PepeM

It is.

As for good, inexpensive equipment, I've heard this one is good.

quicktrigger

Except I gave you real world examples. FWIW, few people give a damn about the snobs, except other snobs until they start trying to denigrate non-snobs.

The OP started the thread with the though of helping people find value items for the hobby. Items with good performance for the $$$. But the OP was immediately attacked by the snobs, and tried to make feel inferior. This thread could have gone the way it was intended, but the snobs felt threatened, and attacked.

If the snobs would just snob on each other, then these threads would not degenerate in this way.

As for the snobs that will want to attack me and my POV, you don't like it. I get it. Don't care! But, I get it.

Dan333SP

Wow, that's a great deal! I'm a little confused by the name, though. Is that frame built of Venturi tubes so that it can tell you your airspeed with especially good accuracy? Is that reading better than the GPS in my phone?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_effect

PepeM

I think it has a front diffuser which is supposed to be aero as hell. Everyone on the TdF would be on it if it wasn't banned by the UCI.

GeoKrpan

Per Shimano "8.5x more pedal-to-shoe contact vs PD-M770"

The balls of my feet are better since I stated using these a year ago. I had been using M520 for many years.

PD-M770

dr_lha

I think you're mixing up these trail pedals (which are dual sided clip-in) with dual use pedals (flat one side, cleats the other).

Honestly though, I found there to be no difference between using PD-M520s and PD-M530s, so I recommend getting whichever is the cheaper version.

FeltF2Tarmac

Since I was the second guy to respond way back on page one let me clarify.I do not care if Inpd has had great luck in the short period of time owning these things. I spent the better part of my life buying the kind of crap he is bragging about. I never felt compelled to recommend it. Fact is that was my only option so reading reviews and people's experience was not an option. Now I buy things based on reputation of manufacture, word of mouth and a lot of my personal experience.
Take those sunglasses for example. I grew up wearing prescription eye wear Nd had the opportunity to get Lasic. Not cheap. I was also told to buy good sunglasses. I have and can tell cheap carp from decent. Not snobbery but protecting my investment.
Cheap tools are another area I spent lots of money on cheap carp and bought it over and over. Now I buy one tool I expect will outlast my son's life. A little more upfront but worth it. Never mind the lifetime warranty. I work hard for my money and spend according to how long what I buy will last or be expected to last. One can buy good name brand equipment and not pay full price. If it did not matter every one would ride that bottom of the barrel Shimon stuff on a GMC Denali.

PepeM

Good, inexpensive kit.

TimothyH

There is a lot of genuinely nice stuff out there though. Not everyone pays full price either.

It's only snobbery if you flaunt it or think you are superior because of it. Not everyone who has nice things is a snob. It is possible to buy nice things for your hobby of choice and still be humble, still be grateful to God that you are allowed to have it. Maybe the guy with the super nice bike worked overtime and skipped lunch to be able to afford it.

Judging other people because of externals never worked out for me.

Stucky

Don't under-estimate cheap saddles. The one that came on my old $300 Bikesdirect bike was probably the most comfortable one I've had.

And a $450 pump had better come with it's own monkey, to pump it!

alathIN

Often true, but not 100% reliable.

Certainly not the case that paying a lot means you get a good product. I have a pair of Castelli gloves that fell apart more in one season than my old Pearl Izumi's did over 7 years. Beautiful Italian stuff with nice feel, but these gloves at least were not lasting quality despite the fancy Italian price tag.

I got years of good service out of a Tiagra equipped bike, which the "you get what you pay for" crowd generally considers little better than a Huffy.

Picked up a Back Trails brand cargo rack for $15 on clearance at Target over 10 years ago that is still working just fine.

If there was a 100% correlation between price and quality, this would all be easy. Perhaps a more clear concept here would be "bike gear that performed much better than expected for the price."

dr_lha

My road bike has a saddle that cost $12 on it, and my cross bike has one that cost $8 on it, both with Titanium rails! They're both great saddles, one's a 4ZA saddle (Ridley house brand) and the other is a "Nukeproof" (Chain Reaction Cycles own brand). Both look much better than the funky Amazon saddle the OP posted though.

Shuffleman

Everything has its place. I do question the OP's ability to give testament to the quality at this point. He has stated that he has had them for several months. That statement in itself is misleading.
How often do you ride and for how far? How old are you? An 18 year old can put up with a cheap seat or less comfort than a 50 year old can. I could ride a much smaller mtb 20 years ago than I can today. Things change.
If you use the pump only a few times you may have a good experience. However, if you use it all multiple times a week, you may find that it does not last as long. Glasses? I am with you. I feel no need to pay more than $25 or so. I usually buy them at Performance on sales for less though.
Quality has its time and place. It has nothing to do with price though. You can pay a ton for low quality as well. If you want to brag about being thrifty, than please do so. Please do not confuse your level of thrift with quality though. I would be impressed if you bought a nice Fizik seat 2nd hand at a LBS for $10. That is paying little for quality. Until you show me how those items hold up over time and heavy use, than there is no true comparison.
It is like buying a Daewoo for a fifth the price of a Lexus and telling me that in the first 3 months of use it has been awesome quality. I want to know how it holds up over time and useage. I want to know if it holds its resale value.
I hope that you enjoy whatever your purchase is but I draw the line when you try to tell me that an item is high quality just because you bought it for a low price and have had it for a few months.

quicktrigger

The fact you are calling everything "cheap crap", you are exactly proving my point. Smugg attitude.

Not everything that is expensive is overpriced, but a great deal of what is expensive is snob appeal. Much of it, the expensive stuff, is cheaply made crap.

Snob along now! Empty your pockets.

quicktrigger

FWIW, my most comfortable saddles have not been expensive.

TimothyH

You are right. I mixed up the M530 with the A530. Second time in this thread that I responded to a post without looking/reading carefully enough.

I actually owned the A530.

banerjek

My experience is that cheap stuff isn't really. Even if there are a bunch of inexpensive products that are really good, you typically have to spend considerable time figuring out what they are or money discovering them through trial and error.

I find internet reviews next to worthless unless I know something about the people who wrote them. The vast majority are written by people who barely use/understand the product or the activity for that matter. As a result, the reviews for cheap crap are often way better than they are for truly good stuff -- the people who drop serious coin know what to look for and actually push the limits of the product.

I often take chances on things I use lightly or don't really care that much about because it doesn't matter if it's garbage -- I've found some products I like well enough to recommend. For those who want deals, the best way is to go to a community that has lots of experience in the type of product you want and see what they use, paying particular attention to what the more capable old timers use. They will have tried everything and discover over time what works and what doesn't.

FeltF2Tarmac

IYour absolutely right, let me brag about my 10 year old Focus or my Kirkland brand jeans or maybe the fact that I cut corners and by cheap stuff where I dream necessary. I will take my $15 dollar park pump any day over that one and like I said those glasses are crap, how much thought to clarity in any one of those 5 sets of lenses do you think that manufacture had in mind.I will call my self a snob but at least I can see clearly and will have a warranty

Phil_gretz

Thankfully, this isn't a wine tasting forum...

sced

I buy biking sunglasses at the dollar store. My eyeballs haven't fallen out yet.

FeltF2Tarmac

go ask your eye Dr. His thoughts on them.

Viich

In the groupset vein, what's the difference between Tiagra 4700 and 4603 - Chain Reaction has a triple 4603 group for even less than the ribble 4700 double, both 10 speed.

Dan333SP

+1. Current cycling glasses are a $8 pair from Walmart that look vaguely sporty and claim to be polarized (they aren't).

I drop/scratch/lose my bike glasses too regularly to be able to justify Oakleys or somesuch.

TimothyH

I count eyesight among the things that justify extra expense.

Went for prescription Oakley's this year. Should have done it years ago.

quicktrigger

While I agree many "cheap" sunglasses are crappy, there are allot that aren't. Frankly, there isn't that much to sunglasses. ALLOT of material block UV. Personally, I hate them. Always have. Hate the color distortion. Wear prescription glasses now cause of that old thing, block UV etc, so a none issue for me. But don't think I would wear them anyway. But that's just me. But there is still little reason for sun glasses to be $100 or more, Chemical safety glasses are less, and they are much more demanding in their requirements.