Originally Posted by
jefnvk
When I wanted to get back into biking and was looking for a road bike, I was repeatedly told that I should be considering, at a minimum, a 105 equipped full carbon bike, that I'd be disappointed by anything else. That came from multiple LBS and a couple cycling friends. I really had no desire to drop $1500+ on the bike alone (or with accessories, for that matter), so I stayed away. In the end, it was simply bad advice that kept me away from the sport for another season. Then again, it did teach me valuable mechanical skills to overhaul my ratty old MTB for the occasional MUP at that time, which lead to a C&V problem, so I'm not sure if I should hate or thank them!
This right here.
The industry is bad, the users are worse. 99.9% of cyclists have no idea what makes a good derailleur or shifter or anything else but they're sure going to tell you about how 105 is the bare minimum and any below that is barely functional crap.
FWIW, Car and Driver used to review all sorts of cars, vans and trucks. However, after the recession and the explosion of the internet that came with wide-access high speed internet the only companies sinking money into print are high end marquees.
The only magazines I read are...oh wait I just read blogs, forums and watch youtube videos because that's where all the good info is now.