What really makes me shake my head and smile every time is seeing fat guys on light carbon bikes, talking about how light their bikes are. They don't seem concerned about dropping those 30-40 pounds at all

So how much is your Ti bike worth?

Why would a sponsored professional be paying for his own bike?

Used to spend ~$10k per year for moto racing before this. Not even on upgrades. Just getting there, paying track/race fees for practice sessions, races, buying tires.
And that's on years that I haven't crashed and had to replace moto parts.


So yeah I'll take this

Having said that, not all upgrades have to have actual functional purpose. I'd argue that IF getting that gear you want for whatever stupid reason makes you ride it more, it was worth it. I'm also type of guy who laser focuses on one hobby. I'm sure others are similar. Bike gear killed my desire for all other gear or "things" I don't want a better car. I don't want better phone. I don't want better cameras... All that stuff..

It would make even less than zero sense for a professional, since their teams provide the bikes. In fact, in the lower ranks one of the few perks is that riders can sometimes sell off their old equipment at the end of the season to augment their meager salaries. Phil Gaimon covers this in one of his books.

In the 80s + 90s I would get a new bike every year(at EP from the manufacturer), and sell it the following Spring. I'd basically break even, and always ride the latest gear.

Back then, employee prices were less than dealer cost.

I like a comfortable somewhat fast bike but beyond that I don't get too crazy as I'm never going to race and I do this for fitness and mental health so 12k bike won't really help with that.. to each their own though.

That would be me...........minus the light carbon bikes. No reason to ride something above my ability.

Seems to sell around $2-3k on ebay. I’m about $1100 in after upgrades but it is a 16 pound bike, lighter than $2k-4K carbon road bikes at my LBS in the same size and yes we weighed them on a professional scale and the lbs owner was surprised that my litespeed vortex was so light. Of course some of those road bikes had disc brakes.

So it made zero sense for you to buy that bike.

So you don't own anything more than the basic minimum requirement to achieve its purpose?
Anyone that has anything over and above this is crazy?
Whether it be nice cars, bikes, house, shoes, clothes, phone etc, etc.

That's a bit of a fallacy though. A fat person gets precisely the same benefit from equipment as a skinny guy. Or a slow guy gets just as much benefit from equipment as a fast guy.

The real question is whether the gains are what the individual considers relevant, or wanted.

Not really. Lighter weight riders are disproportionately affected by weight of equipment because their bikes are a greater proportion of the total weight they have to carry uphill and aerodynamic gains are more significant at higher speeds.

But a pound on the bike will slow each rider down the exact same mph.

No, but OK.

Yes, actually.

In fact, on a percentage of speed, a heavier rider will experience a larger % increase in speed than a lighter rider would.

edit: hrmm. Now I'm not so sure lol. I worked out a couple scenarios using bikecalculator.com. 150lb rider gained 6% going up a grade losing 10lbs. 200lb rider gained 5% speed going up the same grade losing the same weight. I'm a bit confused by this if I'm being honest

Ok.

You're talkative.

I see you played yourself up there, so I'm good.

Ok

Not really. Slower people get more of an advantage (total time saved) from aero equipment than faster people.

He would be referring to percentage gains, not absolute time differences.

Doesn't matter. Slower people save more time with aero equipment than fast people. Simple fact.

The adage that you need to be able to go a certain speed or be at a certain weight to benefit is wrong.

A 10 watt saving for someone putting out 100 watts is a 10% saving. For someone putting out 250 watts it's a 4% saving.

Simple math.

A 5% improvement for a 60 min 40k time trial is 3 mins, for a 50 min 40k time trial is 2.5 mins.

3 mins is more than 2.5 mins.

Simple math.