Denial...or how to live with a retro habit and love yourself

Following on from a quote on a previous thread by Grade A..



I've never been "in" with my LBS... Probably because up until now, when I've had money I haven't been riding bikes!



I think I am starting to see connection between periods of extended bike bits shopping/ stockpiling/ project builds, and points in my life when I am blatently denying doing what I am supposed to be doing, like getting a career up and running, or looking for a new job or starting to grow up and act responsible etc.

And I think for some reason it's easier to justify if it's retro (harder to find/ more nessessary to stockpile etc) than if it's modern. Doesn't feel as naughty.

What is it when you go past denial because you know what you are doing and that it's not nessessarily the right thing to do, and why you are doing it? Is that honesty? Or just doing wrong and getting away with it? :roll:

Get an understanding partner - and learn what moderation is I suppose?

sod the denial - if you enjoy it and you can afford it then don't feel guilty about it and go buy more shiney bits... all the other stuff tends to sort its self out anyway....

ahh, the afford it bit - hmm, i sort of can't. that's the prob.

:roll:

There's affording it and affording it though...

Between myself and Scarlett we'll soon have 5 retro bikes in various stages of build, but to afford them they're not getting white Porcs or Zooka stems or anything ultra-pimpy or anything where prices on fleaBay have gone through the roof... Retro doesn't always have to mean expensive - my Explosif was built for less than £200 I reckon, including new cables, headset, BB, etc...

And as for an understanding partner - mine eggs me on!

gradeAfailure":21e60nhu said:

And as for an understanding partner - mine eggs me on!

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Mine seems to have a stockpile of Arch Supremes herself, but I do know where the line is drawn.

Re: Denial...or how to live with a retro habit and love your

Wu-Tangled":1i7t5g6f said:

I think I am starting to see connection between periods of extended bike bits shopping/ stockpiling/ project builds, and points in my life when I am blatently denying doing what I am supposed to be doing, like getting a career up and running, or looking for a new job or starting to grow up and act responsible etc.
?

Click to expand...

Don't forget

GROWING OLD IS COMPULSORY BUT....

GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL

I like:

We don't stop playing because we grow old - we grow old because we stop playing.

Wu-tangled's threads are very thought-provoking. I think in a way he touches a nerve, like perhaps a few here were didn't have money to collect the stuff they loved in their youth. Probably a few of them went through a time in their late 20s when they came into some money, but an overwhelming sense of responsibility prevented them from spending it on what they really wanted; rather it went to things like car payments, mortgages, etc. But maybe now that people later on in life have found some sort of comfortably equilibrium with their finances, there's some room for retro bikes and bike parts.

Personally, for me, they way I justify it to whoever, myself, my girlfriend, my co-workers (when things like $300 ten year old Ringle wheelsets arrive at the office) is that if it wasn't bikes, it'd be something else. Everyone has to have some sort of hobby.

It does get tough, especially for, since my license still says pro mtb'er, to justify working on old bikes when I should be out training. But I think I've found my equilibrium.

ameybrook":1cwlpx2m said:

Everyone has to have some sort of hobby.

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I know, a bloke at work looks at me odd when he asked how much my bikes/stuff have cost me. Yet to him £500 on a fishing rod is moeny well spent! :shock:

i spent 50 quid on a torch!

the problem is when you have lots of hobbies...

mine are

skateboarding
snowboarding
mountainbiking (retro)
torches

it starts getting a bit expensive - and im only 27