November 21st, 2008
Contrarian Bike Economics
The DOW has shrunk to almost half of what it was a year ago. It’s time to spend some money. Let me explain.
Jo Ellen and I have been working for ourselves since 1989. During that time, we’ve developed a business-like attitude towards spending—even when it comes to personal expenditures. For a business, the worst time to stop putting money into your business is during bad times. It creates a self-fulfilling downward spiral. Of course, if you are cash-starved, you may have no choice. But that’s a horse of another color. But if you put cash aside during flush times, now is the time to use it.
So what does this have to do with cycling? I’ve always been very cheap with my cycling hobby. Maybe too cheap. Even though I’ve dabbled in nice bikes and high-end components, I usually keep my bikes to no more than three and usually just one (I am currently at one now and have been for quite some time). My Tour Easy, purchased used for $1200, is the first to break the $1000 barrier. But with this economy, I am looking to expand the fleet and loosen the purse strings.
But you may ask, “Isn’t your 401K as deflated as everyone else’s?” Why, yes, it is. Thanks so much for reminding me. ;-) I look at it like this. The best time to invest is when everyone else is not. This is true because:
- You get better deals when sales slump.
- You need something nice now more than ever. Little pleasures (or big ones, if you can afford them) become the word of the day during economic hard times.
- We’re all in it together. Every dollar you spend to stimulate the economy helps somebody somewhere. It may even keep a shop or bike manufacturer solvent during especially hard times and they’ll be there to sell you that next bike when you need/want it.
- Warren Buffett saves his money and buys, buys, buys during such times. Do you have any idea how brilliant Warren Buffet is? I’d follow his lead if I were you.
Point being, there is no better time to invest in yourself, your well-being, your happiness…your future…than at times like this.
So let’s get down to brass tacks.
- What I really want is a low bottom bracket recumbent tandem like Mark Stonich made for himself. It looks perfect but it’s a one off. A Tour Easy tandem would work for me too, if a model was in production, but it is not. The SUN EZ tandem looks OK. There are a few SUN dealers in CT so I will call them by springtime to see if any of them has a demo on the floor. Although I buy many bikes sight unseen, I’d prefer to ride this one and buy from a local shop if at all possible.
- Next on my list would have to be a Pugsley. I don’t want any of that poor man’s Pugsley stuff I see out there either. Give me the real thing! How about one with a Rohloff? I’m out of control!!! I can justify it if I have to. You see, I have trails to ride it right here town, less than a mile from my door. Plus, it would make an awesome New England winter bike. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
- A real, honest-to-goodness cargo bike would be cool. The xtracycles are fine but a front loading one or dare I say it, a Bakfiets floats my boat a bit more.
- Next is a trike. Those things look like a ton of fun. The reason it’s so low on the list is that the roads here are narrow and we don’t have bike paths, so I would probably not feel comfortable riding one.
But don’t get the wrong idea. The money is not burning a hole in my pocket. Jo Ellen and I are ants, not grasshoppers. I will only get something if it tickles my fancy sufficiently and the right opportunity comes up. I think of it is as an investment in fun and health (physical and mental), not a drunken sailor’s buying spree.
How about you? Did you put some cash aside in your cycling budget during better times? Now is the time to use it. Invest in yourself, your health, and help the economy all at once. And be sure to report back here and let us enjoy your new bike bling vicariously.
27 Responses to “Contrarian Bike Economics”
I had been saving for a new recumbent. I bit the bullet and bought a Corsa 2 weeks ago. I customized it as well, q-rings, dynohub, LED light, one arm bandit mount, aftermarket tires (conti gp 4000). I also updated my bike tools, ultimate pro elite repair stand and a few other tools.
I will be riding this bike for years and I will be maintaining it myself. I have been feeling great about it as I have been riding more than ever. I went from 0 miles/week in August to 40ish in Sept/October, now I average about 60 miles/week and will soon be breaking 100/week avg.
I will also sell my trike and rans vivo. The corsa is the right tool for 90% of my style of riding, I have an old MTB for pop on and hit the store errands.
I just sold our second car and am about to buy a new bike. I was going to go the route of an off-the-shelf, step-down from what I really wanted, but have decided to get the one I want and I’m going to customize it to be exactly what I want. Sadly, the A. Homer Hilsen is still outta my budget, even with my splurge-specs on, so I’m going with a LHT with a CETMA rack on the front and a Carradice Nelson Longflap on the back.
Mmmmm: this is my happy-commuter face.
Ah, such timing for this post.
I just got home with my new Quest velomobile this afternoon. Definitely an expenditure for that one. But I’ll have to take credit for helping the global economy, since it came from the Netherlands. Though UPS charged no small fee to bring it here. I’d been saving for it a little bit when I placed the order a year ago. While I could’ve backed out if I needed to, I felt more like a “can’t back out now” feeling, and glad I stuck with it.
Oh, and a few months ago I built up a RANS Street with Xtracycle. Say what ya will about the Xtracycle vs a ‘true’ cargo bike (and yeah, I do appreciate the difference), but the X is mighty darn useful. And mounted on a RANS CF bike, it is so very, very cool.
@JW
I may be a partial, but that sounds like a nice bike. I’d love to see photos of your LHT with the CETMA rack installed..
I’m planning on purchasing a new bike yet this year, or early next, once I sell my Corsa. My riding preferences are changing and I think a new Salsa Fargo is going to be in my future.
I’m not sure if you can do anything about this, but when I view a post individually (as a link from my reader feed for example), I am unable to tell wrote wrote the post. In order to determine authorship, it is necessary to go to the homepage.
In response to the article, I feel like have done my part throughout most of this year with my cycling purchases (although most of them have been purchases of used products).
While not in production currently, Gardner Martin did build a Tour Easy Tandem. We still have it on our showroom floor. It rides like butter, way better than the EZ Tandem AX. I’ll send you some pics on Monday. It’s the only one we’ve ever made that I know of.
If you help us finish up with a few things on our website maybe we could iron out a deal on the first production build. Honestly, there’s been a ton of interest and we’re eager to finally try one. No better time then when we get back from our winter break in January.
Also, I guess I’ve outed myself now (publicly). My name is Buck and I work for Easy Racers.
@pat
Good catch Pat. I’ve modified the template so the author is now listed on single pages as well as the home page.
Thanks-
Alan
We’ve been working on keeping our local bike shops in business this year with 3 new bikes, one used recumbent, a trailercycle and a number of accessories already :)
I’m working on going car-free (car-lite as a family) and once my car is sold I’ll be looking to purchase at least one more nice bike this year. My wife and I are still debating about it possibly being a Bakfiet but that may wait until we’re entirely car free. I could see a Rivendell Atlantis or Catrike Expedition in my near future as well.
Ant
@Duncan: Good for you. I like the bling.
@Ian: Quest Velomobile! You are really doing it right my man.
@Steve: The Salsa Fargo looks way cool. So many cool bike nowadays it’s hard to choose.
@pat: Nothing wrong with used. You are freeing up cash for that person to buy something else or pay some bills. It’s all good.
@Croupier: Glad you chimed in about Gardner’s tandem. I have serious lust now. :)
@Ant: You guys are like an economic relief stimulus package onto yourselves. Good job!
@Alan: I just noticed the live preview as I type the comment. Is it new or was I oblivious to it before? I like it!!!
@Perry
I set-up the live preview last night - I’m glad you like it! I spent a fair amount of time testing out comment editing plugins yesterday, but I didn’t really like any of them, so I decided to go with a preview plugin instead. So far it seems to work pretty well.. :-)
Thanks-
Alan
Sadly, I have to admit I’m always fishing for a new bike. Right now I can’t seem to get the image of an A.N.T. Light Roadster out of my head…
You know Perry, I like your thinking. My wife on the other hand, controls the budget (trust me, she knows better what she’s doing, and that’s how it’s done in her country - Japan - because they figure men will spend it all on drink, gambling and girls, although I would on gear). Did you know that bike sales are way up, while everything else is crashing? Nice to see virtue rewarded for a change. Not owning a car anymore, I figure I can splash out on bikes because it falls within the commuting and fitness budget (no gym membership). After all, is there anything more stupid than driving to the gym for exercise?
I have a Lemond Croix de Fer road bike, which is a bit of a greyhound for my 32km commute. For rain I have a touring-geometry fixed/free ride. I also have a modified hybrid singlespeed with studded tires for gnarly winter commutes. I only need one or two more!
A better option for fair-weather commuting, long distance touring, and randonneuring (the bike I should have bought instead of the Lemond) is the 2009 Jamis Aurora Elite: http://www.jamisbikes.com/canada/thebikes/road/aurora/09_auroraelite.html
Big improvement on last year! All steel like all my bikes, apart from the Lemond’s fork, and Reynolds 631 at that. If only it had bar-end shifters…
Next I could ditch the hybrid, make the touring-geometry fixed/free ride into the singlespeed, and buy the Gary Fisher Triton ‘path racer’ for my fixed: http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/model/Triton
My desires are modest, don’t you think?
Prudent spending really will help the economy. The deep recession in Japan caused people to save their money tremendously but although people’s personal savings were up, their economy took a decade to recover.
Personally, I believe our consumer-based economy needs to be corrected. Their needs to be more U.S.-made manufacturing that is still profitable for companies.
Case in point, I’d like to buy my dream cargo bike…. a bakfiet custom made Larry vs Harry. Too bad it’s made in Denmark. I can’t seem to find any U.S. made equivalent. It’ll blow any Xtracycle rig out of the water in terms of looks and the utilitarian quotient.
http://www.larryvsharry.com/english/LarryvsHarryShop.html
I’ll maybe consider buying it anyway since it is turning out to be a global recession.
@jamesmallon: The wife controlling the budget is good thing IMO but I do agree that your desires are modest. I don’t think there is anyway to blow enough money on cycles to make up for car ownership, so just make your case with her and she will see your side of it, I’m sure. :-)
@Dale: I agree. It’s a modern economy and we buy more goods and services than we once did but they are not all created equal. I spend more to buy “my fix” of dark chocolate at the Village Chocolatier here in town than I would at the supermarket. I know the owner and the chocolate is good. She pays taxes in our town and hires employees and buys other goods and services in town. I consider that money spent on chocolate an investment in my own well being which after all, is tied to the well being of the town itself.
@Alan: Well, you know how I feel about A.N.T. bikes. Plus, Mike and his wife are such class A people, it only ups the ante to a sure-fire vote for the A.N.T.
@Alen: I know what you mean about always fishing for a new bike. I can’t keep my eyes off of lowracers right now. A vk2 or optima baron, maybe a SLII. Gah… but I limit myself to a bike every 2 years, and the Corsa is my 2008 purchase. My next bike will be carbon fiber or titanium though, I want to see how different those materials are.
I love my corsa right now, awesome bike and it rides very well.
American cargo bikes? Try http://www.metrofiets.com/ or Bilenky Bikes, both, I think, in Portland.
The Metrofiets does indeed look the business - and CrMo too! Mind - my prejudice is showing, for son and wife are expecting twins!
My own is being built as we write - Sun AX Sport recumbent, with Extracycle, through all the gears electric assist and plans for a coroplast body. Most of the parts have arrived!
There is a real good chance I will be supporting the economy today. I’ve had my eyes on a Bike Friday and my LBS just took delivery of 2 models I am interested in, NWT and Pocket Rocket. Just need to decide if I need to trade in my current folder, Dahon MU P8, or just buy it. Nothing the anticipation of a new bike!
I’ve just built up a Pugsley for the winter here in Alberta and I’m loving it. I’ve had several kinds of bikes over the past three and a half decades and the Pugs is by far the most fun you can have on two wheels, especially in the snow (when, in the past, I used to walk instead of cycle and just dream about spring).
Check it out.
http://technicolouryawp.blogspot.com/2008/11/pugsley-is-born.html
@Tony: That Pugsley is tremendous. I’m sure it’s a ton of fun.
It’s quite possible that we’ll be selling either our car or our truck (or both!) in the next few months, partially because we’re hoping to replace a lot of those trips with the Kona Utes we’re going to get. (They’re like the Wiis of bikes this year; we pre-ordered in August, and I think mine is coming in this week, the bigger one for my husband quite likely not until February!) So it’ll be saving on car expenditures and spending (a hell of a lot less!) on bikes.
@ Elaine: I’m very interested in the Ute. If you don’t mind, after you get it, please report back here on how you like you it.
Will do — I test rode the ‘08 model back in August, and fell in love instantly, but the ‘09 had some nice features that seemed worth waiting for.
alan,
have you considered a RANS DYNAMIC DUO?
i think nanda holz has got one
1. A Greenspeed tricumbent.
2. A Stokemonkey for my Big Dummy.
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