Like the Michael Bolton character in Office Space.

Curious what would you say is the sweet spot to pay for a bicycle before rapid diminishing returns?

I still feel like if you go out for a long ride on a Huffy from Walmart you might hurt yourself.

I only know road bikes.

The groupset would drive it for me. If I was buying a new bike, and I knew I wanted to be a rider, I wouldn't mess about with anything less than Shimano 105. At Specialized, the lowest end bike with the 105 groupset on it is $2100. That's the Allez Comp, which has an aluminum frame and wheels.

The next step up the ladder would be their "endurance" frame, which is carbon. It's called the Roubaix, and equipped with 105 it's $2800.

Either of those would be a good first "serious" bike.

If the question is more about diminishing returns, I'd offer my own bike, which is a Giant TCR Advanced. It's a couple years old. I have about $5500 in it, all in, but that includes the middle-grade SRAM electronic shifting group, carbon wheels, and a power meter. The meter is skippable if you're not doing serious training, but I did and do use power data for training. Subtract $800 if you don't want that.

I honestly think spending more is just showing off. If that's your jam, knock yourself out, but it's probably not making a big difference UNLESS you need a custom frame to be comfortable.

In the Uk it’s about £3-4k I think. Beyond that the differences in function are very small and would make no differences at all in an amateur road race. For time trials it’s a bit different and there clothing does make a measurable difference, although still v small relative to training harder!

Doesn’t have to be long ride.

One time I bought a bike from Walmart and didn’t make it the 5km home before I lost a crank arm.

In tennis I’m sure the real way to turn money into competitive gains is personalized coaching.

Not sure about cycling. But a general physical trainer wouldn’t hurt.

It’s net positive when there’s useful new functionality, but phone software has been mostly a wash for a while now.

Sounds like his money was better spent on the trips than spending more on a car that wouldn’t make the trips any better.

Well played.

Atoms >> Bytes.

Sounds like you’re living the FIRE dream.

Working a paid job does nothing to help those less fortunate than you. Maybe by retiring early you can free up time to help others in more creative ways?

Having the resources to retire is a great way to do productive work, because much maybe most highly compensated work isn’t productive at all.

That just comes down to luck.

Some people at 70 are in great health, some not so much.

Disagree. Like financial independence, physical fitness in later years is something you can work towards and is well within nearly everyone's reach.

Granted, both take focus and long term discipline which people who lack both chalk up to luck.