The mention of Sideways Cycles reminded me of a time when I popped in for a set of pedals and left with a complete Inbred build. I was clearly so excited that I forgot the pedals! I’ve also been into a few bike shops and left only with a sense of disappointment 😉

No willy waving required; just tales of wandering into a shop to buy something inconsequential and arriving home with an object likely to test the bounds of matrimony 🙂

My F-i-L went to buy a helmet and came home with a tandem.

He’s an inspiration to us all 😀

That’s EXACTLY the kind of thing I was thinking. Audacious move buying a Tandem. Risking disapproval on all sorts of levels 🙂

Our eldest. 😉

Went in for a new chainring and bought my first full suspension bike. Still bought the chainring

Our eldest

You impregnated your missus in a bike shop?

Respect.

Was it Stif?

Edit: OP also said no willy waving.

Years ago I went into a (motor)bike shop for a couple of odds and sods, and left on a brand new ZZR600. It was back in the pre-kids days when I actually had money. I was a salesmans wet dream back then 😳

binners – Member
I was a salesmans wet dream back then

We all come from somewhere.

Not me but I was present. We went into the shop at Grizedale (North Face Trailhead) for some gloves or other frippery prior to a circuit of said centre. She bought a full suss Kona because “there was room in the car”. (Not that I admit to saying those words). Her riding came on in leaps and bounds that weekend (pun intended).

went to see a mate laying joists..

bought a house

I went to buy a new saddle and ended up buying a whole bike (a nice hardtail Trek)

That reminds me Nick of going to buy some furniture and coming back with a puppy. I think we did buy some furniture as well. The puppy then ate that.

still doing that isn’t he?

I went back to a car showroom once because I’d left my sunglasses behind. I’d convinced myself that I wasn’t destined to get the car and left when we couldn’t reach an agreement on price.

I went back later in the week to pick them up – and drove home in the car.

@nick he’s slowed down a bit now. Generally only eats things with some calorific value. Although he munched his way through some volterol the other day. Old habits die hard 😉

Clearly I need a reason to visit a bike shop! I’ve got the idea of a cyclocross bike for commuting firmly lodged in my head – need to run out of lube or degreaser ASAP

A couple o’ months ago I called into my LBS to buy a small packable windproof, and somehow came out with a Salsa Vaya frameset and a pile of components for the build.

Popped in for a bite valve the day before holiday.

Came home with a da9000 equipped carbon road bike with matching pedals! It was last years model and a ‘bargain’!

a ‘bargain’!

They always are 😉

Went in for a puncture repair kit to fix my air bed. Came out with an ex demo hardly used bargain specialized enduro.

You’ve clearly never been into a music shop to buy plectrums.

All eclipsed by the internet age though!

joshvegas – Member

You’ve clearly never been into a music shop to buy plectrums.

“Hey, do you have a trem arm that’ll fit this cheap floyd rose copy?”
“No but we do have a 7 STRING BC RICH VIRGIN!”
Literally 1 minute later, I’m in the street going WTF am I going to do with this? And how am I going to pay my rent? Busking Korn songs?

My other half went into a bike shop to buy tyres and came out with a bike. The problem was that 4 of us had driven to the shop (or more accurately popped in on the way home from elsewhere) in a C1 and we had to work out how to get the bike home in it 😀

bish – Member
Went in for a puncture repair kit to fix my air bed Inflatable Ingrid.

😉

I have a couple that spring immediately to mind, both with the previous Mrs Slack, who seemed to like buying things just as much as me…

First was a camping holiday about 20 years ago on the continent and popped into a bike shop in Switzerland to rent a couple of mtb’s for a day or two. We walked out with one rental and one brand new Stumpjumper, for her.

The other was a few years later, with said Stumpjumper in tow on a three week RV and biking tour of British Columbia. Popped into a Realtors in Kimberley in the SE Kootenays to ask for directions to Somewhere or other and walked out having bought a house on the ski hill. Lovely it was 8)

One mate went into a LBS for a set of bearings for a rear wheel and came out with a Whyte 29er full suss. Its crap, I would have just got the bearings.
Another went to the same shop for a crash hat and bought a Giant road bike.
I can venture in there as long as the wallet is at home.
On a personal note, the current Mrs Thrusty and myself, spur of the moment shopping. Went to a place to cost getting our alloy wheels refurbished, then went passed the Volvo dealers and bought a £22K XC60. Was only £300 to fix the wheels……

Went climbing in the Peaks, it rained, went to estate agents and bought a house…..tent was a bit leaky 😀

I once went for a few pints in Manchester and ended up in Brussels.

Please keep posting these.
Makes me feel way better about my relatively small purchases now.

Best one I did was walk into a Blacks closing down sale, and walked out with £300 worth of rucksacs, stoves and clothing.
Didn’t actually want anything.

Actually come to think of it, outdoor shops seem to get me worse than bike shops.
£300 tent (because it was cheap), climbing rack (~£1k)(because all the bits were on offer).
I don’t want to think about this anymore…..

Mrs went to a VW dealer for 2 front tyres for her 3 yr old car came back telling me she had ordered a Mk7 Golf!!! and still changed the tyres on the car @ £300 which she exchanged 5 weeks later…… I,m still fuming!

went in for sunday coffee saw this thing with fat tyres on it ending up buying a salsa beargrease with xx1 which i have always hated, do not think i paid for the coffee saying that its the best bike i have ever owned and its never been on a beach yet or snow

Went for pizza, ended up buying a Blur 4x in the shop nect door while I waited

Halfords for a head light bulb = £300 GT cruiser BMX. Nice bike 🙂
Excitedly rushed home to build it up and then took the nastiest gouge out of my shin messing up a bunny hop and sliding it down the pedal pins…

My bargain road bike pales into insignificance compared to my Mrs who popped out for some shoes and bought a nearly new car, registered but delivery mileage only. ‘Bargain’!

Got a text from stif saying my (free) replacement decals had arrived.

Ensuing conversation resulted in me buying a custom built SC Chameleon.

Still haven’t fitted the decals, 8 months later

Sort of on track..

Mate at LBS lent me the demo XC 29r for a race, might have dinged it and put some heel rub on it. Bit of chin scratching and some thumping of the 0% finance machine and I rode it home

Off topic… a group of us once went to a pub in the small Hertfordshire village of Wheathampstead for a Sunday roast. Six hours later we were drinking champagne by the bottle in Tiger Tiger in Leicester Square.

At university in High Wycombe in the late nineties, went into town on a Friday night for some drinks. Ended up at Glastonbury.

I only had a shirt and jeans on, barely a penny in my pocket, no tent, nothing.

Only saw a couple of bands too.
Praise the Dub tent and Krishna food hand outs. 😀

Hmmmm. Went to buy inner tubes, bought Trek Remedy. Not my finest hour.

🙂

This is something I still feel shame about to this day even though it happened around 10 years ago….

I went in to complain about the length of time it was taking to source a warranty replacement frame (at that point it was 6 weeks and still no news) and had it in mind to say I wouldn’t leave until I had a delivery date from the manufacturer etc.
I ended up going in to the shop, not even mentioning the warranty, and instead bought a new bike of the same brand.
I put it down to being in a fragile state of mind from having not been out on my bike for 6 weeks.