Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 74 total)
  • How do people pay for new bikes?
  • phil40
    Free Member

    Not a question about the cost of new bikes, just about credit to buy one!

    I have a bike fund I save into and once I have enough for a bike (and after a good couple of months if procrastination) I buy it, talking to a friend they said if you can get 0% finance it makes more sense to use credit as you get the bike sooner and you keep the money in your own account making interest!

    I had never thought of it like that, does it make sense? If so do many people do that?

    My method is somewhat limiting that it is unlikely I will ever get a 3k bike because by the time I had saved that amount they would no longer be in production, but I feel safer having my little savings account and not owing a finance company the money!

    mildbore
    Full Member

    I usually do what you do and save up although my latest one I bought on 0% for the reason your mate mentioned. I still have the money in my account. Dead cautious financially, me.

    hora
    Free Member

    Usually I buy/sell 2ndhand. If new it’s not expensive; my new Neta V4 frame was 1,000euros. My mate spent 5k on a SC but I can understand his reasoning- it’s probably his last MTB bike so why not?

    Anyone who spends thousands on credit on something that scars and is obsolete very quickly needs to readjust their priorities. Spend your own money fine, but on credit/not your money? Road bikes don’t apply as they can be kept pristine and last many many years.

    andysredmini
    Free Member

    By getting run over and payed out for my old bike. Other than that it’s saving or selling old bits to buy new bits. I won’t have credit for anything except the house and car and especially a not bike. If I can’t afford it I don’t buy it. Nothing against credit it’s just not for me.

    milky1980
    Free Member

    One bike was credit (30th birthday prezzie to myself) and the other was cash. It was credit or no bike for the first, not normally my choice of a way to get a bike but it was a once-only thing after a bad few years. The discount the bike shop gave me on the second bike more than outweighed any gains for keeping the cash in savings. Try to avoid credit now anyway as I got trapped in the never-never trap in my 20’s, cash if I can now or at most 50% credit.

    scaled
    Free Member

    My latest is on 0% finance.

    Asked them if there was a discount for paying cash, as there wasn’t I financed it!

    andeh
    Full Member

    Bought all of them outright, but they’re not exactly flash. Mostly second hand.

    Thinking about it, I’ve only ever bought 1 complete bike brand new, my £300 road bike. My main bike was, technically, a birthday present 13 years ago and I’ve been swapping parts/frames ever since. The only original componet left is a headset spacer.

    Latest purchase is going to be Cycle to Work though, because I can do that now.

    I think if I were to buy one one credit, I’d like to have the money sat around anyway….which I suppose defeats the point.

    TrailriderJim
    Free Member

    I buy components. New frame, transfer old parts over, gradually replace worn parts. Repeat all over again, but across a period where I’d probably save the amount of money up to buy a bike outright. I seek out bargains too. Research the type of component I want, then seek out the cheapest viable option.

    mcnultycop
    Full Member

    Cash
    Cash
    Cash (built from parts)
    0% finance (cheapish roadie so only over 12 months)
    C2W

    On the last five.

    Next one will probably be 0% credit card

    steve_b77
    Free Member

    Bike to work.
    Overtime
    Overtly generous people

    stu170
    Free Member

    My last 2 have been 0 percent. But i did have the money for both in the bank. As your mate says you’re earning interest on that money, so the way I sell it to myself is that I’m actually earning money by buying a bike

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    Salary.
    Spend wisely.
    Oh, and the tithes I collect from the serfs helps, obviously.

    kayak23
    Full Member

    I buy pretty much all my expensive purchases on credit. It’s just a part of life for a lot of people and I don’t see a problem if you are sensible.

    Heck I have a large student loan hanging about and so getting a bit more seems ok.

    Over quite a few years I’ve bought a bike or two, parts like forks, slr camera, and power tools for my work. Pay it off, no issue.

    I’ve had my original Nukeproof mega since it came out (bought it second hand) and have just in the last two weeks bought a complete Vitus bike. The spec and money I got off were too good to pass up.

    I’ll enjoy it and it’ll last me too.

    teethgrinder
    Full Member

    0% on the frame over 24m with a £200 deposit. Shop chucked in a Hope bottom headset cup and Hope axle and adaptors for my ProII hub.

    Rest of the bits swapped over from previous bike.

    Could have got a Bird Aeris build for the price of the Spitfire frame, but they weren’t out at the time and don’t think they did 0%. Hey-ho.

    notmyrealname
    Free Member

    Bought with a credit card, American Express where possible to claim more Avios miles, then paid off with savings from overtime.
    Thankfully the firm I work for are struggling somewhat so are paying fairly healthy amounts of overtime to staff and have been for the past 18 months or so so it’s fairly easy to get extra shifts to save up for bikes and other toys 😀

    P-Jay
    Free Member

    20% cash, the rest on the CC on the last one – sold my old bike off minus a few bits I wanted to swap and paid it the cash to the CC people – I still owe a grand, but if I needed to get rid in a hurry I should let struggle to get £1500 or more for it, it’ll be clear by Xmas.

    The last couple I paid cash for and swapped and upgraded bits along the way, more of a constant slow pace of change rather than new bikes per-se, but 650b killed that. I looked at 650b/26 frames like Rune’s to bridge the gap, but they weren’t what I wanted.

    mamadirt
    Free Member

    One piece at a time, triggers broom stylee 😛

    wiggles
    Free Member

    Earn minimum wage and have bought £3.5k worth of bikes in the last year.

    Reckless spending and staff discount are my tactics

    Yak
    Full Member

    Yeah, I run a trigger’s broom approach too. Just bits, some new, a lot 2nd hand and occasionally a frame.

    nwill1
    Free Member

    My collection has been ‘grown’. I’ve brought as and when I’ve had the cash, started with basic builds and improved them over time, to be fair I have what I consider to be 3 serious bikes now all fairly high spec (without being silly I.e not XTR). A mix of ‘nearly new’ and brand new.

    darrenspink
    Free Member

    Cash or CC. You can get at least 10% off listed price with most shops of they offer 0% over X number of years.

    DanW
    Free Member

    I’m a save and then spend type… Probably for the daft reason of feeling like I am working towards something and the wait makes everything sweeter. I also don’t think I’ve ever spent enough on a bike/ frame for finance to even be offered- it more about constant tinkering, incremental changes, triggers brooming and hunting out value parts rather than spaffing a ton of cash all at once

    What I’d like really like to know though is where you on finance lot are getting a decent enough interest rate nowadays for this to be a justifiable reason to go that route 🙂

    jonba
    Free Member

    Savings. I generally save for things like holidays, bikes and fun stuff so have a pot of cash available each year to spend. Just choose what to spend it on.

    I will often put them on a card to get points/rewards etc. but pay off before interest is due. The only risk with 0% is if your circumstances change. At least with a pot of cash you don’t owe anybody anything.

    My last bike was my roadie at £2k but my CX/Mtb were much less and my commuter built out of spare parts and bargain bin stuff. I tend to keep them going for a good number of years as well – wear them out and break them.

    timber
    Full Member

    Sale of previous bike and car (return to bangernomics) funded the last bike. Money was there, so paid for straight off rather than credit, as well as the build coming from a few different local shops.

    choppersquad
    Free Member

    I’m usually save and spend type, but with the price of bikes these days my next one might be 0% finance?
    I’d rather buy second hand but I’ve never had a new bike before.

    trauty
    Free Member

    cheap components form chainreaction and used frames on pinkbike.

    taxi25
    Free Member

    Normally s/h or frame only so cash. But my last mtb is a new out 2016 model so nothing s/h or big discounts. I still got 10% of and 36 mnths at 0%.

    taxi25
    Free Member

    DP

    phil40
    Free Member

    So a mixed bag then 🙂

    I have a mortgage and paying off a car but for some reason I really fear the idea of any other credit! I must be old before my time 🙂

    freeagent
    Free Member

    Cycle to work scheme – I’ve bought 4 over the last 5 years.

    2tyred
    Full Member

    I enjoy the configuring and building, plus I’m a tightwad, and there’s two other bike racers in my house, but I like my bikes light.

    Most of my bikes get raced, and I’ll only buy what I can afford to replace if it gets wrecked.

    Current XC race bike is currently a cheap frame off the classifieds, new fork, new Stans wheels (heavy discounted as they’re SS from 2013), s/h cranks, s/h brakes, cheap finishing kit, carbon seatpin from an old road frame (short-term swap after I gave my mate mine minutes before a race) just left it on, s/h saddle, drivechain from the cheap drawer at the LBS.

    Wouldn’t buy on credit – the idea of it being destroyed before I’d paid for it puts me off too much.

    mynamesnotbob
    Free Member

    Save then spend. Every month I keep a fun fund topped up, then normally around this time each year I use it for something, bikes, guitars etc.

    Actually pay for everything on CC but cleared all the time, only for points that pays for flights through the year never pay interest.

    I don’t finance anything I don’t need, the purchase joy dissipates quicker than a finance agreement.

    If I can’t afford it, I don’t buy it. If I can’t afford it, and don’t need it, I certainly won’t buy it

    soundninjauk
    Full Member

    Bought my road bike cash, but paid for the new, poshest bike I’ve ever had, mtb on CC. I could have taken the money out of my savings, but why bother if I can pay it off as quickly (or as slowly!) as I want to on a 0% credit card.

    That said a few months into things I did start to get antsy for no real reason, and threw most of my spare cash at it to pay it off pretty quick. No reason other than a dislike of debt (again for some reason mortgages don’t count). I’m also saving for the next one into a ‘potential fun toys’ fund so as to have the cash up front, whatever and whenever it may be. Not for a while yet in any case.

    butcher
    Full Member

    Cold hard cash every time for me. I have thought about and weighed up the pros and cons. But I can’t get out of my head that I will be uncontrollably poorer for the next however many years. Buying a bike or whatever is fine…it’s the slippery slope. Currently don’t have any debts at all (other than student loan). Everything gets paid for in cash, cars, bikes, phones, etc. Prefer it that way.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Always cash

    Sometimes as a triggers broom
    Sometimes 2nd hand
    Occasionally as a F*** this I want something new, shiny and that works.

    Superficial
    Free Member

    I want to know where all these people are getting these amazing deals and earning significant amounts of interest on their savings. My cash ISA gives me about 1.1% IIRC.

    You’re all delusional, and I’m astounded by how many people get themselves into debt so they can buy shinier toys. Not because I have some sort of moral high ground, but from reading other forums, most people are a lot more debt-averse than people on here seem to be. And also if you’re paying full sticker price for bikes (even with 0%) then you’re getting bent over.

    I don’t care what other people do, of course, I’m just surprised.

    hora
    Free Member

    …and the bike industry reaps the £££. Yes bikeshops can earn peanuts and go under but how many sell tubes, parts and full £££ bikes and make shed loads on poor staff minimum wages?

    How much guff do owners feed their shop managers about profits etc from t/o?

    therag
    Free Member

    Always cash to get a 10-30% discount, but about to buy an online only bike next, so undecided

    lobby_dosser
    Free Member

    I only ever seem to buy frames rather than complete bikes and then move everything across. Until I realise that some of the bits don’t fit and have to buy new bits 🙁 . For the ‘smallish’ stuff i’ll buy cash. For big purchases like frames or forks if there’s a 0% deal available i’ll do that but always have the cash as a back up. If no 0%, I will buy cash. This of course is on the proviso that I can spare the cash. I stopped using cc years ago after being a total dobber with them.

    Malvern Rider
    Free Member

    Apart from some will money and one ill-advised HP on what turned out to be a BSO hybrid ( Raleigh had the cheek to put a headbadge on it…) I’ve sold used/bought used on an in-out basis for all of married life 8) , usually adding a bit of cash and trading up along the way. However this year have sold two used bikes from the diminished stable to pay a lump sum/deposit on one used (demo) bike. That only covers half the purchase price so have to borrow the rest. Not a very expensive purchase compared to most – yet more than I’ve spent on any bike for the last 15 years. It makes sense to sell the stuff one hardly uses in order to buy something that will see a lot of use. Making space in the process…

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 74 total)

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