DanBailey.net

Okay, so I’m starting to narrow down my choices for a track frame:

• a Trek T1 frameset
• a Fetish Attack frame
• telling financial common sense to go “fuck itself” and buying a Bridgestone Anchor PHM9 (pictured, click for larger view)

Obviously, given that this is my first season on the velodrome, I’m not dropping the bank on a frame that retails in the $4000-range. But damn, it’s a beautiful bike.

There’s this thing about bikes — they’re fucking expensive. That’s the one thing that really bugs me about this sport (other than hearing it called “the new golf”) — the price outlay is enormous. This year, I’m trying to keep my spending on bike stuff under control, because last year, I was really bad. Yes, I’m buying two more bikes this year, but I’m trying to be as inexpensive as possible without compromising performance. (So, inexpensive aluminum track frame instead of multi-thousand dollar track frame. Single-speed MTB instead of cross-country rig.) It’s tough. There’s part of me, knowing I could technically afford it, that wants to buy that PHM9 frame, but there’s this majority voice in my head that says, “Fuck that! We have other shit to worry about!”

Wait. Did I just admit to having some degree of financial responsibility…and that it’s important to balance responsibility with the hobbies?

Damn. I’d like to think my parents, my ex-wife, and a few ex-girlfriends would be proud.