The humble brag

Humble brag (n) – to brag about how humble you are.

I often fall into this trap. Readers of this blog have seen me brag about how humble I am, many times. “I save money this way, so I’m better than those who don’t.” “I’m more environmental than the people who drive that kind of vehicle.”

Humble-bragging is obnoxious to anyone who detects it. And as T Bone Burnett sang, “It’s a funny thing about humility, As soon as you know you’re being humble, You’re no longer humble.”


Having said that, let me launch into a humble brag.

an entry-level bikeA recent Wall Street Journal article on triathlons had a sidebar featuring recommended equipment. the “entry-level” road bike was $1,449. that freaked me out a little until I realized that their normal readers are in a class where that price is entry-level.

Across the page, the featured mountain bike cost $11,000 (with an integrated hydration system).

My humble brag: my road bike is worth a lot less than $1,449. But I know that having both a road bike and a mountain bike puts me into the 1%. So there goes my humility.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail

2 Replies to “The humble brag”

  1. I think it takes more than more than having both a road & mountain bike to get you into the 1%. Or maybe you were just talking about 1% o bicycle owners.

    1. Though it sounded like I meant “the 1%” in the traditional sense of the phrase, I meant that less than 1% of the world has the luxury of owning both a mountain bike and a road bike.

Comments are closed.