CliffordK

I suppose it all depends...
What do you mean "full use of the technical advantages"?

Does that mean that a person on a road bike that can't maintain 20+ MPH for 20+ miles shouldn't have it?

I have no idea how many miles I've put on my old road bike... somewhere between 30,000 and 100,000 miles????
I'm not fast, but I enjoy the bike nonetheless.

But I suppose mine doesn't actually have all the technical advances either. For example, I don't have to plug my bike in just to make it shift gears

One could, of course, argue that one gets more exercise riding a cheap bike. But, it would be a valid point that many people with expensive bikes will ride them further, faster, and harder.

So, the $100 beater hanging in the garage doesn't do anything for a person's fitness... except for weight lifting strength getting it up onto the hook. But any bike you take out onto the open road A LOT is good.

StanSeven

I wouldn't say that in most instances. I, for example, have a nice bike. Cycling is my hobby and interest. I like the sport and am keenly interested in the technology and new developments. I buy many for myself because I enjoy having and riding with them. I don't care about status but also don't mind spending the money because it makes me happy.

junkman71

I have always been poor, so I buy what I can afford...... the 3 bikes I have now I picked up free.......

1997 specialized rockhopper....... bought at a yard sale for $5, only useable parts were the frame, fork, crankset, stem, handlebars , front deraileur and seat post.... the rest was junk..... I used parts from other bikes to get it going...had to soak the seat post with pb blaster for a week to break it free....spent $50 to have a new bottom bracket put in by my LBS

91 trek 800 antelope ladies bike..... got for free..... front wheel was junk as was the seat.... put on another seat and front wheel I had laying around.....bought some road tires, put on some alloy pedals I had, a rack I already had and some fenders from an old 3 speed that was hit by a car and had a bent frame, lights I already had, bar ends from one of my parts bikes and a bell from one of the parts bikes.....I put my rustiest bolts and nuts from my parts bin to uglify the bike... the bell is rusty the seat is torn... its my beater commuter bike

1972 schwinn varsity.... another free bike, replaced the tires, tubes, seat, cables and bar tape..... still working on this one.....the rear brakes are the front brakes from another bike as they are not schwinn approved parts.... it had a bunch of washers stacked to take up the extra length of the mounting bolt.....I used a few spacers I had as what was there before wasnt tight.... it has solidified grease all over the components of the bike...... taking it down this weekend to get rid of the solidified grease and repack all the bearings.......I think it will be worth it in the end

yes my bikes are old and not pretty and shiny.......honestly I could care less and dont care what other think

Nermal

Real fine, but you haven't recently priced a Smart Car, or ever for that matter.

CliffordK

Why not dump the Smart car and just ride the much cheaper bicycle too and from your trailer park? (Unless you live in an Oklahoma trailer park )

Jim from Boston

Back in the 1960's, Paul Krassner said something like, "No one wants the Revolution to start until he has a real nice stereo."

70sSanO

In the mid 70's I bought an Audi. Not to be outdone by my first mistake I bought another Audi in the early 80's.

At the end of this I understood why Germany lost not one but both world wars.

...lol

John

fietsbob

Rohloff Hubs, Magura Brakes, Schmidt Dyno-hubs, and headlights , Busch And Muller LED head and tail lights . Ergon Grips.



68 BMW R60 M/C, ... 68 SAAB 96 with Taunus, a German Ford V4, engine.

and DE now a Export economy , not an importing, Trade deficit one like the USA.(except weapons)

making stuff there not importing and then Distributing the efforts of else where .

Shuffleman

You had me in the beginning but your last line about liquor and cigarettes crossed the line. I like my beer and I love people who smoke Altria products. (I own the stock). I guess that I should quantify that I only drink Pabst Blue Ribbon or Old Milwaukee or I may offend somebody because the more expensive beer is just not necessary. Then again, somebody else pointed out that it is not always the initial expense involved. The cheaper beers require more toilet paper. Of course Charmin is not necessary when you can use generic paper that is probably 20 grit. I also laugh when I leave Costo seeing people carry the bottles of wine. Don't they know that boxed wine does the same thing and is easier to store. Heck, I do not even need one of those new fangled wine frigs for my boxes. I can store them at room temperature and it does not impact them at all. They even double as antifreeze in a pinch. While we are at it, who needs Ruths Chris or Outback when we have Steak and Shake?

fietsbob

Envy the bikes the TdF guys are riding and want to buy one? they have done their other job, Sponsor's Product Promotion ..

AlmostTrick

It's all relative. I love how upon learning my commuter bike cost me $900, co-workers jaws will drop. Then I can come to BF, where even $1500 for a bike is considered a "relatively small amount" by some.

I also can read about people spending several thousands for the prestige of owning/riding the same bike as a pro race team. And the folks that are able to make free bikes work for them for next to nothing... So cool!

ShortLegCyclist

It's true, I confess. But I do have a Car2Go membership!

wphamilton

At under 10 years old that was over my head, but I did enjoy MAD Magazine. That's probably where half of my philosophical outlooks originated

Leebo

Necessary! Yup! This is America, we have to support the economy. Just buy and ride what you like. I have 10 bikes, ride them all, I sleep fine. OP, you worry about other peoples' spending habits? Yowzer. My last Fat bike was $ 2,600 and the 29er was $2,800, they work great. Life's too short to eat bad food, drink inferior stuff or ride bikes that don't work for you. Try a $25.00 bottle of whiskey vs $100.00. To some people $5,000 is not a lot of money. He who dies with the most toys wins.

hubmotormark

Well, then, I STAN corrected, lol......

no motor?

I've seen this discussion many times in motorcycle circles except the discussion usually involves people spending outdoing their capabilities. "That's a nice bike, too bad they can't ride it well enough to make use of the capabilities it has" was the common theme if it wasn't "boy were they a sucker to buy that overpriced piece of excrement".

Daniel4

It's been 36 years since I made my last big bike investment. Back then $200 was quite a bit. Today if you want good quality start at $1000. Below $1000 and you're looking at department store types from Walmart and Canadian Tire. Mind you, they'll function and if you are willing to scrap it when parts fail, that's fine.

So are expensive bikes really necessary? That also depends on the manufacture and retailers' pricing. Suppliers price products at their highest price the market will bear. Some drug prices are thousands of times more than their material and setup costs.

hubmotormark

Excellent post...!

Fastfingaz

the way I see it, top of the line has different meaning for different people, it's all in the size of your pocket book, what would be top of the line ???$10.000 dollars**********

hubmotormark

If you ride against the direction of Earth's rotation, you reach your destination 5% sooner. Ride with the Earth's rotation, you get there 15% later. The more expensive bike makes up the difference.

Fastfingaz

But what is top of the line??

wolfchild

I have a good chunk of disposable income and I can afford any bike I want....but my limit is no more then $1500 dollars, preferably less then that. I fail to understand why anybody would spend $5000++++ dollars on a bike just so they can get compliments and impress other cyclists.

nitewing117

This applies to anything. Cars, houses, stereos, watches.

I bought a cheap bikesdirect fixed gear to strip down, powdercoat, and make a classic looking build. But I also ride a carbon road bike that costs like 10x the amount. Both of them make me happy, so that's all that really matters to me.

corrado33

I'll try to make this point again. It's not quite the same as cars, houses, etc. Cars DO have better performance the more you pay. One of the most expensive cars in the world, the Veyron, is also the fastest production car in the world, buy a large margin. Stereos do offer better performance the more you pay. Houses offer more space the more you pay. Plus, cars and houses are status items. All of these items offer MORE for your money. More that you can actually use.

Bikes... don't. (Past a certain point.)

Basically, I'm saying that really expensive bikes are a luxury item. They don't perform all that much better than something that's slightly above entry level. (More road bikes than mountain bikes, but you can still apply to both.) We've already seen in the e-bike thread that weight hardly effects anything when a non professional isn't riding for more than a few hundred km. Even in this thread we've seen people say that Dura Ace is essentially just lighter Ultegra, etc. So... why? 99% of the people reading this won't have maxed out their fitness and don't have the highest VO2 max they can achieve for their age etc. All you're paying for when you spend many thousands of dollars on a bike is a bike that's slightly lighter than one that's many thousands of dollars less. The frame probably won't last as long, the components won't last as long. You're not paying for longevity, you're paying for a tiny, tiny weight reduction. One that would not effect the vast majority of us significantly.

The "moral conundrum" was the fact that I felt angry when I knew I shouldn't feel angry. I felt I was wrong for being angry even though really it's none of my business.

hubmotormark

The Arctic Circle would be top of the line, depending upon your perspective. If you live above the equator, the top would be Antarctica.

Top of the line bikes run best above the Equator, bottom-rung bikes, best near Antarctica, no?