Control

I've been thinking about buying a new road bike for some time -- probably as far back as October of 2005, a month after I bought my tri bike. For various reasons (all good), I've yet to pull the trigger.

Now, why would I possibly want a third bike?
1) My current road bike is old (like seven years old; that's ancient)
2) With Hannah in Texas, I get pretty bored. Building up a bike on my own would be a good way to pass the time.
3) I like gear as much as the next guy. And why only have two bikes when you can have three?
4) My current road bike is not new.

So there you go, no real good reason, which is why I haven't bought a new bike yet.

All that said, a number of bike "companies" are doing group buys for the holiday season. Basically, that means one of two things: 1) The more people that sign up and pre-order a bike or frame, the lower the price becomes; 2) The company fixes the price at an incredibly low price and advertises it as such.

One of the "companies" is offering a ridiculous deal right now (deal ends December 31!) for a full carbon fiber frame, including shipping. For the last week I've been tempted and tempted again. Today, I had my finger on the "purchase" button.

(Side note: I have "companies" in quotes because what most people don't know is that most bikes today are actually made by only a handful of Asian manufacturers, especially the carbon ones. These American brands then import generic frames and rebadge them with their own labels. I don't have any issue with that per se, especially those made in Taiwan. I'm only suggesting that you keep this in mind if you're going to buy a new bike; you might be able to get a better deal elsewhere on the exact same frame. Marketing!)

Anyway, I stopped myself from taking advantage of the great deal for a few reasons:
1) The $400 frame (awesome deal, trust me on this one) isn't a $400 bike. I'd still need to buy all the parts for it. Right now, money's just a little too tight for that. And Hannah's got a birthday coming up. Oh, and the house.

2) I'm pretty sure the frame is made in China. It's manufactured by a Taiwanese company, but they have two facilities -- one in China. Only their super top end stuff gets made in Taiwan; at $400 there's no way this is super top end. It's not that I think the frame is going to be coated in lead paint, it'll probably be an excellent bike, made by skilled laborers. And I've got plenty of cheap stuff made in China. At this point though, I'm not about to spend money on a luxury from China.

3) I don't really ride my road bike that much anyway. Not enough to warrant three at this point.

4) My current road bike isn't that old, I mean, c'mon, it's only seven years old. I've got t-shirts older than that.