Originally Posted by
Abu Mahendra
I have it firmly in mind. It's just that most peoole don't go through 'many wheelsets'. I have no doubt about Phil's durability. It's just that it is surplus, excess durability for those at the extreme margins. Ditto for Rohloff. But let's cut through the fog here. The likes of Phil and Rohloff are often status symbols. If i had a penny for everytime you guys lecture, hector us on the advantages of Phil, Rohloff, etc. Bob has a penchant for bringing up his Rohloff and Phil at every turn. Tone-deafness, that's what it is when the constraint is 'budget', and one suggests Rohloff and Phil.
Some people run stuff into the ground, I work in a shop and see it quite a lot. People abuse their wheels more often than not and while you don't have to run Phil Wood having something durable and well built is helpful. As far as Rohloff if you pair that with a belt drive that is something you don't need to touch, meaning no maintenance and the way a lot of folks abuse their drivetrain having something like that can be quite useful for people. Yes they can be partially considered status symbols but also a symbol of high quality and craftsmanship. People on this forum have a penchant for complaining when something isn't $5 down at the Wally-Mart or at the Jeff Bezos Online Bike Shop.
Originally Posted by
3speed
...As spoken from someone who can easily throw down $400 on hubs and it’s not a big deal? By your logic, given that for the most part in the bicycle world the most expensive parts are generally better, the most budget friendly bike one could buy would be the $10,000 one. It’ll last the rest of their lifetime(and likely their kids when they pass it on) and they’ll never have to buy another bike part. It will also retain much better resale value than the cheaper bike.
You know what someone means when they ask for advice on a good budget item.
Not easily for sure but I would so I am not spending that money and more down the line. I scrimp and save, I am not a millionaire, I work in a shop. I value made in America stuff of high quality and stuff I don't really have to adjust and mess with much.
I am wondering where you got 10k from? I wouldn't suggest someone buy a touring bike for 10k unless it was a full custom Di2 set up. You can get a fine touring bike for much much cheaper. My all out ****** build touring bike would probably be 5k if I totaled it up and I am not saying it was affordable because to me it was a lot of saving and buying parts slowly over time and taking over a year to get it built up.
Buying a Surly Trucker would be a fine touring bike and one that would serve someone quite well. There are other bikes on the market as well and you could easily buy something and upgrade as needed. The most expensive stuff isn't always the best but in a good number of cases it tends to be. The cost isn't just for status and if it is, it isn't worth it but if it is a good durable part with low maintenance is worth the cost in some cases. I did say earlier in my last post and have repeated it throughout that you can find cheaper stuff that is still of good quality but as usual nobody cares to listen, they just want to hate stuff that they might consider expensive for whatever reason.