It's MINE!

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck) 05/13/2020 at 09:33 • Filed to: None

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Finally paid off the WRX. Now we have two cars and no payments for at least a few months. The Outback may be going to college soon and we’ll need at least one new car, two if my son’s school doesn’t reopen in the fall.

I’ll try to enjoy it while it lasts....

The Ghost of Oppo > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 09:41

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Congrats

Nothing > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 10:03

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Woohoo! Congrats, I’m counting down the months on mine. One’s paid off, one to go!

Wacko > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 10:05

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Congrats, That means you now got a monthly bud get for another car.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Wacko 05/13/2020 at 10:07

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Yep. We’ve been saving for a down payment for a while now, so we should be in good shape when the time comes.

Nom De Plume > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 10:13

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What do the new two cars you’ll be making payments on look like in your mind?

Swamp truck and Alfa SUV

Alfa SUV and greatly devalued early electric car with 60 mile range

MicroCompact Beige and MicroCompact Beige II

Most expensive fender ready bicycle your family has ever owned and L_V94 customized minivan

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 10:23

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Congrats.  We paid off the balance of our 13 Civic last week about 10 months ahead of time. Now we need to start looking for something to replace the 03 Oddy. There have been many predictions of the used car market tanking, but I haven’t seen it yet. Definitely keeping an eye on things, though. Still, it will be nice to be without a payment for a while. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > Nom De Plume 05/13/2020 at 10:41

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T hose are some interesting ideas. My son is asking for a truck, so a small truck is in the payment plan. My wife really loved her Explorer, so I think we’ll be in the market for another one soon.

I’d like to get a new set of wheels and do the disc brake conversion on the bike I already have . The frame has disc tabs and canti bosses. When I built it up, I didn’t have the hardware for disc brakes, so I went with cantis. To make the conversion, I need wheels with disc-ready hubs and a set of BB7 road calipers with discs. It’s about $350 or so.

It’s not really necessary, but it would be a nice conversion.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 05/13/2020 at 10:43

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Thanks. We were really hoping for a significant market drop, but that hasn’t really materialized. I just read that with things reopening, the dealers are standing firm on their prices. We keep looking, but no luck yet. 

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 10:51

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The FP has an article about the potential bankruptcy of Hertz. That might get things moving. But many commenters are saying that they’re just not seeing any budge in prices. There may be many others like us who are playing wait-and-see. It’s kind of like a game of chicken right now.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 05/13/2020 at 11:02

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They may be right - it may take someone big failing and dumping a bunch of cars on the market to get things moving.

T here’s a fellow predicting a crash in general aviation prices, but that hasn’t come to fruition either. 

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 11:09

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I read a fascinating article in the WaPo today about how the dramatic decrease in the number of commercial flights has had a serious impact on weather forecasting.

Nom De Plume > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 11:16

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I have thoughts on the bike front. What your family gets for vehicles is a different matter I thought was open for lighthearted speculation only.

Depending on location of the canti bosses. V-brakes* or Paul Racers would be preferable. Best decision would be a f/f with through axle and modern disc mounts that won’t rely on adapters or legacy hardware . Without dwelling on this, teaser disc mounts should be ignored. Even if they were actually well implemented (highly rare) the rim brake option is more refined and safer.

* Travel Agent

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Wacko 05/13/2020 at 11:24

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I love this Oppo mentality!

Mrs. Snuze and I are going through the re-fi process on the house, which is going to end up saving us about $250/mo.  Which, in my mind, equals a car payment, or most of one, towards a Snuze replacement. 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 11:27

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Congratulations! Having no car payments is great!!!

We’re currently going through the refinancing process on the house and once we close on that we’ll save about $250/mo. The plan is to throw that at the car payment for the Terrain , which we already pay extra on, and we should have it paid off by the end of the year. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 11:29

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Congratulations on that peace of mind. I would seriously advise against jumping into two more car payments after you have paid off what you have. Good condition safe and perfectly reliable cars can be had between 5-7 grand all day if you know where to look, and, based on the fact that at least one would be for a new driver, it's gonna get scuffed up no matter what. Of course the two cheap options could total 14k together so a payment might be your only option, but I would just suggest trying to keep those costs down. Actually owning your car outright is a great feeling.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Nom De Plume 05/13/2020 at 11:36

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Interesting thoughts. This bike was sold with either cantis on the low-end, or discs on the “pro” version. I’m confident that the mounts are correct. I’ve heard that most of the conversion problems come from people forgetting to face the mounts to remove the paint and square up the surfaces before trying to mount the calipers.

The main reason for me wanting to switch is wet weather performance. I’m no stranger to riding in the rain (although I haven’t done much of that lately) and the typical wet rim + road grunge leads to poor stopping performance and excessive rim wear. V-brakes solve neither of those problems.

It’s all a moot point right now anyway. I’m not riding enough on the road to justify the expense. My primary focus is on indoor training so I’m ready for some of the longer rides with the local club this fall.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 05/13/2020 at 11:51

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Yeah, I know. I went without a truck payment for over 14 years. Our budget is set up for two vehicle payments, so we should be able to manage.

A newer truck will be a long-term purchase that should carry my son through college. Starting with something that’s older and will need significant maintenance within a few years when my son is no longer at home isn’t a good idea. My goal is 2-3 years old with less than 30k on the clock.

My wife will get what she wants.

Nom De Plume > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 11:55

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Being sold temporarily without incurring an expensive recall is at least one test!

Being well aware why even road bikes use t-a wouldn’t prevent me from doing what you plan. After I’d satisfied myself of a few things and went forward fully cognizant of need for inspection and constant awareness while riding. If a suitably cheap used t-a disc frame/fork was on fire sale I’d give it some thought.  

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 11:58

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Ah I see. If you can afford it that's a great thing to do. If you can afford it, that is. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > Nom De Plume 05/13/2020 at 12:06

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Excellent point about looking into recalls. My bike is a 2007 model. The first model came out in the early 2000s, and the last production run was in 2015, I think. There was a recall on the 2010 model for separations in the fork crown, but never a recall concerning the brakes.

Nom De Plume > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/13/2020 at 12:13

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Not at all what I was saying. Couldn’t hurt though.

The bike industry has been selling bad ideas and marginal features for some time now.  Legal climate forced them to accept insane liability or take actions I won’t go into length on here.  I was simply trying to explain need to be aware of the safety third reality of ‘second thought disc inclusion as a feature’ present in that era of bikes.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Nom De Plume 05/13/2020 at 13:19

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Ah. Sometimes I have difficulty extracting the meaning from your writing . I guess I need to work on my interpretation skills. Thanks for being patient with me.