Originally Posted by
PeteHski
I reckon if you rocked up on it at your local Sunday club ride people would take notice. I've seen guys taking the walk of shame up steep hills with their £12k S-Works and that really isn't a great look! My take is that if you are going to ride a £12k race bike then you really need to have the engine to match it to avoid the "all the gear but no idea" label. Obviously some people just don't care how it looks, but I would at this price-point. I'm only worth a £4.5k bike, lol.
I'm of a mind that people don't need to earn the right to ride an expensive bike by way of performance - they just need to earn the money to buy it.
That said, I do think that a bike needs to fit the rider and the ride. If you need a 5cm stack of spacers under your stem and your bars need to be higher than your saddle, you're doing yourself a disservice by buying an aggressive racing frame. Likewise, showing up to a casual, family-centric cycling event in full kit and race bike is a bit of a wanker move.
The cost of the equipment really doesn't factor, though, IMO - if someone wouldn't be incongruous on an Allez, I think they'd be just fine on a LeMond, too.