No Time To Ride Your Bike Because You’re Too Busy Working To Pay It Off

In 2020 when covid took off it launched an unprecedented bike boom.  Millions of people who hadn’t ridden a bike since they were a kid looked to get one, or pulled their long forgotten old clunker out of the garage to get fixed and street worthy.

Those of us who ride regularly were annoyed by the supply chain and parts backlog, but welcomed new riders into the heaven that we already enjoy with open arms.

Being the somewhat cynical person I can tend to be, I recall telling some riding friends that this too shall pass.  I predicted that most Americans will give it up after covid restrictions die down and go back to the car and the couch.

I should have wagered money on that prediction….

 

Sell It

Here in the D.C. area we have a very large and popular Facebook Marketplace group to sell used bikes.  If it’s related to bikes you can sell it there, and that includes bike tools, racks, locks and even clothes.  But most of the postings are actual bikes and bike parts. 

Like most avid cyclists I need another bike like I need a lobotomy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t look.  I’ve been a member of this FB group for years and always enjoy seeing who’s selling what and what people think things are worth.

Around late June the volume of posts on this FB page started rising pretty dramatically.  People were selling their bikes left and right.  And I noticed a few trends. 

Firstly, many of these people were obviously not very bike savvy.  They would make a posting to sell a bike without mentioning anything about the most important features that drive the value which are the component set, the wheel brand, and the frame material. 

But the more pernicious thing I’ve been seeing that falls right in line with my prediction from 2020 is something else.

 

Time To Ride Your Ridiculously Expensive Bike

Here’s an example of the type of post I see pretty much every day now. 

Light and fast Pinarello Dogma F8, this is the ride of your dreams.  All stock components except replacement saddle and shorter stem.  Race geometry, never crashed.  Asking $6,500

Yes, that’s a real price.  The Pinarello Dogma F8 costs well over $7,000 or $8,000 brand new depending on which parts you choose.

Very often when someone is selling what appears to be a perfectly functioning thing, there’s a need to give a reason.  Not doing so could have prospective buyers think something is wrong with the item.  This is especially true with bikes which have lots of moving parts and could have hard to find flaws or broken components. 

So many posts in this Facebook group end with a reason why the seller is selling it.  I started saving some of these.  Here’s a sampling.

• “This bike is perfect for a bikepacking setup, but I don’t have much time for big adventures in the mountains so I’m putting it up for sale.”
• “I just am not riding the bike enough to justify keeping it, so hoping to sell to someone who will have a rad time on it.” 
• “Surly Midnight Special, medium. Rode it once and it’s been sitting since. Nothing wrong with it, just no time for it.  Sorry for the crappy pictures, just trying to get it posted without spending a lot of time staging it.”
• “I wish I had more time to ride this sweet bike but I just don’t, so my loss is your gain”

You get the point.  Almost every day I see someone post a bike for sale and explain there’s nothing wrong with it, but they just don’t have time to ride it.  In many of these instances they mention that they purchased the bike in 2020 or 2021.  In other words, a covid purchase. 

What could be the reason for this? 

It seems a majority of these bikes are ridiculously expensive models that the person didn’t need to buy in the first place.  They could have purchased something more reasonably priced. 

And my guess is they’re spending all their time working to make the money to pay the loan for the $8,000 bike!  When you live paycheck to paycheck and buy all the expensive things it’s no surprise that you have to keep working insane hours to just stay afloat. 

The D.C. area is chock full of people who make great incomes, but who also own too much house, two overpriced luxury cars, and an $8,000 bike or two.  In the pictures of these bikes that are up for sale I routinely see $50,000 BMWs, Mercedes, and Audis parked in the driveway.

So they work longer hours just to stay afloat.  And they have no time to ride.

 

Other Reasons

In the end we all make time for priorities in life and if these folks selling bikes are not making time to ride then it’s not a priority to them, plain and simple.   

Another major reason for the crash of the covid bike boom is that most folks are slowly returning to work.  When they were working from home they had a precious hour or two extra to ride a bike.  Now it’s being slowly snatched away from them.

I also believe many folks just found they either didn’t like cycling or didn’t have the discipline to stick to it, just as I predicted would happen in 2020.  Like a hopeful gym membership purchased in December, eventually late January rolls around and you’re off the wagon and can’t get back on.    

 

Future Bike Flipper?

The crash of the covid bike boom means the used bike market is becoming flooded, and when supply is bigger than demand we know what happens.  Sellers will have to sell for way less than the true value of the bike.  This is already happening in the D.C. region, and dedicated cyclists like myself have a huge opportunity to benefit. 

Ahhh, I don’t need another bike!!  The frugal FI warrior in me who got to early semi-retirement is screaming “just say no”.  I struggle with this because another side of me says “look, you enjoy bikes and you ride more than 5,000 miles a year.  You have more than enough money, spend on what you love!”. 

In the end I may start to flip bikes like people flip houses.  I’ve been seeing some amazing deals that are still not selling, and the seller has to keep cutting the price.  I know bikes well and I’m pretty sure I can pick a great deal, spend just a little time fixing it up and then sell it for a nice profit. 

This would require time of course and right now I’m not sure where I’d fit it in.  But if I want to make it a priority I’ll find time.  All those reluctant bike sellers should hear that message.

Your Turn – Did you buy a bike during the covid bike boom?  If so were you new to cycling and have you stuck with it?