Ride it or Hang on a Wall ??

My LBS has a Lance Armstrong Madone 5.9, one of the 500 made by Trek. They are raffling (sp) it off tomorrow and I just wanted to see what everyone's opinion would be re: whether to ride or display.
Of course I bought some raffle tickets; part of the money went to the LAF, the rest went towards the shop and their bill for the bike. I am just getting back into riding and am up to about 40 miles per day on average. I have been training on my old Cannondale, and it has been beating me up. So I placed an order with my other LBS for a 5.2 Madone to replace it.

If I were to win the 5.9 tomorrow, I am really leaning towards cancelling the order for the 5.2 and riding the 5.9. What is everyone's take on this?? I really have no reservations about training and racing triathlons on a 7G bike. Of course some of my friend's think otherwise, even some of my riding buddies. If I were to own a Ferrari, I would drive it daily. So what do you think??

Ride it!!! thats what it's for , then clean it and look at it.

From a practical stand-point I would sell it, use part of the money to buy a much cheaper bike better suited to my purposes, and pocket the rest.

The honest answer is I would ride it, after paying a visit to the insurance company first. That bike new cost more than I paid for the wife's van and as much as I paid for my Land Cruiser.

Ride It....If you're not going to ride it, why have it?

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Insanity has its price -- Please have exact change.

Hang on the wall. Better still, buy another and in years to come they will probably be worth something due to the association with armstrong. In a few years time when Armstrong is retired and no one wants his autograph, ask him to sign 'em and they'll be worth something more.

Remember too, it wasn't the bike that one the race it was Armstrong! If Armstrong was riding Cinelli or Colnago, he still would have won


Gavin

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Gavin

I was lucky enough to pick up two 1999 lance armstrong limited edition 5500 on ebay. One is immaculate, the other only one ding in the head tube. I ride the latter and have the mint 5500 hanging on my wall, best of both worlds!

That's great Dingodog !

Please don't ever sell them or let "mates " borrow them. Now if you could only get some memorabilia af all kinds and use it for interior decorating. Get stuff that's worth something. It would set the bikes of well being surrounded by old and real memorabilia.

I actually row a scull to keep fit and bikes are great for cross training. I'm impressed with the Cinellis and the colnagos and the Torellis

Apparently there is a bloke in England named Claude Butler who puts together fine bikes.

regards
Gavin

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Gavin

both.after riding,id hanging it up somehow for display. a wall should be strong enough.

A few years ago, at the Pink Tie dinner in Denver for Susan G. Komen Foundation, they were auctioning one of his bikes that he had ridden. My wife wanted to bid on it for me to ride, and I told her no way, I'd hang it on the wall. While bicycles are inherently functional, something like that, in a limited run, goes beyond that. Put it on the wall and then keep saving your pennies for the Madone 5.2. Good luck!!

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I hope that when I die, my family doesn't sell everything for what I told them I paid for it.

Thanks Gavin,
I actually did score a great piece of memorabilia, An exact replica of the yellow jersey Lance rode into Paris to his first Tour de France win. He signed the back of it just below the collar. I had to pay a kings fortune for it on ebay but I could care less, I would have paid more. Long live ebay!!!!!

Well I would treat it as any other bike. Ride it and if you like the way it feels keep it to ride . If not sell it and find what suits you.

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Schedule your priorities, exercise at least one hour a day or be dead for 24 hours a day.

Ride it, of course. That's what they were built for. But ride it carefully, on good roads. Seriously, technology moves fairly quickly in the cycling world these days, and that particular bike is different from the regular Madone only for the paint job. It will always command a bit higher price than a regular Madone, but keeping it in unridden condition won't raise the value that much.

If you had a Ferrari, you wouldn't drive it every day. It's impractical - draws too much attention, and parts are astronomically priced and hard to get. One disc brake rotor - $900. 30k mile service on V8's is $6k, on the 12 cyl models, it's $10k. They're lovely vehicles, but they end up owning you.

um how bout u sell it?

Well, if I could afford a Ferrari, I would find a way to afford the maintenance items on it.
Anyway, I didn't win tonight, so it's back to payments on the 5.2. I would have ridden the 5.9, oh well.

Mods, you can close this thread anytime.
Thanks for all the feedback !!!
-Ken

Sell it and buy a bike half the price thats as good.


Trek = wayyyyy overpriced.