Throughout my cycling life I've gone through moments of enlightment re: equipment and gear. You know how some equipment you think is total crap, until you actually try it. Every single time I've thought "what a waste of money" until I tried the piece of equipment.

As an example:

When you first started cycling and said to yourself "who would ever need shoes that clip into your pedals, what a waste of money". Then you actually try them and realize how effective the clipless pedals are and you learn how you are actually supposed to pedal in circles, rather than just mashing.

Other examples:

"Why would you ever need cycling bibs, what's wrong with plain old cycling shorts? What a waste of money", until I actually tried them. Damn, best thing I ever bought last year. I'll never go back.

"What good is a computer with Cadence, I just pedal how I feel comfortable, what a waste of money" until I realized the benefit of spinning and how for me when I get tired I start to mash. It's a good visual cue for me.

"Who would ever need actual cycling socks?" I just tried a pair of DeFeet's this year and damned if they aren't a thousand times better than regular CoolMax or cotton stuff, at least for me.

"Heart rate monitor, pppffffttt. Who needs that? I'll just ride until I'm tired" I've properly learned to use mine in the last few weeks and what a dramatic difference it's made for me in my training. I've ramped up my intensity way more than I ever thought possible. It's not the be all / end all, but it's a great tool.

Granted, some stuff is crap, but I'm amazed at how many times I've scoffed at trying a cycling specific piece of equipment only to find out a year or two later just how great some of this stuff is.

f

Yep, i was that way about Camelbaks for the longest time. Honestly, I think those are the way to go....holds more water, and is easier to use than a bottle. Plus even in the heat out here, I don't use up 100oz all that fast.

The other item I had a change in thought about was bike shorts....I never thought they would make that much a difference in comfort.

Me too, in fact probably most people go through this.

The reality is that you get what you pay for more often than not and, the more you know the details about something (anything) the more you understand the benefits of things. Especially cycling. Many of the benefits seem useless until you know better.

Power meters will soon be like this as the price drops, and people learn all the things they can do with them.

I felt that way about Cannondales. Now that I own one I have to say that my past bike snobbiness has kept me off a great bike!

Absolutely true.

Please. Power meter. So useless. Who would ever want one. What a waste of money.

j/k

I totally agree. I'd love to experiment with one but a) out of my price range for now and b) not ready for that type of training just yet.

f

Or is it just the fact that you spent the money and you don't want to admit it was waste? I'm not saying your observations aren't true. Sometimes I think a lot of cyclist are as compelled by all the stuff that goes along with our sport, myself included, as the actual act of riding the bike. The more cycling gear you own the more you belong. I'm not criticizing anyone for how they spend their money, I'm guilty of buying cycling items I don't necessarily need, just making an observation. For example Bibs, were you that unhappy in shorts? Now you spend an extra $10-20 for a pair and you probably replaced a lot of your old shorts with bibs. I think bibs are a lot like shaving your legs, they say you're serious member of the club but completely uneccessary for 90% of us. But don't think I haven't given thought to buying a pair I'm just afraid you'll be right and I'll never use the other four pair of cycling shorts I own.

I agree whole heartedly. Fact is a lot of people like to scream that everything is marketing driven in cycling. In reality cycling is made up of a bunch thrifty people that scrutinize every purchase. "How much better is porduct X? Is it worth the extra $4 over product Y?"

As a result I feel the cycling products has a true market system. If it doesn't serve a need, or if there is no perceived value (even a value that exists in a product that it was not originally marketed for) then this picky bunch tears it to shreads, makes it "un-fashionable" to buy one, or calls everyone who owns one a Fred.

You gotta start doing the math and realize that if thereis a product that has been around for more than a few years, that has been copied by just about every manufacturer is some way shape or form, etc. that it probably has some merit. Examples:
1. Bib shorts
2. External Bearing BBs
3. Indexed shifting
4. Brifters
5. HRMs
6. Computers

All the retro-heads holding on to the old ways, while quaint, have somewhere along the way missed the fact that things innovate....to get better - to increase perceived/realized value. Remember...people vote everyday with their money.

"It's all ball bearings these days...."

Don't ever try bibs, because you will never want to go back.

For me the "Eureka" moments came with: clipless pedals/shoes, bike shorts, a jersey (cotton t-shirt? why was I so stubborn?), hammergel, sunglasses, a road bike, bibs, chocolate milk as a recovery drink.

Yes. I have tasted the Kool-Aid. And it is good.

Great...now someone will accuse you of being a Dairy Farmer, or part of the Milk Council...

"OH YEAH!" - Does the Kool-Aid help you "bust through the wall"

My hope is that everyone I race against falls for this.

Nah. I get all my chocolate milk from BikesDirect.com. It's not Freedom Chocolate Milk, but I get it out of the box, put it together in 20 minutes and drink it.

And I meant Kool-Aid in more of a Jim Jones sense. The cult of the roadie and all that.

But Velonews said it works, so it must work. Velonews wouldn't lie to me.

Good thread. I tended to think that the "real" equipment probably had merit early in the game and just waited until my wife decided I could afford it to buy in. Actually, we waited to see if I was actually going to cycle a serious enough number of miles on a consistent basis.

Now I tend to look for the higher end goods on sale at lower end pricing and buy on impulse. I just need to get better at pulling the unused stuff out of the drawers and closets.

No Velonews reported about a study done by a Professor at a University that was sponsored by the dairy industry. They never said it worked or not. If you are drinking this stuff at least look at the ingredients. Most off the shelf chocolate milk and Hershey's syrup is made with High Fructose Corn Syrup. Not much could be worse for you.

Ah. But the organic stuff doesn't have HFCS. And it is good. My wife went (and is still) on an anti HFCS kick, and I happily went along. Maybe it's the BGH. Though the organic stuff doesn't have that either.

And it does seem to work for me. Though, it's only this year that I've really ridden hard enough to worry about and take seriously recovery nutrition. So that I'm getting anything at all after hard efforts may have something to do with it.

Good at least your buying the high grade stuff! I wonder how many who have read the study just pop open a container of milk and dump a bunch of Hershey's syrup in it? I also wonder what type of chocolate was used in the study, all those anti-oxidents are in dark chocolate.

when you get a fixed gear, start riding in non cycling clothes, chuck your computer, and realize you don't need any of the stuff you mentioned, then you will have completed the circle, ready to start again. enlightenment man...

I thought about this, but really the products I'm talking about are truely more enjoyable, to me. It may not be to everyone. I'm not one for 'belonging', I like to do my own thing. It's actually why at first I resisted buying a lot of stuff I thought was 'junk', because it meant I wanted to be just like all the other cool kid roadies.


Nothing wrong with shorts, they are fine. Bibs just feel that much more comfortable. Maybe unnecessary, but for an extra $10-$20 you get back in comfort tenfold. Now I can't stand that elastic wasteband on shorts.


OOOOooooohhh. I feel like grasshopper. I can hear the Kung Fu music in the background.

f

Hey if BD is selling it...it HAS to be good. ...I just noticed your Wisconsin location....are you sure you're not a dairy farmer???

Next you'll be telling us cheese is better than gels...

As for the Kool-Aid - I wouldn't go near the stuff after watching that made-for-TV movie about the whole deal. Parents had a hard time explaining that one to me....

Heh. Dude! I'm not a shill for the dairy industry. Or the beer industry for that matter. I also don't know the Fonz or Laverne and Shirley.

Squiggy, however, says 'hey'.

Great Caddy Shack reference by the way.

How about someone go through why they like bibs better than shorts instead of just saying they are better?

I like bibs better because they stay put. Not that my shorts fall down around my ankles or anything, but bibs stay in place. And there's no waistband.

/\/\/\ No waistband /\/\/\