Why buy the expensive gear if you don't use it for it's main purpose (Page 2)

1.   My main purpose may be different than yours.  It may be my main purpose to show I have more money than you, or I can buy enough expensive stuff to be as fast as you.  If I can't do that at least I can look better than you.  (I'm kidding some here! )  When you think about, we are a competitive bunch...right?, why would you think the competition of having a better bike/wheels/helmet/etc. would be any different than the competition of who's faster than who?

2.  Because I'm serious about triathlon.  It's my hobby and I'm trying to be the best I can be at it.  If that means buying the most expensive toys that's what I'm going to do.

3.  Expensive gear gives me confidence.  If I spent good money on it, in my mind, it probably works and works well.  I don't want to have to worry about junk that doesn't stay in tune, that isn't comfortable, or that won't hold up to heavy use.

4.  Because if I can't use it for it's intended purpose now I don't have to buy something else when I can use it for it's intended purpose.  Sometimes spending more money up front means spending less in the long run.

5.  Because I can

Because they look cooler! DUH!!! 

Ok, partly kidding. When I got serious about triathlon I knew I needed a bike to replace my walmart special "roadie". And at the time I wasn't a big fan of biking, so had no plans to go on road rides for the heck of it, everything was about tri training. So I bought a tri bike. Did I get the super carbon deep dish electronic shifting mega bike? No, couldn't afford that one, but you bet your butt I would have if I could have! I have a SC 2.5 and I love it. If I could change anything, I would get a carbon version. 

Who cares what other people do with their money? I love checking out all of the super fast carbon goodies that other people have, even if they aren't fast. 

Apparently, a lot of people.

I guess there's a difference between buying the expensive stuff and using it in a way that negates the benefits and buying expensive stuff and then NOT using it because it's "too nice" or whatever...

I'm guilty of "saving" some of my nicer gear (think backpacking) and I've made a conscious effort to use and enjoy what I've bought! 

Mostly though, I'm a cheapskate, so very little of what I have is really "premo" stuff. 

People try to rationalize buying a triathlon bike as being "necessary" to their competitive experience.

WE need to be more pragmatic about wanting "toys". There isn't anything wrong with it. It doesn't have to be justified, it doesn't have to be rationalized.

It's the same reason Ferraris and Porsches sit in traffic jams on the 405. People don't buy them to do laps at Imola or Monaco. They buy them because they want them and they can. There isn't anything wrong with that.

There is a bit of an issue when people adopt the "Walter Middy" mindset that they are some kind of "sponsored athlete" or take themselves or the sport more seriously than may be reasonable. Everybody knows these athletes. I've probably been one myself, the guy who thought he was hot potatoes and the next big thing because he won his age category and came in 2nd at the local 200 person Muskox Man triathlon. Clearly then, we are "pros" and must spend thousands to save every second... to win a $4 plaque.

For the most part people rationalize just wanting cool stuff, and there is nothing wrong with that.

4 words for you

I ride for show.

Tom Demerly. - 2012-07-03 10:36 AM That photo is actually me before I became a poor white guy.

But......were you fast????

Maybe that fancy bike is a reflection of a person's long held goal- something they worked hard to achieve, something that they earned, and got for themselves. Don't assume it's just a frivilous "buy" because "they can". In America, has the class envy poison now spilled over into our great sport? I don't have the nicest stuff- don't get me wrong- adequate, but not the nicest, but I don't worry myself with the guy in transition next to me who has a 10K bike. That's his business. People need to learn to be content to be happy. I always view my race performance through the prism of knowing i did my best with the time/$budget I put toward the goal. I bet most everyone else is the same  as well. Be content and thankful for what you have vs. stressing overy someone else's choices.

But......are they fast???  Because I'm gonna need them to be able to outrun my wife!!!

I dunno.  I had a great bit of perspective given to me one day.  I had gotten a very nice new TT bike on a great deal but i felt like an imposter riding it.  I suck.  I don't deserve such a nice bike because i can't do it justice is how i felt.  Sitting at a stop light on one of my first rides a roadie stopped and complimented my bike.  I sheepishly accepted the compliment but said that I don't deserve it - he laughed and said 'none of us deserves or needs it.  We're not the pros.'  

I got what he was saying and let myself off the hook - whether or not i can maximize my potential and use the bike to the fullest of its capabilities is really irrelevant.  This is my hobby - having a nice bike helps in its own way.  Not only in speed (even when weighed down by bottles and bento boxes, which you need when you're out on a 6 hour bike in the middle of nowhere) but in motivation, and the desire to keep with the sport.    And I most certainly enjoy it.

Speed costs money:

Depends on where the round bottle goes though. A round bottle laying between the aerobars is arguably the most aero position possible, correct?

^^^well said

Between the bars is not on the frame :-) I just find it odd how nice tri bikes have all these great aero features that the end user then negates. Sorta like taking your ferrari and putting a square roof box on it in case you need nutrition on your drive....

Why?  Price of admission to be a member of the club!

actually- for me; After two years of Tris on my road bike, and spending time on the 3rd step of an age group podium looking up at guys just seconds or a minute or so ahead of me... I decided to treat myself.

and I put an aero bottle on the frame and an aero bottle up front. Bottles do make a bit of a drag difference, but not nearly as much as your body position.

anyway, you only live once.  I can afford it.  it's a fun toy and I've got a couple thousand miles on my Felt so far- and really enjoyed those miles. It's a superfluous expense in life.  I don't do that very often.  (my wife sure does, but I don't)

please explain to me what i am missing here? Because the way you come across it would venture to think you have NEVER asked someone why they choose this over the other, or why they go about certain things in life.

What's so hard to understand?