> Going into a bike shop, I couldn't just purchase the cheapest bike.
There is a term called "gear acquisition syndrome" (GAS). When I got into biking, I was the one thinking that I wanted the carbon fiber bike. It was so expensive that I feared it would get stolen, so I hardly rode it. The cheap junk bike I had before that was one I rode everywhere: stores, movies, to the park. I didn't worry that the $300 bike would get stolen. The $3k bike? It went to work and back. When my coworkers would do group rides, I'd go with them. It went nowhere else. I was scared it would get stolen, or the bike lock would damage it - the lock & chain weighed more than the bike.
There is a term called "gear acquisition syndrome" (GAS). When I got into biking, I was the one thinking that I wanted the carbon fiber bike. It was so expensive that I feared it would get stolen, so I hardly rode it. The cheap junk bike I had before that was one I rode everywhere: stores, movies, to the park. I didn't worry that the $300 bike would get stolen. The $3k bike? It went to work and back. When my coworkers would do group rides, I'd go with them. It went nowhere else. I was scared it would get stolen, or the bike lock would damage it - the lock & chain weighed more than the bike.