I think there are plenty of male sport bike enthusiasts whose wives show
「no interest in bicycles」
but that 「no interest」really just means
「I'm not going to indulge your hobby」
and in most cases, they're not exactly thrilled
about the fact that this hobby
is putting some strain on the household budget.

So if you want to keep your bike purchases under the radar,
with things like helmets and shoes, for example,
if the colors are the same or similar
and the number of them at home hasn't changed,
swapping in a different brand won't get caught—
that's the kind of buying strategy you need to focus on.
This is extremely effective for deceiving people who don't know much about bikes.


A customer brought in a Merida Scultura for me.
They want to transfer the components to a different frame.


People who own wheels built by Nomu Lab
and have visited the shop
get one red sticker, one per person.

It's not that 「we only hand them out once」—it's 「one per person limit」
so if you peel it off and throw it away, I'll reissue it as many times as you want.


So the new frame is
a Cannondale SuperSix, but...



What a devious scheme!
It would be hard for an amateur to see through this.
Or so I thought, but when a junior colleague stopped by the house
and thoughtlessly let slip 「Nice new frame!」
the wife flew into a rage and interrogated him, forcing him to confess,
and by the time the frame was brought into our shop,
it had already been discovered.
Even when you think you've pulled off the perfect crime, there's always a crack somewhere.
I literally just wrote 「crime」but whether secretly buying a frame counts as a crime
isn't determined by criminal law—it's judged by other local rules,
and the sentence for it varies greatly depending on the situation.