Interesting. A friend of mine used to be an amateur cyclist, at the highest (non-pro) level. Through his club he could buy a bike for very good prices. So he'd buy it for 2.5 grand instead of 5, use it for a year, and sell it half price...so 2.5 grand.

It's a one-off big investment, but from then on he had a new bike every year, practically free.