Re:
M-Power":379irs7t said:
Somebody explain the psycology of this behaviour....please !
To me this is mostly FOMO (fear of missing out). You see a nice bike/part, at a price you think is interesting, and the thought is not "do I need it?" but rather "will I ever find something similar again?". A big trick in marketing is
induced scarcity "Buy it now 20% cheaper, on Monday back to regular price!". Due to the nature of retro bikes (i.e. no longer made) this scarcity factor is already embedded into them. There will never be more thumbies made, or Klein frames, etc.
I'm already in the reduction path, and the big motivation factors for me were:
-had 1 kid last year, another one underway. Less time to ride, less time to tinker. The crap that is not used has to go
-planning a 2 year cycletouring trip in about 2 years time, with the kids (using the generous German parental leave). That means we'll need to empty our apartment and the leftover crap will go to the in-laws for storage, so the less burden we leave them, the better.
So currently aiming for the "only one bike for all" nirvana. I have 2 bikes (retro, of course) that will be used for the trip and then sold/donated at destination. I would get for them about the same money I'd have to pay in airline fees to bring them back anyway, and I know I can tear them to pieces and build them back if needed, which is ideal when touring to be self-reliant.
A couple of easy tricks to stop the build up of excessive stock:
-stop visiting selling sites/markets (logical, it's like an alcoholic going to a bar "just for a fanta", but we still fall again and again into it)
-if the urge for something "new" comes, best for me is to go down to the garage and fix stuff. There's always something to do. An alternative I used in previous years was to hunt for good bikes in terrible condition, fix them, and then either donate to local charities or to bikeless friends. The craving is satisfied, but it doesn't increase the personal stock, and it's a great cause to put our mechanical skills (and freakiness) into use. 2 years ago, during the big refugee wave into Germany, I managed to donate 8 bikes, mostly kiddy bikes, to the local welcoming team, while investing just 70 EUR total, as most needed some TLC.
Built it up with the best mostly NOS bling parts. Its just hanging on the livingroom wall for the last few years. Im scarded the kid and her play mates will damage it :facepalm: Im too ocd with finally achieving perfection to ride it now. :facepalm: I have issues :facepalm: 
