Compulsive Bicycle Buying Disorder (CBBD) : It started with just one bike…

I’m amazed at the rabbit-like breeding capability of bicycle ownership (The initial single bike purchase has the ability to split itself like a single cell cancer growth). It would just take a single bike purchase to start you on the path of eventually having a bike for every discipline, different bikes for different sets of friends, bikes that can accommodate the size of your car trunk, bikes that can suit the weather of the day, etc. And if you are also into color coordination, your possible permutation will be endless. Before you know it, you would be paying contractors to do a renovation to create an annex to your house just to store your collection of bikes (or you find yourself start to consider renting the vacant house next door for the same purpose).

CBBD can be triggered easily in people without a solid body immune system (“solid” as in your wife holds your wallet and credit cards in her handbag at all times). The CBBD is also classified as a contagious disorder. The poison of seeing a friend’s new bike acquisition can quickly developed into bike envy Stage 1 and from then on your destructive path towards “bike polygamy” and CBBD begins. Studies have shown that “bike monogamy” is not longer the majority preference among men (and some women too) today.

The sufferers of CBBD are often in perpetual stage of denial. The common self-assurance denial mantra “I can find the space for ONE more bike, if I can sell the last one I bought” can fuel the bike buying habit into an addiction. To date there is no known cure yet for CBBD. If you are a woman with CBBD you can try to reduce the addiction to a milder disorder Type H which is CHBD (Compulsive Handbag Buying Disorder). If you are a man, the only option is to upgrade to CBBBD (Compulsive Big Bike Buying Disorder) which burns an even bigger hole on your wallet leading you to slow down on the habit.

Below are some symptoms of a CBBD sufferer that you can do a self-diagnose against :

A. If you own a bike for at least 3 of the following categories: A Folding Bike, A Road Bike, A Mountain Bike, A Touring Bike, A Hybrid Bike, A Downhill Bike and the most severe category A Vintage Bike (like a Motobecane Special Sport Randonneur)
B. Your bike collection takes center stage in your living room (or dining room) like a prized trophy.
C. You have recently converted the spare guest room (or your library or study room) in your house as your bike store
D. You have an account for all the online buying stores (Wiggle, Evans Cycle, Chain Reaction, Ebay)

Snapshots of evidence of CBBD at a sufferer’s house (his identity withheld)

Buyers of bicycle beware!