oilman_15106

Gees I thought the SOP was to thrash someone who wanted to buy their bike at Wallymart not the other way around! Have fun and don't worry about it.

STEVO820

i really like to ride the 1000 more often due to the straps instead of clipon shoes. my 1000 has calypso tires and shimano rh550s. i compare it to a Porsche Cayman fast and fun and when people see my red tires and tape it draws attention. when i bring the sarthe out its like a Porsche 911 turbo, a little bit faster, alot of fun, and with the orange old school color scheme i get comments on it every time i go to the bike store.

my track bike is going to be dedicated strictly to track racing. it is going to be the flagship bike for Team Formaggio. COMING SOON!!

smellygary

There are so many different kinds of bikes available to us now, at so many different levels of quality. A generation ago, most bikes cost less than $100, and "good" bikes were $150. Then the next big step was $250! Wow! Only real racers had those! Most of us would up grade our $150 bikes one part at a time, when we could afford it. We'd ask ourselves, "Go on a date with my sweetie, or buy that part at the shop?" Hmmm.....Then we'd go to the shop and find out it would cost the equivalent of 4 or 5 dates! Criminy.
But there would always be one jerk around that had the nicest bike--you know, the special one from the shop downtown--at school, work, where ever. And he liked to tell everybody about it too. Always thought he was real special. Until the day he challenges the wrong guy to a race through the hills, and he comes rolling in a half hour later. The bike gets relagated to leaning against the wall in the garage, and is sold a year later by his dad when the kid is off at college. It happens over and over again, at every age level. People are in love with the bike, not with riding it.

For me, is it jealousy? No. Just like I'm not jealous of Ferraris, mansions, or bimbo trophy wives. I have a 10 year old Subaru, a 60 year old ranch-style house, and a wife that loves me. (Which is probably more than I deserve!)
As far as my bikes go, I lust after Sun Tour Superbe front and rear derailleurs for the bike I've been riding since 1975, and I like long climbs that lead me to long descents for my newest (2003) aluminum with 105 bike. Somebody else can have the Madones.

Psimet2001 

Holy crap! I've never read a better definition of jealousy.

furiousferret

It's just the nature of people. I hear the same thing in surfing about old guys who buy all new stuff but can't surf...which is true, but why the hate?

More often than not its jealousy, and the fact people feel you need to 'earn' equipment.

urbanknight

Penis envy

dauphin

I guess I'm lucky. I have beginner stuff and am learning to ride at an older age. I just stay out of everyone else's way. No threat here, I guess.

Pasqually

You get what you pay for, same as in anything.

Cycling was never an inexpensive sport as long as I can remember. In my teens (20) years ago, all we did was make fun of each others low grade bikes and parts. Always wanted and pushed each other to get the best. Seems strange to try to make people feel ashamed of buying the best or most expensive they can get.

Why stay at the same old level, wouldn't you strive for the top?

cyclezealot

Because others do not know when your business is not their business. Jealously. It's your money, do what you want. If you are sure you are gonna get into this sport, congratulations.
I took a risk when I bought my dive gear. A new sport. I was going to have the best gear I could afford. same goes for cycling. Don't want cheapo stuff when your life depends upon it. (Scuba.)
Don't let others bully you. Buy the gear you need, based on your needs.

HAMMER MAN

if you have the bucks spend the money and get what you really want.
Now who really gives a damn what others think!
I sure don't

Treefox

I feel like I actually get the opposite of this - - being a poor grad student, I ride an early '90's 531 steel Peugeot. I always get positive comments when I show up to races or rides with it - it's well maintained and has a smattering of nice components on it (Ultegra brake pads! Wheee!). Old timers come up and talk about how they had one like that back in the day. I've even raced it in a TT against guys with wild Cervelos wearing skin suits and aerodynamic helmets - I get totally destroyed, but everyone still comes and complements my bike and I get a lot more credit than if I'd placed better with a more expensive bike.

I joke that I'm keeping alive the dream of the 1988 Tour de France - I even just got a really retro jersey to match!

One of these days, when I get my lazy ass out of academia, I'd like to get myself something pleasant and 105-ish, but I've test ridden a few bikes and I don't like the feel of aluminium... and all the handlebars are too wide for my liking.

curryjc

I like the comment on guns. When I am at the range. I let other people shoot my guns so they know how to shoot that paticular or unusual gun. I get the most laughs when I get out my Weatherby 300 mag and Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .454 Cassul. They are never ready for the power those two guns generate.

As for cycling I tend to ride alone in the country, so far I haven been dropped by the jogger.

When I went in to get a bike. I was serious about biking since my friend leads tours and loves to ride. I bought a mid grade Pilot 2.1 and then upgraded most of the components. I always belive you get what you pay for. Buy it cheap and all that money you saved will go into fixing your bike. Mine is a great bike at 2200 and is sure to last me a long time and be very dependable. Also my shop does a though check every three months and maintenence for one year. An I live in a small town.

Sure do like the look of the Cervelos though.

-VELOCITY-

When I first started riding I laughed at my brother in law because he had a $1300.00 Giant, a cycling jersey, padded shorts, cycling shoes, and pedals. I rode a $50.00 hand me down Mongoose MTB that belonged to my sister. I asked him why he needed all that stuff to go riding. I would tease him all the time never realizing that jealousy was somehow in the back of all those sentiments. I'm glad I got over it. Now I have my own road bike, and all the other stuff I thought was silly. And now I always like to find friends who don't ride much and try to get them more into it. It's funny when they ask me if all the gear is necassary. I just tell them, keep riding and you tell me what you think in a few months. It's amazing how they end up getting all the gear too. Let's not be jealous of others or worry if others are jealous. Let's just ride and have fun. Nothing else really matters. Not to me at least.

curiouskid55

I didnt buy my bike for the rider I was at the time. I bought my bike for the rider I knew I would become in a few years. I am still working to outride my bike and it hasnt happened yet. It is a great motivator to work harder, longer, smarter.

Psimet2001 

Truely it is jealousy that spurs on this kind of activity. I find it usually comes from "younger" participants in our sport who both are struggling to find an identity for themselves in the world, and who haven't learned basic laws of economics yet...

I've always admired good gear. I spent most of my life not having it. I always noticed the older guys with money buying great rigs and doing little riding, but I always liked them. I guess I somehow knew that when they spent that kind of money it helped drive the industry and that all of us would benefit.

Now that I have good gear, and help push the industry with my money I find I run into the shop "kid" (I'm still young enough to be considered a kid - 31) that eyes my energy storage cell (spare tire) when I ask for something high end. I usually find myself starting a conversation to establish my war-record of near 20 years in the sport kind of like saying, "hey...I EARNED the right to buy nice stuff." Stupid, but human nature I guess.

One thing you will find though is that this kind of resentment and jealousy only exists in young males. It's part of the machismo of them trying to establish a place in the world. Kind of like, "oh Yeah! I may not have enough money to buy nice gear (read "I don't think I have enough money to attract a nice mate"), but I can drop his butt in 2 seconds (read "but I am in good enough physical condition that I should be found desireable to a mate")" ...damn biology.

If you find it existing in older males then there is a name for this condition..."Retro Grouch".

Ant

If buying a nice bike makes you ride it more often then how can it be bad?

smellygary

Truly its not jealousy.

And actually, its not our money that drives the bicycle industry to make better bikes, its Lance and USPS that tells Trek they want a better bike, hence the Madone. Just at the "improvements" in cars come from NASCAR, Formula 1, the feds, and automotive safety organizations, not from consumers. "Improvements" in weopons come from the military, not from citizens. "Improvements" in building construction come from architects and the government, not from consumers.

31 years old, huh? I bet when I was 31 I thought I knew everything also. Just like I think I know everything now, but twenty years from now I might look back at today and think, "You sure were a stupid f@#$ back then in 2006, Smelly!"

Truly its not jealousy. Its just the knowledge that I don't need a Madone, so I don't want it. Its maturity that tells some people that they don't need to go out and buy the most expensive bike they can find to enjoy bicycling. I've been waiting for 30 years for those ST Superbe F and R derailleurs. I guess Cyclones will just have to do in the mean time.

FormerBMX'er

Personally I don't care, I just think the expectations of performance are higher. I'd rather be at the sharp end of the group on mid-range roadie than be the guy getting dropped on the technical marvel.

caligurl

both..... and like you said.... why should anyone care how i spend MY money?


*guilty as charged*.... i'm a recreational rider on one of those expensive bikes.... who does it REALLY hurt? no one!

merlinextraligh

Obviously anyone can spend their money anyway the want, but if you're a true beginner and spend $8,000 on a bike, I think you have the potential of making yourself look a little silly if you don't take the time to learn a few basics of how to ride it, and maintain it. I did a cycling training camp with a guy on a Campy Record equipped Pinarello with an SRM power meter crank, and Zipp wheels, that did not have the most basic idea of how to change a tire. I think most of the group thought he looked somewhat silly.

If you're going to ride, and use it and can afford it, go for it. If you're buying it just to have it, and don't intend to learn to ride it, I don't think that makes a lot of sense, but its your money.

FatguyRacer

Jealousy.

Let me tell you, if i had the cash, my beater would be a Colango Ferrari with the lightest parts and wheels money could buy. Since I dont, i'll have to settle for being happy with my 8 year old IF.

Psimet2001 

OUCH! Looks like I hit a soft spot there Smelly...I move to exhibit "B"

Hope you find those 30 year old derailleurs. Try Cycleartist. He sells a ton of retro parts and has a huge inventory. 5 minutes and a C-note should get you hooked up.

badkarma

I'm a little skeptical - a 2mph difference on the flats from an Orbea to a BMC? Are you sure the BMC isn't fitted better for you as compared to the Orbea?

FatguyRacer

I have an early Shimano Crane that im willing to part with.

merlinextraligh

I think the difference is either 1)enthusiasm, or 2) improving fitness. I could do 10 miles on my steel road bike with 32 spoke wheels, and then on my $6000 TT bike with Zipps and not come up with a 2.75mph difference.