What are your jeans doing today?

[Dr_Heech]

^Plus one for Decathlon. My Mrs loves hers. No nonsense value imo, or at least it was 10 or so years ago 🤫

[Double 0 Soul]

3 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Shows how much out of the loop I am but £10k is an extreme example in anyone’s books and shows how futile this whole thing can become. Also, Londoner’s don’t necessarily have much more disposable cash as there’s a lot of poverty here and for those of us fortunate enough to buy a property, we pay much higher prices than (most of) the rest of the country.

I appreciate that.. but those living in / around the poverty line are not the same folks having mid-life crices and spending £3k on bikes.. if you compare the average 50 something yr old northerner who has cash to splurge on a crisis-toy and your average 50 something yr old Londoner with cash to splurge on a crisis toy.. i'd still assume those living in the capital.. having worked in media, finance.. ect  instead of working at Morrisons would have the same % to spend but greater capital.

[Dr_Heech]

Went to take a look at my bike, but it's buried under the family fleet and tbf probably hasn't been cleaned since I last used it, which was at least 2020 😊 This due to bad health as opposed to laziness.

 

 

Hey Siri, l mean Sufu. Can you please insert my photo on its side despite the fact that l haven't altered it in anyway, and despite attempts to resolve the problem otherwise,  thanks in advance  😐

 

 

[ATWM]

22 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I appreciate that.. but those living in / around the poverty line are not the same folks having mid-life crices and spending £3k on bikes.. if you compare the average 50 something yr old northerner who has cash to splurge on a crisis-toy and your average 50 something yr old Londoner with cash to splurge on a crisis toy.. i'd still assume those living in the capital.. having worked in media, finance.. ect  instead of working at Morrisons would have the same % to spend but greater capital.

Wait wait wait. Gonna do a quick and stupid nitpick here but media?

Sure, a few execs have some cash. Really, really successful journalists might live like an average physician. But media is largely a profession for people eking by in studio apartments. I could try and pull out my old invoices and pay stubs for the Guardian or the Times of London to prove my point ha.

You could sub in tech, perhaps? 

[Double 0 Soul]

The BBC is based in London..

 

[Double 0 Soul]

A BBC radio show host can earn £300-£400k salary, UK average is £38k

Similar position at Radio Sheffield earns you not much more than minimum wage.. but it was just an example, salaries are much higher in London but like maynerd says mortgage / cost of living is also higher.. but if you're due a mid-life crisis, you're also due to pay off your mortgage in the not too distant future.

Edited June 21 by Double 0 Soul

[Maynard Friedman]

BBC is decentralised with regional offices but the main hubs are in London and Salford. Just did a quick poll around some friends who have bikes and confirmed that mid-life crisis makes do pay upwards of £7k. A couple of mates who actually own this type of bike didn’t comment so I don’t know how much they paid BUT they would definitely baulk at spending £200+ on a pair of jeans 😆

High paying presenters and execs aside, typical media jobs don’t pay anything like they did 20-30 years ago. Most people will earn a fraction of what was available then, so I believe @ATWM is right. It’s the finance bros who generally have the most spending power.

[Double 0 Soul]

..but if you're a media type of midlife crisis age.. you would have earned those good salaries 20-30yrs ago, would you not?

Working at Morrisons 20-30yrs ago paid like shit and it still does.

[Maynard Friedman]

They spent it all on coke and child maintenance payments and are now struggling to afford to bring up kids from their second marriages!

[Thanks_M8]

Also @Broark regarding lycra cycling pants: I used to hate them until I tried them

once you are on the bike for 2 hours you'll be grateful for their existence also good that they are light and often very short just be sure to get them in the correct same size and not see through...

[Double 0 Soul]

Don't listen to him @Broark .. i was out yesterday from 11.30am till 5.15pm in 30° heat wearing Supreme work shorts.. would lycra have been more comfortable? .. Yes, definitely!

Do i regret not wearing lycra? Absolutely not

[ATWM]

3 hours ago, Maynard Friedman said:

BBC is decentralised with regional offices but the main hubs are in London and Salford. Just did a quick poll around some friends who have bikes and confirmed that mid-life crisis makes do pay upwards of £7k. A couple of mates who actually own this type of bike didn’t comment so I don’t know how much they paid BUT they would definitely baulk at spending £200+ on a pair of jeans 😆

High paying presenters and execs aside, typical media jobs don’t pay anything like they did 20-30 years ago. Most people will earn a fraction of what was available then, so I believe @ATWM is right. It’s the finance bros who generally have the most spending power.

Yea - I’d put the radio hosts in the category of the very successful few that can live like others in solid white collar positions. That’s really a top spot to land. So yea, the top end of even not great jobs can be good. The people that make the majority of the content that media is comprised of…different story. I know a BBC documentarian in London actually - who has been struggling like hell to even get a mortgage - and is approaching mid life crisis age.

Even 20-30 years ago when it was better, it was still a highly stratified profession. A few at the top okay, most…let’s say you have to be an idealist. 

Anyways, I still go on my longer rides in cheap old volcom twill shorts. Can’t do the Lycra! That said…when I did a marathon I wore surf shorts so I’ve never been into the “proper gear” so to speak. Unless it’s corduroy or denim! 

[Double 0 Soul]

Again.. media was just an example.. (i can go back and replace the word media with the word arts if you like? )

My point was .. most companies who pay a decent salary are london-centric, In London you can work for the BBC.. (for example) up here you can earn minimum wage working at (for example) the Sports Direct distribution warehouse, the Amazon distribution warehouse, the e-buyer distribution warehouse or the Next distribution warehouse.. the world is your oyster.

It's why SoaS, Clutch.. et'al exist in London.. you open SoaS in the north and it would close down within a month because folks don't have that type of disposible.

Edited June 21 by Double 0 Soul

[smoothsailor]

I can make you an affordable bike frame to any spec you like @Broark  or any other member

[Maynard Friedman]

Only wearing Lycra if you’re well-endowed, otherwise you’ll look like a little prick

[Maynard Friedman]

Manchester has a Rivet & Hide, which is similar to SoaS and I’m sure has been open for longer than a month.

An important factor is the hinterland/catchment area of physical shops. Greater London’s population is larger than Merseyside + Greater Manchester + West Yorkshire + South Yorkshire. Most people are a bus or train/tube ride from the West End and if you go a bit further out there’s a total metropolitan population of about 14 million. And then there are the tourists and business visitors. These are all important factors as to how London can support a number of these shops, even more relevant given the rise of online shopping.

Provincial cities have middle class folk who like and can afford nice things, there simply aren’t as many compared to London.

[Double 0 Soul]

Not disagreeing with any of that..

[Double 0 Soul]

26 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Provincial cities have middle class folk who like and can afford nice things, there simply aren’t as many compared to London.

Isn' this^ what i said in the first place

6 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

if you compare the average 50 something yr old northerner who has cash to splurge on a crisis-toy and your average 50 something yr old Londoner with cash to splurge on a crisis toy.. i'd still assume those living in the capital.. having worked in media, finance.. ect  instead of working at Morrisons would have the same % to spend but greater capital.

[Maynard Friedman]

I think you said people in London have more disposable income (and some do) whereas I said there are simply more people in London with disposable income than there are in a city such as Sheffield, which has a much smaller population.

Anyway, you keep going on about Morrison’s but I can’t imagine why… 🤔🍕

[Double 0 Soul]

I don't think our pov's are worlds apart 🤝

[Maynard Friedman]

No of course not. I’m still shocked at the price of mid-life crisis bikes though. £7k for beginners! 🫣

[Maynard Friedman]

3 hours ago, smoothsailor said:

I can make you an affordable bike frame to any spec you like @Broark  or any other member

Can you make him one with no pedals as I understand he likes to freewheel

[MJF9]

There are companies up north paying good salaries (law, accountancy, professional services, tech, financial services etc) plus also remote working allows some work place flexibility (northern cost of living, southern rates), but definitely more in the big city. 

[Double 0 Soul]

46 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

No of course not. I’m still shocked at the price of mid-life crisis bikes though. £7k for beginners! 🫣

They depreciate like cars.. Folks who know their shit buy the £7k bike from ebay.. 2yrs old for £1500.

It is ridiculous but I'm a bit torn with it.. yesterday i stopped for a banana and a drink before the slog of Mam Tor.. a group of, post midlife, probably retiree old boys riding £7k+ carbon-fibre road bikes.. turned around in front of me .. all fully lycra'd up in team colours.. the guys at the front looked damn good for their age.. the stragglers looked like f'kin humpty-dumpty.. they got to the base of Mam Tor.. turned around and headed back.. Mam Tor ain't for the faint hearted so i didn't expect any of them to grind up the gradient..

On one hand, why buy a bike built for peak athletes when a £300 ebay special would suffice.. but on the other hand.. why not if riding a fantastic machine gets you out riding with your mates? .. you're only spending the grandkids inheritance after all..

[julian-wolf]

43 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Can you make him one with no pedals as I understand he likes to freewheel

You made that joke a lot harder than it needed to be, considering that the clothes company is essentially named after a bicycle part…

[Maynard Friedman]

^ I’ll get AI to rewrite it for me but I thought 15 words was fairly simplistic and economic and thanks for explaining Freewheelers to me too, I’d never have guessed.

[Double 0 Soul]

4 minutes ago, julian-wolf said:

You made that joke a lot harder than it needed to be, considering that the clothes company is essentially named after a bicycle part…

It was a pawl'ing!

Good god.. i can't do any better 

[Double 0 Soul]

51 minutes ago, MJF9 said:

There are companies up north paying good salaries (law, accountancy, professional services, tech, financial services etc) plus also remote working allows some work place flexibility (northern cost of living, southern rates), but definitely more in the big city. 

So I don’t have to go to London every time I need to speak to my accountant?

Huf! .. now you tell me!!

[MJF9]

Sheffield's Minister for Tourism needs to support local businesses!! 

[Double 0 Soul]

Most of them have closed down MJ.. I'd estimate that 80% of all new businesses in the city are Chinese owned to service the ever growing population of Chinese students.. they've been established by dependents on dependant visas, they can avoid import duty on the goods they sell by manipulating the £135 rule.

It's still quite buoyant in the S10 / S11 bubble but that's certainly not representative of the larger city region.