LarrySellerz

The big one is unsolicited advice about foot retention

big john

I can believe that. I did hear about it when I switched to mtb shoes and pedals on the road for a few years. I was riding with a group containing some racers and even a pro or two. Someone mentioned the SPD stuff but the one pro rode up and showed me he was also using them for the type of riding we were doing.

WhyFi

If you're dropping in to a spirited group ride with them, that's self-preservation speaking.

Maelochs

I reacted positively to this post because I have a clue about the specific situations he is describing----rather, similar if not identical situations.

"Comfort" can be not having wind freezing your genitals to numbness while sweat pours off your head and back, so that when you stop the evaporative chill is a real health hazard. "Comfort" can be wind protection for your chest and sun protection for your back, plus good venting for your back, as @elcruxio mentions---intense sun on a chilly day burns you just the same as intense sun on a hot day, and chilly weather is chilly on a sunny day ....

When i was poor and there wasn't much high-tech bike stuff anyway, I made some of my own weather gear to provide a measure of comfort on my multiple daily rides, half in daytime and half in the dark. When i say "comfort" I am not talking lounge wear, or pajamas .... i mean, "maintaining a healthy situation and avoiding extreme unpleasantness." (Trust me, my polyethylene diaper was not particularly comfortable and people probably were afraid to ask what I was wearing .... but it beat frostbite.)

As I read it elcruxio is talking about that kind of comfort---not "Wearing this jersey feels like I am getting caressed by the soft hands of heavenly virgins" or whatever, of "These shorts fell like my tool kit is like lying in a feather bed." "Comfort" can be the avoidance of discomfort. And if you don't think getting your head frozen is uncomfortable, you have probably let it happen too many times.

Maelochs

At least sometimes.

I spent a lot of days and miles riding in whatever, gradually adjusting as I learned what worked best and what didn't---for me. I don't care what other people wear and I don't care what other people think of what I wear, but I know the process I went though to end up where I am now, and it was all very logical and extremely well tested, because I had to ride many miles at a time many times a day pretty much every day of the week and it mattered a lot to me for that reason.

I don't like "expensive" anything. I like "worthwhile" stuff. Stuff which doesn't work, doesn't last, is liable to fail unexpectedly and massively, ... is a waste of money to me. I spend as little as I can to get the stuff which I know from experience will work, and sometimes I go by reputation (I have never had a bad anything from Pearl Izumi, for instance) and I am not afraid to try new brands, but I try to get a personal endorsement when I can (I tried Funkier brand bibs because I saw them on sale and I saw a guy wearing them in a group ride and he said they were for real. I tired Sportful because I thought there might be a Merlin Cycles house brand ... i guess not, but they are good bibs for pretty cheap. I pay whatever I have to, to get the stuff which will do what I need it to do.

Maybe Assos at eight times the price really would feel like my goods were lying in a feather bed .... but all I want is a comfortable pad and decent compression and fabric sufficiently thick that I can imagine it lasting a few years or more ..... (Plenty of people buying Assos already, they don't need my money, and I do. )

I wear Qwik-Dri tees in the winter but I find them to be hotter in the summer than a good breathable jersey. Some people have different perceptions. I don't care.

You are lucky you can pedal away form a-holes. try as I might I cannot outride myself.

tomato coupe

My wife has no idea how much her cycling kit costs, yet she consistently prefers the more expensive stuff. She's either got a sixth sense about the cost, or the more expensive stuff is noticeably better.

PeteHski

£500 OSPWs

Eric F 

In my experience, it's not exclusive to roadies.

rsbob 

Love the broad sweeping generalization.

DMC707 

This is not strictly confined to cycling

I was going through a rough patch a few years back and recall a friend telling me

(im paraphrasing) "If you dont pull 50k out and invest it in such and such, you're stupid and will kick yourself later !" --- while i was living paycheck to paycheck

Milton Keynes

Let me guess... he wanted you to invest in crypto...

Polaris OBark

I think you are absolutely right about this.

I took a bit of a break from SPD clip-ins, after I had a bit of a break of some bones, and during that recovery period, I got a lot of unsolicited (and unwanted) advice.

Having said that, I am back to using (mountain) SPDs and really expensive shoes to go with them, but it is primarily because it now hurts much less to ride that way, and psychologically I feel more secure clipped in, especially when climbing hills.

My wife is the exact opposite. She vastly prefers large platform pedals on her road bike, and 5-10 shoes to stick to them.

livedarklions

Wait, what? "Breathability" is not a matter of comfort?!

I'm only saying that quality is also a subjective term based on whether or not those characteristics are relevant to you.

If you want to turn this into somebody has to be wrong "debate", that's fine, but I'm not arguing with any of your quality criteria, and nothing I've said indicates that I did, or suggests that you shouldn't articulate what you mean by quality and value. As a matter of fact, I think you're doing a very good job doing so, I just don't think there's much reason for telling other people they're wrong if they're using other criteria.

DMC707 

was actually a real estate deal. LOL, i missed the boat on crypto too -- i guess i'm destined to stay downtrodden

livedarklions

Nahhh, I think you're just giving charitable assumptions to one side (the snobby advice types) and uncharitable to the other (the reverse snob type). I don't find that either of these groups tend to be knowledgeable, and if pressed, I could apply an uncharitable "fool and his money trying to justify his own ill-advised waste of money" assumption to the snobby advice group. I think those of you who prefer expensive gear just haven't experienced the kind of condescension we who don't prefer expensive gear get from the snobby advice group but you do get it from the reverse snobs, so you don't have trouble understanding how obnoxious that is.

Honestly, I think the knowledgeable people understand that the motor is too variable for one-size-fits-all prescriptions to make a lot of sense for any given individual.

wolfchild

Clipless pedals don't make you immune from crashing and sustaining injuries.

wolfchild

My mirror does exactly the same thing as your radar.

c0urt

i was about to post pedals and cleats. or contact points in general

WhyFi

What's the charitable reverse-snob assumption? That they never stopped to consider the obvious - that the person they're talking to has been there and done that?

Without being a reverse-snob?

In the past, I've kicked around the idea of riding in civvies and platforms, to see what reactions that might elicit , but I could never hide the legs and sharp tan lines well enough to fool any but the least observant.

Probably.

Polaris OBark

Really? Your mirror emits a warning sound when you aren't looking at it?

Yet another of your endless stream of reading comprehension fails.

WhyFi

Obviously not, but I'm going to be leery of someone on platforms in a situation where there's a likelihood of a sprint or similar. And if they're shirtless and helmetless, to boot? I'm staying well away from 'em.

tomato coupe

No, it doesn't.

wolfchild

Personally I don't feel a need to use gadgets with warning sounds...All I need is to keep glancing in my mirror to see what's coming behind me. Mirrors have worked great for me in heavy traffic and on rural roads with little traffic

WhyFi

His mirror must also changes its flashing pattern and intensity in response to an approaching vehicle.

Polaris OBark

Nevertheless, thanks for sharing your invaluable experience with the idiots.