The Dreaded phone call

Phone rings this morning and Im laying in bed, not sleeping, but a little stiff from last nights ride.
I answer and hear an old friend who is about as Anti Peddling as you can get

"I got a Mtn bike"

I cough a couple times, tweek my jaw to pop my ears "say what"

"Yea, I got a Mtn bike"

I look around the room making sure IM awake, the mind is still a little muddled after last nights zombie dreams, maybe someone slipped some acid into my drinking water, things just are not right today. "Your shitting me, what did you get" I figured at the very least I could play the game a bit. I am a bit hopeful as he lives at the bottom of the continental divide trail system and Ive been trying to talk him into it for some time now.

"I got one of those there Mongoose from walmart"

I pause, my visions of riding the CDT trail with him vanish and are instantly replaced by flashing cherries on the top of an ambulance hauling him away after his handlebars stripped. "take it back" I reply

he ignores me "Yea the guy I work with has a mountain bike too, anyhow he said to make sure I get one with disk brakes, those are the best right?"

Oh yea, IM still in my zombie dream obviously "uhm for the type of rides you will be doing with that bike it wont make a difference as you cannot seriously downhill on that thing anyhow, take it back and go to the LBS and pick yourself up a real bike for 400 dollars or less that will last you and not break your neck"

"I spent two hundred dollars" he replies "Im not gonna spend another 200"
Me " I have peddles that were 110 dollars......."

"YOU PAID ONE HUNDRED AND TEN DOLLARS OR PEDALS!!"

Ok trying to think thru this "yes but I hvae cheaper ones which were 45"
"FOURTY FIVE DOLLARS ON A CHEAP ****ING PEDAL"

So Im thinking at this point I dont have to worry about him having a heartattack while riding, he's already in stroke mode, and I try to steer him back to the bike "Look if you at least go test ride one at the LBS they will fit you to one, and you will be able to tell the difference even peddling around the parking lot, not to mention it will actually shift"
So anyhow the conversation continues from there on how crazy I am and how he will never get into it like I am, and that may be true, but he certainly IMO deserves a good bike to ride those kick ass trails next to his house by at least Eliminating the breaking factor.
Sigh, wut to do, I guess I know what he's thinking, I was the same way when I bought my wallyworld bike thinking that would be all I ever needed, so I added "You know I said the same thing with my walparts bike, but once I got a good one it took me to places I never dreamed of and the weight fell off"
That settled that conversation at least for now, hopefully I can convert him to a quality one, god knows he makes enough to afford it.
I now now what my friends who were already serious in MTN biking went through, and hell, probably still are :D