Developing a healthy lifestyle through cycling

Went shopping at the bike store today

Posted by Bryan on Mar 24th, 2009 in Bike Shops | View Comments

I decided today that I needed to go to the bicycle shop and pick up a couple of tubes and some more CO2. I decided to head up to the Richardson Bike Mart since I had heard so much about it. It’s owned by Jim Hoyt who sold Lance Armstrong his first bike.

When I walked in this place I couldn’t believe it. It looks like they took over an old grocery store and turned it into the mecca of bicycling. One side of the store was nothing but clothes and the other was nothing but row, after row, after row of bicycles. I was totally blown away.

You name it and they had it. Top of the line Trek, Specialized, and Cervelo road bikes of every configuration and color. On racks, on stands, hanging from the ceiling. Everywhere I looked there were bikes. Obviously, I had to look around thoroughly before getting my tubes and CO2.

I casually strolled up and down the isles trying not to drool too much. Then I started to notice something. These things were expensive. I didn’t look at every single bike so I’m sure there are some that are affordable but I saw way more above $2,000 than below and saw many above $3,000. There was one bike, practically setup on a pedestal, that was $11,000. It was some kind of time trial bike. I called my wife and asked her if I could buy a bike for $11,000. You don’t need me to tell you how that conversation went.

Seriously, do people actually buy bikes that expensive? Do folks just walk in off the street and ride out on a $5,000 to $8,000 machine? Maybe they do. I guess I’m just ignorant to that sort of stuff. I guess my 15-year old Cannondale is just going to have to last for a few more years.

I headed over to the clothing side of the store and they had a huge selection of stuff. I saw Astana team kits as well as some from Rock Racing. The ones from Rock Racing were labeled, “Requires Second Mortgage On Home”. I’m just kidding. I didn’t even look to see how expensive they were.

After about five minutes of looking around I came to the realization that I didn’t see big boy clothes. If there were some they weren’t readily visible. Maybe they had a Clydesdale section that I didn’t see. Everything I did see looked like it would fit an 18 year old. Those were the days.

Well, after spending way too much time looking around I paid for my tubes and CO2. I got everything home and went to re-pack my seat bag when I realized I bought shrader valve tubes. I guess I was too googly eyed to get the right kind. That just means I’ll have to go back and look around some more….I mean exchange the tubes.

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  • jaxgtr
    Oh and check the clyde forums on BF for a sticky with a lot of places for Clyde sized clothing.
  • Thanks!
  • jaxgtr
    Bryan, I picked up my CAAD9 for $1200 and sold my old one for $550, so net for $650. Well that is how I explained to the wife, lol.

    I know a guy who dropped $7000 on a Independent Fabrication custom made bike. He has more money that brains. I took it for a spin and while it was nice, it did not ride any better than my "$650" bike.
  • That's a good deal. I'm a ways away from upgrading right now but I'm looking around. I have found some good bikes (at least look good to me) in the $1200-$1500 price range that seem a good upgrade for me. I'm wanting something that has, at a minimum, 105 components and a carbon fork. I've never ridden anything with carbon so I don't know if the vibration dampening they advertise is true or not. Hopefully someone will weigh in on that. I found what looked like to be some really nice Fuji bikes at the Performance store here in Dallas that has 105 or 105 mix (105 + ultegra) components with carbon forks, seat post, and seat stays for under $1500. These were on sale but I thought a good price. I think they even had a full carbon frame Fuji for not much more. All you hear about is Trek, Specialized, and Cervelo so I'm not sure if Fuji makes a good bike or not. When the time comes I'll really hammer down and get into the nitty-gritty reviews.

    Wow, that was a lot longer than I intended. I should turn this into a post. :-)
  • daveydave
    1982 - purchased a Panasonic Shogun 300. 10 speeds. I think it retailed around $200. I pulled that out of my parents basement in 2007 and started getting my riding in. Lost some weight and decided to get a bit more serious about riding (yeah, serious about pedaling a bike - laugh!)

    I liked riding and wanted something a bit more "up-to-date" so I started shopping for road bikes. I figured $300 - $500 should be enough. Boy was I wrong. I had no idea that you needed to start with a based of about $700 to get going these days. I ended up coughing up $1000 for my first modern road bike.

    Bike lust is somewhat foolish. To spend $5000 on a bike, you've got to have something wrong with your head. I have a sub 20 lbs bike, but do I need to spend $3000 just to get under 16lbs? Nah. I might one day have a stable of $1000 bikes for different types of biking, but I'd rather take the extra $2000 and come home with a flat screen LCD to watch the tour on. Funny thing is, I could write out a $1000 check to the Livestrong Foundation, polish my $1000 bike and watch the Tour on my 42'' LCD all while drinking a beer with a smile on my face. I think I might even have change for a nice dinner with the wife.

    There are 4 reasons why someone needs a $3000 + bike.
    a.) They are sponsored & don't pay for it.
    b.) They really race it, and not in the local club ride every Tuesday night.
    c.) They totally suck and can't hold your wheel without it - in the club ride every Tuesday night!
    4.) They don't understand the value of a dollar.
  • Great stuff. You won't see me on a $3000 bike unless someone gives me one. That said, you won't see me on a $3000 bike! I did some looking yesterday and it looks like you can get a pretty decent bike with 105 components, carbon fork, and maybe even a carbon seat post or carbon seat stays for around $1500. It wouldn't be top line but for what I do I think it would be more than adequate. I won't be upgrading anytime soon so I don't need to worry about it right now.

    Now, if I could convince Trek, Specialized, Felt, Orca or any of the other great bike makers out there to sponsor my site maybe I could squeeze a new bike out of the deal. Gotta have dreams right? LOL!
  • The part that bugs me is that I'd pay extra for a bulletproof bike. If I had the choice between a $1500 bike that was 20lbs and built to the usual spec and a $3000 bike that was also 20lbs but incredibly strong, I might think about it more.

    But the $3000 bike may not actually be any sturdier, just lighter and fancier. Potentially even less sturdy.

    I think I have bikelust in such a way that a company could extract a fairly substantial sum of money from me to buy one... but it's also bikelust for a bike that I have yet to really see in front of me.
  • That's something I really haven't thought about. Are the more expensive, lighter, bikes less sturdy than a cheaper, heavier, bike?
  • jaxgtr
    No. My CAAD9 fully loaded weighs in a 19.7 lbs and is super strong. The frames are pretty consistent, it's all about the wheels. Wheels are the weak link on any bike. I had hand built wheels to haul my big behind around that would stay true and not flex so much. Got to love the Velocity Deep V.
  • Al
    I'm drawing a blank on PDW, but they used to call me "Snowplow" because sometimes I could have the worst roll, and somehow manage take out 8 pins and leave an easy spare.
  • PDW is Pete Weber. Pro bowler known for his flamboyance...lol.

    Snowplow is awesome.
  • Al
    OK, I know Pete Weber - just never heard of him as PDW. He was no Guppy Troup!
  • Al
    Jonathan Vaughters said that the difference between a $500 bike and a $1,500 bike is huge. Between a $1,500 bike and a $5,000 bike, not so much.


    FWIW, I was on the bowling team in high school.
  • I'll probably never experience the difference between a $1,500 and $5,000+ bike.

    Bowling in high school? Did you have moves like PDW?
  • You're probably right about those that need the high-end stuff. I guess I didn't realize there's such a huge market for that stuff here. Maybe there is.

    None of the players on my sports teams in high school had Gatorade...lol!
  • High-end fancy road bikes are where the money gets made for bike shops and parts makers.

    At least some of that audience is high-end riders who want to shave seconds off their time. I know some people like that.

    But there's a fairly large population of people who don't bat an eyelash at spending $10k on a hobby. Even though they aren't very good at it. I haven't seen any egregiously bad examples thereof because we've got a LOT of serious cyclists around where I live.

    I took a spin on a fairly fancy bike. I was afraid to do anything too crazy on it because I was scared to break it. It's lightweight. The tubes are sculpted and the cables are carefully routed inside of them. There are little tickmarks so that if you take the bike apart for shipping you can quickly get the seat and handlebars back to where they were. It shifts well. So I can tell why it would make a person faster than they would otherwise, and for the person who's bike it was, they are mostly muscle, so they can't just get better to get faster.

    And you do end up often times buying them in a real store, because the retail store will have a selection of stems and cassettes and whatnot to make sure that the bike fits you exactly.

    But it's totally like when I was in grade school on a soccer team. The good players had gatorade in their water bottles, I had plain water. On some level, I figured that maybe it was gatorade that made them better.... but it was really that I didn't actually care to play soccer.

    I dono. I'm so damn stingy that paying that kind of money for stuff bugs me.
  • Black Pearl
    That Store is an experience, isn't it.

    Yes, people do come out of there with $3,000 first bikes and more.
    Last year on one of my commutes I came up on a guy in full Pro team Kit riding a Pinerillo Prince and just spinning away but not going anywhere. I started talking to him and found out that due to the gas prices his company was having a "Green" competition for June. So he went out and bought his first bike since he was a kid. As he said most of the other guys in work got Harley but for $10,000 with a Harley all you got was a base cycle with a Bicycle 10 grand got you a thoroughbred.
    I rode with him a few times and had to teach him how to change gears since he had never ridden a bike with out an internal hub.

    I never saw him after June. He won the company competition and put the bike up I guess, someday it will go out in a garage sale.

    That is why Dallas has a bike store bigger than a Sams Store.
  • Yes, it was an experience. It's a little far for me to make it my regular shop but I wanted to go see it since I had heard so much about it. It's nice I'll give'em that.

    I wonder if that guy would sale that Pinerillo for a $100? LOL!
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