MinnMan

I think we've all pondered and discussed this question quite a bit. In my club, I have near about the cheapest bike of anybody -I ride Al whereas I'd guess that 2/3 of the club is riding either full carbon or Ti. I'm by no means the fastest in the group, but there are quite a few riding $3-5k bikes who are considerably slower. So "SHOULD" they be spending so much money on bikes when they don't really have the ability to match? Sure they should. I don't think they have any illusions that the bike is making them faster. They ENJOY having nice bikes.

I think of it this way. I drive an inexpensive car - a Honda Fit. If I had chosen to spend an extra $5k to get a Civic would people be looking at me thinking that I'm not a good enough driver to merit a better car? Of course not. So why give grief to people who enjoy the feel and aesthetics of a top-line bike? They're spending about as much extra as one would spend to drive a slightly nicer car, right? And many of them spend more time on their bikes than they do in their cars.