Is this thread supposed to raise awareness for bike-based narcissism?
Well, I don't know how I ended up here.
The Miyata 312 I've been riding a lot in the last 6 months, while it is a dependable charmer to me, is relatively unassuming in all black, and to the majority of bike trail people it just looks like some kind of big standard classic old steel gas pipe road bike, but still shiny and well cared for. But like anything thats that old it probably has lost most if its value. It's 2 sizes too big so the seatpost is an inch and a half from slammed, bars at least at same height as saddle. Not quite fast enough to keep up with any packs of rabid roadies, but it has a fast sport-touring look that doesn't really turn heads. It also can be surprisingly quiet and stealthy.
I had a 60 year old guy riding one of those fast new down on the ground trikes try to sell me on how great those (frame-made-in-USA) trikes are and then he had the nerve to tell me that I should watch out for the awful quality of Chinese bikes, like the one he thought I was riding. Didn't look at all those little decals: triathlon triangles, the spline triple butted Miyata chrome moly, the thru the top tube brake cable routing, the Mangalight forks, the Sakae bars, Sugino crankset, and the Panaracer-shod Araya rims with Sansin hubs. He did not see made in Japan to the highest quality standards. To him had I had a generic cookie cutter bike of indeterminant origin and he slagged me for it. He was one certain brand of bike snob.
That said as a well into his 40's guy who's getting gray under the helmet, who can now pretend to be that guy with the Pinarello, now that I've got the new to me Miyata Team on the road. Not enough enduro from me anymore to reel off 90% for mile after mile, and having ridden the Team over the 312 it only seems to be worth 1 or 2 mph for a few miles mainly due to the lower bar position, and eventually, did I mention, my lower enduro kicking in and all the crouching likely to have a toll on my back.
That bike's minty shine and Dura Ace bling seemed show bike awesome to some LBS mechanics. They all fantasized about riding something made from super steel. They - envied my bike.
On the street, people tried to ignore looking at it - maybe its loud color scheme screams "poser" to to the average person.
I've now been exposed to both sides of it now, but it always comes down to the perception of the beholder. Some are quite ignorant, others more knowledgeable.