Convincing a colleague to spend a little more

[Chutzpah]

I have a colleague who is moving house soon, and considering cycling to the train station. He came to me asking for bike advice, and whilst I was honest and said that I probably wouldn't be able to recommend a specific stead, I could say that budgeting at least £300 would be a good idea.

Unfortunately, he seems set on the idea that £100 is his upper limit.

I've tried arguing that he'll get a heavy clump of a thing, with bits that need adjusting daily, and fundamentally he just won't enjoy it. And I've mentioned that practically everything else (e.g. shoes, shorts) he can scrimp on, but if he buys cheap he'll end up buying twice. But he just keeps arguing that "it'll only be a couple of miles each day", "I'm used to a heavy bike from when I was a kid" and "I won't use it anywhere as much as you".

I need a different argument. Since I've started cycling into work a few others have seen it's possible and started as well, and we've got a nice movement going. I'm keen to keep this going and it'll be great if he gets into it and starts enjoying it (he's into fitness so I can see him realising he loves it and going out for longer rides).

Anyone else been in a similar situation?

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Sure have, and quite recently. A mate and his wife said they wanted new bikes for leisure riding and they asked me for recommendations with a budget of £150 each!

We went through all the usual discussions as to why a bike cosing £150 would effectively cost far more and his interest moved away from bikes to his wallet. Its strange really because his wife, only a year or so ago, sold her BSO because she found it hard work and heavy.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, after visiting a number of LBS', they eventually settled on a pair of Ridgeback Velocities. They are now in the process of sorting out racks and mudguards.

I was lucky in that he was an engineer before he retired and when I demonstrated the relative qualities of BSO's and decent bikes from an engineering viewpoint, he was convinced.

 

[mark barker]

I can understand their reluctance to pay more than £100 to start with... How many of us have started a new hobby and gone out to buy all the gear and given up within a few months? I know I have (many times!).

£100 would buy something of reasonable quality if they head down the second hand route. Might be worth suggesting they take a look on ebay? Also you mention shoes, shorts etc. If its just a short commute then why bother?

 

[ian turner]

Well you could suggest another £20 to get a decathlon B'Twin 3 as they seem to be good value for money, the Rockrider won the gadget shows sub £100 mountain bike test recently.
Beats letting him by a full sus mountain bike in pink with bar end tassels

 

[dodgy]

"I won't use it anywhere as much as you".

That rings a bell. It reminds me of 2002 when me and a friend were running a broadband campaign to have ADSL installed at our local exchange, we dropped flyers through loads of letterboxes and every now and again a door would open and someone would want to give the flyer back. Their reason? They already have dial-up and they don't use it much.... "I'm not surprised" was my answer.

 

[2Loose]

Suggest 2nd hand if they won't budge on their budget. At least they'll probably get something useable.

 

[Chutzpah]

Also you mention shoes, shorts etc. If its just a short commute then why bother?

That was my point - I was telling him that there was no need to buy any of that, so no need to budget for it

 

[ian turner]

Second hand means you'll be responsible for advising them given they know snuff about bikes so shouldn't be left to their own devices.

 

[Chutzpah]

I've convinced him to check out Jake's Bikes in Bristol, explaining that for saving just a little more he'll get something a bit better for his money

http://www.jakesbikes.co.uk/content/usedbikes.php

They recycle and recondition used bikes. Gotta be better from getting a cheapo from Asda;

 

[Globalti]

The Gadget Show tested some BSOs in the last show and the Decathlon job at £99 came out OK actually, it's full rigid, which shows the value of not wasting money on springy bits. All the rest broke.

 

[mcshroom]

If it's only for a couple mile to the station and then locking it up there then the Rockrider 5.0 isn't a bad bike for £99, although I think you are likely to find better for that price point second hand.

Avon and Somerset seem to put quite a few bikes on Bumblebee Auctions as well which may be an option

 

[Chutzpah]

Ah yes, thanks for the reminder about the Bumblebee Auctions site - I'd forgotten about that

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

How far does he live from the train station?

If it's 2 or 3 miles than a £100 bike can do that....OK it won't inspire to longer rides..but not everyone wants to use a bike for anything non-utilitarian

Had a lovely holiday on a £100 MTBSO when that was all I could afford.....

 

[Bayerd]

How far does he live from the train station?

If it's 2 or 3 miles than a £100 bike can do that....OK it won't inspire to longer rides..but not everyone wants to use a bike for anything non-utilitarian

Had a lovely holiday on a £100 MTBSO when that was all I could afford.....

This year I've done nearly 3000 miles on an Apollo CX10. Halfords now sell these for about £120. Just don't ask how many bits have been replaced.

At least it got me going......

 

[Chutzpah]

How far does he live from the train station?

If it's 2 or 3 miles than a £100 bike can do that....OK it won't inspire to longer rides..but not everyone wants to use a bike for anything non-utilitarian

It looks like it will be around 5.5 miles. Mainly on-road, mildly hilly in places, although in the summer he will be able to do around 60% off road (at the moment he doesn't want to do that in the winter as he has concerns about 'weird people' on it after dark

)