Originally Posted by
Eric F
As someone who has taken all of the parts from one bike, and put them on another, multiple times, my experiences is that there was definitely a difference I could perceive every time I made a change.
And some people swear they can hear the difference between digital audio sources -- which is also impossible. You could not detect those alleged differences in a double-blind test of your bikes, because they are physically impossible, even if your brain has been completely convinced that your new purchase was miles better than your old one.
The simple fact that you claim there was a significant difference "every time" is evidence enough that you are a victim of confirmation bias -- and there's no shame in that, everyone is susceptible to it, but intelligent people recognize the phenomenon. To quote S Wonder, "When you believe in things / that you don't understand / then you suffer."