Originally Posted by
skye
I hate to tell you this, but (a) nobody elected you to decide what is important, and (b) you are assuming others suffer from your perceptual limitations. Maybe you ought to put your massive ego down for a little bit, it must be tiring to carry around with you everywhere.
Relax. I made no comment on the importance of anything. I was merely pointing out that high end bikes are relatively easy to copy/duplicate. Similar to a Rolex watch. Are there differences? Of course, do they affect performance? Yes, but only marginally. An $18,000 bike isn't going to make you fast. Fast guys aren't buying McClaren bikes, if they ride them it's because they've been given them.
Fake watches, bikes, purses etc have been with us for a long time and one guy tolling away at Specialized isn't going to stop them.