I bought a road bicycle a few weeks ago. I have wanted to get a bike for about a year now to switch up my cardio. But when the time came to spend more on this hobby, my old frugal habits kicked in.

Every time I picked out a bike from the store, I copped out. Not because I didn’t want to ride. I live in The Netherlands and it’s the perfect place to go on long rides. There are bike lanes almost everywhere and car drivers leave you alone when you ride on the road. And biking is less taxing to the joints than running. So it’s a win-win!

Still, I couldn’t help but think it was too expensive. My thinking went something like this: