Originally Posted by
prj71
There are always exceptions or outliers. But the majority of us here are enthusiasts with disposable income to purchase bikes within the price range I mention. It's more the norm than not.
Patching tubes falls into "The stepping over dollars to save pennies" category to me.
I'm an enthusiast, I could buy a S-Works Tarmac or a Stumpy EVO tomorrow, hell, why not get them both? Because they would not give me joy. I like old stuff, and not even the exotic classics, just ordinary bikes that perform adequately.
When I rode competitively I would set myself a performance target I had to reach before buying an upgrade, turns out that after I got an Ultegra gearset and Campy/Mavic wheels I didn't need anything else, because that stuff was as good as I needed, riding at the level I was. I could have taken it more seriously but that might have been less enjoyable.
I did spend a bit more on recumbents, an e-bike and a tandem, but only in keeping with my "good enough and cheap on eBay" approach. I once spent the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $3000 on a bike, the only new complete bike I ever bought (my first MTB was built from all new parts, I have no idea how much I spent on that).