How much $ and why (Page 2)

Meh.... you can spend $9000 on a pair of wheels.

If a slow guy has the money and wants a nice bike... who cares? Why do you feel so special passing someone of lesser abilities on a nice bike. What does it matter if someone slower than you has a higher disposable income?

I will clearly never be getting a 9K tri bike as I don't even know what Screaming Eagle is 

Crowie would kill you on a bike from Dick's.  That said, if you got it, buy it.  My approach is this: what looks worse, going slow on an expensive bike or going fast on a cheap one.

2011 Felt B16, here.  $2000, plus a $700 Kona road bike.

It's a wine that goes for ~ $3k a bottle.....

Although there are lots of wine's in that price range, this one has become the poster child for excess.

One of my neighbors just bought an $85,000 Porsche, does he need it...No.  Does he enjoy driving his new car...yes.

Me, I plan on upgrading my road bike this year from a 1985 steel bike to a carbon road bike from this decade.  My budget is under $2500.  If I was more committed to cycling and tris would I spend more?  Probably.  If I train for an IM distance race 2-3 years from now I can see myself spending $3-4K on a Tri Bike.  Would I spend $9000? No.

Why do people get fancy cars?  A Yugo will get you from point A to point B.

If tri/cycling is your only hobby and you love to do it, I say "as much as you can afford" is the answer to your question.

Yup...you can trace ANYTHING a guy does back to the simple desire to attract chicks....and I do mean anything.

My $1500 bike was a WAY nicer ride than my $750 bike.  My $3000 bike is a WAY nicer ride than my $1500 bike.  Beyond $3000... not so much WAY nicer, at least the one's I've tested.  Nicer yes, but not so much bang for the extra bucks.  Beyond $3000 it's more about fashion.  I never buy clothes for a fashionable label; more for fit, comfort, utility, then style.  Yes, to a point, more expensive clothes fit better and last longer.

I pieced my bike together from ebay and online parts for $2400, specs compare to a $3000 bike.  Plus a $200 professional fitting.  I enjoy my "expensive" bike more.  It fits well.  It works well.  Doesn't have any annoying clicks or noises.   It makes me happy every time I ride it and I ride it more.  So I think there's some physical benefit there.

Here's how I explained it to my wife  (I borrowed this from a BT forum post):

This is why adults play with expensive toys. The time we adults spend at play, is rare, very selfish and expensive time, when compared to time spent with family or making a living. As such, an improvement of the quality of that time, and the results of the time spent, is quite valuable.

I want people to buy really expensive bikes that they lose interested in.

And then sell them cheap to me and my friends.

I want to be so fast and sexy, that I have to wear an aero helmet like the other guy.

Being more aerodynamic might also have something to do with it.  

buy what you like and can afford.  I pushed my intro budget at $700 on a used bike.  glad I did because I got better components, and event with limited expereince, could tell the difference between base model and the next one up.

I'm lusting after a new roady, found the one I want FS used here for $1400 and discounted at the LBS for $1800--if I could afford it I'd probably have one of them, but I can't so it's another season on the old tricross.

I'm on that program...lol...just watch for my posts in the Classifieds...you can probably pick up a nice Venge or Shiv TT in a few months when Specialized comes out with something new

$9000 is totally worth it.  My kids don't need to go to college and my family doesn't need to go on vacations.  Plus, my little boy needs to learn to suck it up and do without that silly asthma medicine.

But seriously, as others said, for some people, that's simply not a lot of money.  For me, $175 is what I'll spend on a bike because that's the lowest price I could find on a used road bike when I looked.  It's just a hobby for goodness sakes.  I spend as little as I can to find functional equipment; any more than that and I feel like I'm taking money away from my household.

I'm firmly in the "quit judging other people's purchases" camp. There is obviously some type of market for the $9K bike, who cares if the buyer is fast or slow, tall or short, newbie or KQer. Stuff like this screams of jealousy, which is not a good color on anyone.