When I was out on my current bike (a Voodoo Hoodoo 2012 that I bought last year for £50) I noticed that the remote lock for the suspension had stopped working, it was locked off because it desperately needs servicing which I’m told would cost around £200, which I didn’t want to spend as it was money that would have been spent on my new bike, when I’d finished saving for it. It also needs a new wheel, new tires, and probably some other bits and pieces that would put the final repair bill at around £300, and that is with me doing much of the actual work (not the suspension, that’s a bit specialist for me). All coming out of the e-Bike fund.
So last night I sat down, counted my pennies and went looking for a new bike. I didn’t find one. I found plenty of bikes I would have liked, some were within reach price wise but for one thing or another I failed to find something I could afford and that I could trust. Some no name Chinese import that I can’t get warranty support for, just isn’t worth spending my limited cash on, and the same can be said for most of the bikes on Amazon. As for the bikes on eBay (et al) I’d be too worried that they were stolen.
This morning I woke up with a plan, I was going to find a bike I liked then borrow the money I needed to buy it. My budget limit was £2,000 of which I had a little under half already saved, I poked around for a bit then found a 2023 Haibike (a German brand) Alltrack 5, it’s on road off road mountain bike – they say it’s a go anywhere bike. Which came in at a little over £2,000, but the place I would buy it from offered me £375 off the price, bringing it under budget – actually leaving me enough to buy a dropper post (a seat post (the bit that the saddle attaches to) that can be adjusted as you cycle along). I also bought a good lock (which was extra to my budget), I thought it was angle grinder proof (minutes rather than seconds, so not really proof) but I got a lesser lock from the same brand – I wish I’d noticed at the time of purchase, though I have just looked on the site and the difference to the cheapest anti-grinder lock is ~£130, which would have put me well over budget. As it was I spent £2,117.
The shop I got it from is Tredz and the bike comes with a 12 month warranty, and it’s not new, which makes me sad. But I’d have had to wait another year probably, to be able to afford a brand new bike. Which my current bike won’t last for. So it was this or nothing.
And of course the elephant in the room is that I borrowed money to buy the bike, it’s a little under £120/month for 12 months – I paid £700 immediately. And it’s interest free so it’s literally just what I borrowed. I was already putting £150 into my savings each month anyway, so I’ll be fine.
I hope. I am struggling with my feelings, I struggled with debt for a long time, and finally had to have it written off, but that was more than ten years ago and I’ve been much better with my money since then, I don’t intend to borrow anything else until this one is paid off. A in honesty a lot of the debt I was in in the past was from long ago some from the late ’90s. This time it will be different, I have changed.
Bike is due on the 10th (or 11th) and I’m terrified that something will go wrong and elated that the bike I have been saving for for over a year (and still hadn’t managed it) is finally going to arrive.
There will be pictures on Monday/Tuesday.
Oh and NBD = New Bike Day
Later:
Just a FYI, my sums in the above text don’t actually work (because I calculated my discount based on it only applying to the bike I think). Total cost of the transaction before discount was £2453 (Bike + Dropper + Lock), I then had a %15 discount which earned a £338 discount (I’m rounding up here). Which left me with £2,117 to pay. Then I paid £700, and have 12 months to pay the remainder. @£118/month.