[samstave]

Well, sort of.

Body-weight fitness, walking, jogging, running, hiking, swimming are all "free" to perform, but gear can be super expensive - take skiing, biking, water sports for example.

I recently went to a local bike shop (two in fact) and the average cost of a new modern bike is around ~$5,000.

There was one bike that I was looking at that was $15,000

Crazy expensive weekend warrior gear.

[watwut]

You really really don't need $5000 bike to enjoy biking. That is absurdly expensive.

[wiredfool]

I don’t even know how you’d spend 15k on a bike. Maybe top of the line tt/tri with super expensive wheels. But even then. Id rather go full custom at that point.

5k should get you a super nice bike, stylish, modern and all that. Diminishing returns probably start well under half that.

Edit— I do know of a 14k bike, the Rene Hearse 80th anniversary edition. Handbuilt custom, and there are going to be 8 of them. I’d love to ride one, but … that’s a lot of money.

[samstave]

In Folsom there is a guy named mark who has a full custom bike shop - mostly artisan style super roadsters (think LA Chopper style low rider bikes) -- the guy who makes them is a guy named Mark.

He charges typically around $16,000 for his creations. They are AMAZING looking bikes - but not my style at all.

The one I mentioned that was at Mikes Bikes in Folsom, was $15K - I cant recall the brand of that one, but it was a massive full suspension plus electric.

The Specialized there that was ~$12K was also full suspension electric..

The other high end store which is in downtown RoseVille...

Both places with lots of money... rich weekend warriors.

[wiredfool]

Ah. Electric. That's one way to really jack up the price.

[kazoomonger]

I think you're looking in the wrong places. I recently bought a nice bike for $600 that worked great on a 100 mile ride. If I hadn't gone to the fancy, trendy bike co-op, it probably would've been cheaper.

[tedunangst]

Is a $100 bike from Walmart not sufficient to elevate your heart rate? Does riding it somehow not burn the "right" kind of calories?

[nradov]

Cheap Walmart bikes can be fine for fitness. The problem with them is the components are fragile and they tend to break quickly when used for intense training. A broken bike sitting in your garage isn't going to get your heart rate up.