Originally Posted by Stucky

Exactly! Some of my fondest cycling memories are from when I used to just tool around on an oild BSO I resurrected from the garbage. That was the height of cycling, for me- proving that it has little to with the actual bike one rides. It's more about the rider and the ride. If a bike has a chain and gears and the tires hold air......there's not that huge of difference between a BSO and $5K bike. But the difference between being 26 and 53...that makes a HUGE difference! Or the difference between it being 1988 and 2015..... etc. Those refugee-from-the-dumps BSO's never hindered me; and the the fancy bikes I have now, don't really do anything special for me that the cheap didn't, other than reminding me that I can now afford a decent bike.