Originally Posted by platypus
Think of your bike as a Cycling Jerk Detector. If anyone gives you any lip/attitude about your bike, congratulations! You've just discovered a jerk that's not worth giving the time of day to. Ignore them and keep riding. There's plenty of folks out there that are nice n freindly.
Cycling Jerk Detector, heh.
There's a guy the manager of my favorite lbs just told me about, he came in a bought a Felt. I think it was a F15 or F1C but it was definitely a top of the line model, but the guy was unsure about purchasing it at first because he had never heard of Felt before and was worried he might get made fun of at group rides.
Sometimes image plays too big of a role in cycling, but it does in everything really. It does feel good to own something nice, but someone will always own something nicer. You definitely have a nice bike which has nothing wrong with it but some people like the company. Don't worry though cause some people sneer at Treks because they are overly popular, so don't give it too much thought unless you are into cycling to get popular.