hayleyearth Posted April 7, 2014 Share I hear you, the worst is reading those furniture store adss where they have to disclose the figures.Paying R10000 for a R5500 TV is ridiculous interest!!!!Bikelife is a much different kettle of fish though as the rates are acceptable to most. Another thing to look at is the clientele age group. When you are say between 28-35 you have commitments like a new mortgage, car repayments, etc which leaves you with only a few hundred rands to save, bike are becoming more and more expensive so potentially it will be a good few years before its saved up and the goalposts keep moving forward all the time.Unfotunately there aren't many people who are financially set to pay cash or save thousands a month. And this is what I always ponder about...why is it like this?Aren't we all capable of making the right decisions from the time when they need to be made? (i.o.w why are some of us in SUCH great dept and others not at all?)If you (not you specifically, but everyone) didn't make the best decisions, are you rasing your kids to make the right ones? Or are they use to getting toys/gadgets bought with a credit card? Do you let them lend money from you, or do you teach them to save without the 'money burning a hole in their pocket' feeling? I do not come from a wealthy family at all. Most years growing up it was a luxuary to have eggs for breakfast or lunch and the same with cheese over our pasta for supper. One thing though, my dad tought me how to plan ahead. He didnt go further that school but he made me see what the value of money really is and how to not live in dept. I do believe money CAN NOT buy happiness, but financial freedom makes one live a 'lighter' life.If you are 'okay' with being in dept and if it doesnt 'bug' you, well then I guess I have to say I will never understand that and I guess you will also never understand what 'financial freedom' mean. Steven Knoetze (sk27), LazyTrailRider, Vangar and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skubarra Posted April 7, 2014 Share I do believe money CAN NOT buy happiness, but financial freedom makes one live a 'lighter' life.If you are 'okay' with being in dept and if it doesnt 'bug' you, well then I guess I have to say I will never understand that and I guess you will also never understand what 'financial freedom' mean. I think financial freedom goes beyond being in debt or not. Why should debt bug you if it's well within your means to pay it back? I have good friend who is financially well-off with no credit cart debt but goes into a panic when his bank balance drops below a certain amount. I wonder what his definition of financial freedom would be... Personally I feel if you don't have the "discretionary 'saving power' to save for a R20K or R50k bike toy then you shouldn't buy one, but there is no law that states that all our financial decisions must be sensible! Edited April 7, 2014 by Skubarra Steven Knoetze (sk27) and Captain Fastbastard Mayhem 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyTrailRider Posted April 7, 2014 Share I wonder what his definition of financial freedom would be... It can be many different things to many different people. In its purest sense (to me), it's not requiring any input to derive income, thus "living off interest". This is not easy to achieve though, so a more realistic goal could be having enough wealth to be able to sustain your current lifestyle for a year, or two, or three without any income. If this is not achievable, the next level could be something like not requiring debt for anything other than appreciating assets (property, not vehicles). Captain Fastbastard Mayhem and hayleyearth 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theodore Posted June 9, 2014 Share Credit rip-off; a bike they advertised for their credit service on the Hub a few weeks costing R41K financed out at R52k. My LBS offers me the same bike at R 29k and 6 -12 months to pay off interest free.What is your LBS? sounds like a bargain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robrider Posted June 9, 2014 Share I hear you, the worst is reading those furniture store adss where they have to disclose the figures.Paying R10000 for a R5500 TV is ridiculous interest!!!!Bikelife is a much different kettle of fish though as the rates are acceptable to most. Another thing to look at is the clientele age group. When you are say between 28-35 you have commitments like a new mortgage, car repayments, etc which leaves you with only a few hundred rands to save, bike are becoming more and more expensive so potentially it will be a good few years before its saved up and the goalposts keep moving forward all the time.Unfotunately there aren't many people who are financially set to pay cash or save thousands a month. So you saying that when life is at its hardest and you have important things to spend money on like a house, new family and kids, and you don't have money to save thousands, you should go into debt for a depreciating item and spend thousands plus interest on servicing that debt... Can't say that I agree with that argument. There are just so many people that are getting into debt trouble, and this justification makes it seem so reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Knoetze (sk27) Posted June 9, 2014 Share So you saying that when life is at its hardest and you have important things to spend money on like a house, new family and kids, and you don't have money to save thousands, you should go into debt for a depreciating item and spend thousands plus interest on servicing that debt... Can't say that I agree with that argument. There are just so many people that are getting into debt trouble, and this justification makes it seem so reasonable. Dude, late to the party, posted that ages ago!! What I meant was that if you are able to manage your existing finances and any debt you may have correctly and have say R600 per month that you could comfortably spare to pay off on a bicycle as opposed to not having one and trying to save for 3 years, then Bike Life with their reasonable interest rates is not a bad deal.Obviously if you are doing this along with other shop accounts, credit cards, etc. it will always end badly. But people do this just fine without spending money on a bicycle which is good for you. I mean a gym contract could cost more and most people have that and don't even use it!! As a comparison, my actual bank charges over 25% interest on a personal loan. lerouc, Oufy MTB (Roadie), Captain Fastbastard Mayhem and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted October 10, 2014 Share dragging this one up again. so who has a fancy new bike that they've financed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FondTF2 Posted October 10, 2014 Share dragging this one up again. so who has a fancy new bike that they've financed? I think there are a lot more than we may know of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lerouc Posted October 10, 2014 Share I know a few people that have done this. Personally i love it because the secondhand market is getting flooded with awesome bikes for next to nothing. Bought myself and my wife "new" mountain bikes, both in the same year the bikes came out on and both i bought for less than half price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted October 10, 2014 Share I know a few people that have done this. Personally i love it because the secondhand market is getting flooded with awesome bikes for next to nothing. Bought myself and my wife "new" mountain bikes, both in the same year the bikes came out on and both i bought for less than half price.That is a knock on effect, value to be found if you can hunt the market.are you buying from people who have upgraded on finance within a year, or selling off their financed bikes(ie. a repo)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanD Posted October 10, 2014 Share When i was looking for a new bike (old bike frame cracked and eventually just borke) i considered bike life as an option and i think if you can afford the monthy payment and understand what you are paying and want a top end bike then it's a good option. I could not afford any monthly payment (strectched to the limit with bond and new born, now at creche) so found a great 2008 model duel sus bike (drooled over when they fist came out but could not afford, now i have the bike at a fraction of the cost) on the hub and used some bonus money, some saved up money and a wee bit from the old folks and never looked back. Superb bike, no monthly expense. You don't need the best bike on the market and can get great deals on older models here and if you find what you like i am sure the buyer will be open to some sort of paymentoptions......my 2c Skubarra 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devlin Fogg Posted October 13, 2014 Share dragging this one up again. so who has a fancy new bike that they've financed?550 people and growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Projmanzar Posted October 13, 2014 Share I Bought my Merida Big Nine XT edition from Cycle Lab, and financed it through BikeLife. Process took about 3 days, few forms to complete and sign. Interest is low, and I am happy. Quite frankly, reading some of the posts on here, My finances have nothing to do with anyone else. If this is the way that someone decides to buy a bike, why not ? StevieL, Muggins, Vangar and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lerouc Posted October 14, 2014 Share That is a knock on effect, value to be found if you can hunt the market.are you buying from people who have upgraded on finance within a year, or selling off their financed bikes(ie. a repo)?Ja i doubt if it just financed bikes but i mean the more people buying new the better the secondhand market is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milosh Posted October 14, 2014 Share So all the pragmatic and good advice aside, if the Rand dollar is going to continue to tank and real life inflation far higher than advertised CPI , is finacing this way not a interesting form of buying forward cover ? Pretty sure the price of any said bike will climb by more than 10% in a year. So buying now on credit may well be cheaper than saving and buying in two years !!! ( and riding a cheap bikes for two years , which looses its own value and cant be sold) I need to add , that I did not do this but I lurked on classifieds here for 24/7 for a few weeks and snapped up a bargain a few minutes after it being posted , that time was a GREAT investment !! Edited October 14, 2014 by Milosh Captain Fastbastard Mayhem, lerouc and Vangar 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muggins Posted October 14, 2014 Share If the payments are within your means then go for it. We all finance cell phones so why not a bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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