The Fred Syndrome.
I just happened to have bought an expensive bike, so readers are free to think I write this not to feel bad about it and justify the outlay.
FACT: I feel very good about my new bike, in fact ecstatic.
A few days ago while my mechanic was building the bike I came across this 37 minute video:
Bicycle Truth: Weight Scam - True cost of riding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF4MIEkIBZs
I don't mean to be nasty but I could not finish watching it, the speaker's tone is truly an anesthetic, nothing to do with the content.
But it is the content that I am pissed about.
His point is that non-competitive riders, which includes me, have no business spending thousands and thousands on upscale bikes, because apparently a bike well under a thousand will do just as well. The comment section shows how many people out there agree (shakes head ruefully).
To prove the point he compares an expensive Trek with some no-name $300 bike he uses, on which he does thousands of miles and is most happy about it, apparently.
I've answered a few posts here from people with a similar position. Here is what I think:
It really boils down to envy and ignorance - can't afford the best bikes, never rode one.
People often say similar things about Maserati, Ferrari and Porsche drivers, and for similar reasons.
The argument they use to cover their coveting and jealousy is completely hollow.
I have cheap bikes and they are jolly good, but don't you tell me that my no-name 25-pound cycle rides or feels anywhere near a top Dogma or a Madone.
The same occurs in other spheres and hobbies. Fotographers and cameras, musicians and guitars, etc.
For some people the camera, guitar, or bike is just a tool and a means to an end. Hendrix famously did not care much about the guitar itself but the music he coaxed from it. Then there are people at the other extreme. I know a guy who buys really expensive guitars and he can't play. I don't know anyone yet, who buys expensive bikes and does not ride them. Then there are the people in-between, who love both the tool and the product.
Why rail against anyone in any of these groups? What is the point? If someone rides a bike to commute to work and is not "into" bikes, so be it.
If a guy only rides flat trails with a Parlee Z1, so what? If he blew the mortgage money to buy it, it's his foreclosure and nobody else's.
Also, not only rich people buy expensive bikes. If that is your hobby, you may save for years to buy a dream bike one day.
Another fact is that if you are into bikes, we live in a golden age of exotic materials, electronic shifting, 3D-printing (saddles), and the result is that the cycling state of the art offers fantastic rewards to those who are passionate about bikes, and appreciate a ride that's as good as it gets.
Some myth.