I watched a few reviews of handlebar bags on YouTube the other day, so of course my recommendations are filled with cycling videos. I have now compounded the problem by watching some of them the last few days.

It is absolutely bonkers how much money people pay for bikes and cycling gear. Mostly it’s the bikes themselves. I think there’s something to be said for paying a little more for a rack or a bag or a pair of tights or whatever that’s going to last you for hundreds of rides and many years.

But the prices on new bikes are madness.

A couple of years ago, when my ancient (2007ish?) Marin hybrid developed a crack in the head tube, I found myself suddenly in the market for a replacement. I headed over to a local bike shop that tends to have a good inventory of used bikes. For $600, I got a 9-year-old Specialized Secteur that was in great shape. Sure, there were a few dings in the paint and the plastic on the shift indicators was starting to yellow with age, but who cares? It’s a super-solid aluminum-framed road bike, and I love it.

Meanwhile, all these YouTube guys are on about their carbon-frame, disk brake, electronic-shifter bikes that start at $8000 and only go up. The wheels alone on a lot of these things cost more than what I paid for my entire bike. It’s bananas.

And you can’t tell me that most people need this kind of stuff.