Aaron, I understand Jim's post as some musings rather than an essay. And I appreciate it.

I like to see the pluses and minuses of all kinds of bikes (and things other than bikes, too). The copious and gigantic logos are one thing I just do not like. But there's a lot about modern bikes I like. The main reason I don't have one is that I don't have the money. I'm thinking of selling some of my bikes to raise the money.

I ride for utility often, so any bike will do. Currently, I'm going between an old 3-speed and a cyclocross bike for errands and local travel.

I also like to ride for fun. The most fun bike (for me) to ride for the sake of riding is a road racing bike. The new road racing bikes are great in their agility, acceleration, braking, gearing, etc. But they're insanely expensive. I suppose I could get something mighty nice for $1,000 or $1,500. That's probably the point of diminishing returns for me.

But some more minuses:

- They are NOT built to be as durable and reliable as racing bikes used to be.
- Maintenance is also insanely expensive.
- The wheel tolerances are so tiny that I can only use very narrow tires, and I can't use fenders.
- They're basically not re-purpose-able into errand bikes, etc. It's too hard and too risky to attach luggage to them.
- A modern cyclocross bike has better tolerances for wide tires, etc, but is it as nimble? I don't know.