garysol1 

Keeps Harley Davidson in business....

roost5o

You got that right

CaptainAllez

Pfft! I'm a rabid Red Sox fan (Boston native), and YOU have my sympathies.

BillyD

Doesn't make you a bad person.

"Rabid" probably so, yes!

bbattle

The Cervelo/CSC guy is probably having a blast, totally unaware of how much angst he causes in others.


On this morning's group ride I talked a bit with a nice gentleman on a plain red bike. I asked him what it was and he said "Nashbar". We were doing 22mph at the time; don't you just love groups that totally ignore the advertised pace(of 16-18). There was a Lemond, a Klein, a Cannondale, a Santana tandem, my Orbea, the Nashbar special, a Motobecane, a couple of Fujis, and several other bikes I don't remember. Kit ranged from plain Performance to Sponge Bob to my blindingly orange Euskaltel jersey.

We had a good time.

mblk6062

Austin Texas is one of the greatest cycling cities in the U.S.A. Several of my cycling compadres are from there. If you are a "good" rider in Austin, you are a "great" rider everywhere else.

Hook 'Em Horns!

Rocke

What counts.

mblk6062

Amen Bro! Glad you found your way to God's Country from SC!

mblk6062

I'm in with that - Great analogy!

GO GATORS!

mblk6062

GREAT POST! I AGREE TOTALLY!

ElJamoquio

Yesterday I was out, doing maybe 13-16 MPH. Someone's grandmother passed me, on a MTB or hybrid, complete with huge side mirror, etcetera, etcetera.

At least the grandkids get a good story.

scuzzo

+1
well said,
perphaps the most sage comment i have ever read on the forum.

fmw

To be honest with you, I don't even pay attention to other people's bikes. The only bikes that are important to me are mine.

bbattle

[QUOTE=mleess]You find it funny in a retro-snob sort of way. Get over yourself, you're not that good of a golfer. But you would be if you bought some of those super Cougar clubs with the Ti-carb shafts and oversize unobtainium heads.

Looneytuna

If I go back to riding my old bikes, my old shoes, my old clothes will that mean i will be 10mph slower?

I love and own an expensive bike, clothes, car, etc... but does that make me a bad person or a jealous person? no freaking way... would I like to own a Colnago or Pinarello or a Ferrari or Aston? sure and when i could afford them, I just might, but I will get them for me and not for others to see or be jealous of..

My dad once said, "Never buy something to impress other people.. You should buy it for yourself and not others!" (That was when I was in my 20's and was offered to trade my lincoln in for a demo Mercedes SL... the lincoln was costing me $498 a month and I owned it.. the SL lease was going to cost me $528 a month with no money down and I was getting a check back for $11K for the lincoln)

I love my bike and I love to ride.. and sometimes in the street sign sprints I come in the top 3 and sometimes I am near the back..

IMO (actually my dads), if you try living your life for yourself and not worrying about what others think, you might find a little happiness...

mezza

People spend money they don't have on things they don't need to impress people they don't know.



I probably have the heaviest, least blingy and most freddy bikes on BF and I'd am rarely overtaken by ANYONE, carbon fibre or not. But if I had the money I'd replace it with a bike made out of Blingaranium in a heartbeat.

mrmatta

There's a guy in my town (Nashville) that goes to the NFL football games (Titans). I often walk up the ramp behind him on the way to our seats. He used to wear full team kit with Eddie George or Steve McNair, now it's all Vince Young. I know for a fact that I can walk up the ramp faster than him and order my hotdog with greater efficiency, so, therefore, he should somehow wear a white T-shirt and not enjoy himself.

Jesus, does this mean that if I showed up at a charity century with a white Quick-Step world champion jersey (because I like Paolo Bettini), or Predictor-Lotto kit (because I'm kinda built like Robbie McEwan and, in a different life, I might have been a world class sprinter), then somehow I need to back this up with results?

I really need to re-evaluate my life. In the 6th grade, I wore Converse Dr. J's and I was a short white kid that couldn't, realistically, have played one-on-one with the real Dr. J.

Later on, I bought an Eric Clapton Strat. In retrospect, he was probably better than me, and I should either give it back or be ashamed.

Seriously, go to an NFL/NBA/NHL game and probably 60%+ of the fans are wearing officially licensed merch. If some gainfully employed middle-aged dude wants to spend his disposable income on CSC gear, you should be happy. You can drope the hamer on him or just let him have his fun. One less middle-age-crisis Harley owner, in my book. Fewer senseless carbon emissions.

DrPete 

While I appreciate the sentiment of your post, it would seem that you freely admit to engaging in the same activity you choose to look down upon, and the only difference is that YOU get to decide where this threshold of materialism is so that you can "look down on people."

Arbitrarily deciding who's guilty of materialism so that you can look down on them and feel better about yourself is just as bad IMHO.

Hocam

The difference is that I realize it, admit it openly and don't do it to nearly the same extent. Buying USDA organic may be in some cases be as much marketing hype as a new car or whatever, but it's an extra dollar or two (this is due to loopholes in the organic regulations blah blah blah) and it actually benefits my health.

Everyone is materialistic to some extent. If we weren't we'd all be monks living with the clothes on our backs. Just because I live pretty frugally and don't buy things for an image but am still materialistic to some extent means that I have no right to judge the guy on the $9,000 serotta doing nothing but a loop on the local mup and a cup of starbucks after? Please explain that.

DrPete 

What if that guy sitting at starbucks makes $2 million a year and has been ordered by his physician to start exercising so that he saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses related to his diabetes and heart disease? What's a $9000 bike then? It's completely inconsequential.

We're all materialistic, and everything is relative. I would argue that if you made/earned enough money that a $9K bike was a completely painless purchase--and I mean you wouldn't even feel it--you'd think quite differently.

We're all jealous of the things we can't afford to some extent, and some of us choose to write it off by saying "but I'm a stronger athlete" or "he's just a poseur." Others take a little bit different angle, like you, and say that it has nothing to do with cycling, but rather some greater moral/ethical issue about being frugal, etc.

Think of the Toyota Prius--Much more expensive to own than a similar non-hybrid vehicle, but people are willing to pay that premium so that they can showcase their trendy high-tech frugality to their friends, family, and random passers-by on the road. I especially love the ones with the aftermarket "HYBRID" badges on the side.

I guess the bottom line is, let the guy ride his Serotta. Being on the bike for two miles to the coffee shop is still better than sitting on the couch. Your problems with his bike, etc. are nobody's but your own.

Super Guanche

While I'm always amused by the "I'm sorry I had to drop you..." type posts, I'm amazed at how defensive people get about shelling out for kit.

DrPete 

I'm sure there are people who feel the same way about their bikes.

Incidentally, do you have any data to support the claim that "organic" foods are better for your health? As I recall, there really aren't any studies confirming this.

DrPete 

A natural extension of being attacked for shelling out for kit, I would contend...

Super Guanche

I recall reading that there was. Quick Google threw up this. You'd probably be a better judge than me as to whether those journals are any good or not.

DrPete 

I guess the real question in my mind is clinical relevance. The claims of vitamin content, etc may be true, but does it actually MEAN anything?

We're always asked to try new equipment/materials in surgery as well, and companies will show you all kinds of data about how one type of hernia mesh promotes slightly less scarring, etc., but the things that matter (postop pain, recurrence rates, etc) are exactly the same. So to the patient it's more expense with no measurable benefit.