Originally Posted by
Haraise
I'm of the engineering mindset. I optimize for a given set of parameters.
I'm wanting to stay biking, exercising, losing weight by keeping an interest in the bike. It's been helping, been riding every single night. Thinking about what I can change to be a little bit nicer, a little bit better.
You're not going to make it very far as an engineer if you don't factor cost into your designs.
But I completely understand. I used to upgrade the heck out of everything. Eventually I learned that it's better to try to figure out what components a bike "wants" to have, sort of like a sculptor figures out what a block of marble wants to be. The lightest, most expensive components aren't always the best choice.
I'd like to suggest that Deore components aren't just cheaper, for your purposes they are better.