PM

I will get slammed for this, but this is the kind of image I have of the east coasters. A bunch of fou fou softies drinking Cognac at the frickin' bike shop? Real bike shops have a fridge with beer cans.

$!

SAAB, if my local bike shop offered cognac I'd take it. Around DC, nada ... not even VS.

Come to think of it, they don't really hand out beer either.

mikemets

11-09-2006, 01:53 PM

second rate performance for andre the giant at least compared to masterpieces like the $15,000 slam match versus big john studd at wrestlemania 1.

obtuse

I saw Andre squish 7 midgets at the County Center in White Plains, NY. Took my little brother for his 12th birthday at the time, second row, also on the card:

Haystack Calhoun
**** the Bull Dog Brauer (he took a bite out of the turnbuckle)
Mil Mascaras (sp)

William

11-09-2006, 04:24 PM

You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong, so you could've put the poison in your own goblet, trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

You're trying to trick me into giving away something. It won't work.

Dekonick

11-09-2006, 08:53 PM

Samster

11-09-2006, 10:31 PM

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.inconceivable!

yeehawfactor

11-09-2006, 11:41 PM

http://www.abc.net.au/goldcoast/stories/Brian_Wils_m967751.jpg

slowgoing

11-09-2006, 11:56 PM

The article brings up images in my mind of a paceline of surgeons going down at 22 mph - broken collarbones and colnagos right and left. I'd hate to be scheduled for surgery that week.

NAHBS

11-10-2006, 06:32 AM

Inigo Montoya: Who are you?

MIB: No one of consequence.

Inigo Montoya: I must know...

MIB: Get used to disappointment.

Inigo Montoya: 'kay.

:cool:

DW

d_douglas

11-24-2006, 05:06 PM

when I see people without a clue buying things that they don't need or can't handle. My wife is in Pakistan for work right now and was driven to the airport in her friend's boyfriend's Hummer. What an embarassment. As she pulled away from the curb, I saw her sink down in her plush leather seat trying to avoid the gaze of the many onlookers.

My point is, who the hell needs a Hummer? (he he, no comment) This guy is an EXPERT driver (I am talking EXPERT) but there is no need to own a vehicle like this in a city - or the countryside, for that matter. It screams insecurlty, I tells ya (ironic that I say this, as he is a security officer)

Yes, I own a bike that is beyond my capabilities, but it is not a ridiculous bike for this crowd. I have a buddy whose castoffs were often offered to me until he (rather unforntunately) began a fascination with carbon fibre that has never faltered. He has gone through every fancy euro brand imaginable, except for a Colnago, which is apparently beyond his means. We debate the merits of Serotta or Kirk or Vanilla or Pegs or....??? but his answer is simply that they ride Ridleys in the Tour, so they have provenance; can't say that about a Legend or a Kirk!

True, but that's not the point. My point is that while these bikes ride as nicely as an Orbea or a Giant or a Colnago, there is an element of craftsmanship that attracts me to such bikes that all the Orbeas, etc. simply can't match.

No I am not a carbon fan, and yes, that is where the future of frame design is moving, so I am progressive enough to see this and realize that one day in the not so distant future, I will ride a carbon bike, but for now bikes like the cognac dispensing Guru are simply a goofy toy (like the hummer) that people with wayyyy too much money feel compelled to own, rather than think about why they want a bike.

I am not so concerned about how much someone pays for a bike (OK, maybe that does bother me), but when someone has so much money that they simply say, "Gimme the best of whatever people ride these days" they are not being thoughtful discriminating consumers, but thoughtless victims of material envy.

Yeah.