John, here's a thought, that might also make it easier for your wife to swallow. Like you've said, she wants to put the money away, and a $8-10000 price tag is a bit hard to swallow for a "luxury" item, even if it does provide some relief from the day to day grind. What about a used America or Speedmaster, which you could probably have for around $4-5000. Then, you get a ticket in the door, while not busting the bank!(Brent and his goodies will take care of that for you!)
Then, take the difference that you WOULD have spent on a new bike, and pour that into an investment, savings account, whatever. Or, if you're doing monthly pmts, just up that amount to whatever it would have been for a new bike, and put that away each month. Then after a while you don't even miss that amount and it becomes "invisible" in your budget, while slowly building a nest egg.(and as mentioned before, you get a little mental therapy!) Yes, it's selfish to want to blow a wad on a toy, but it's also not good for a relationship to deny your partner a "guilty pleasure" or a hobby once in a while (not always of course), cause that just causes hard feelings between partners.
