In amongst 3 bikes worth a small fortune and adorned with the latest expensive kit, I have a crossbike I bought off ebay for £180 quid, decked out in 8 speed sora and brakes that barely work. Its my favourite, and the one I look forward to riding the most…

is this normal?

Perfectly normal in my experience not sure why though,

It probably stems from you knowing if you crash/drop/explode it, then you won’t have lost too much. On an expensive bike, it must at a subconscious level, be on peoples minds that one errant stone could knacker their £600 forks 8)

…this is probably bullshit.

I reckon it might be because when I go out on the expensive bikes I feel I need to get best use out of them, ie hammer down the downs on the big bike, push as hard as possible on the ups on the roadie etc etc..

this afternoon I’m going to get out on the crosser for a pootle on the canal path…it’ll be slow and relaxing…

Perhaps, because you expect so little of it you aren’t thinking about how the bike is riding, but rather about riding the bike?
It’s easy with expensive bikes to get caught up in paying attention to whether it’s all working as well as it should do and concentrate on how the suspension feels, or how the gears shift, or what that noise is and completely spoil a good ride on a really nice bike.

My favourite bike is also my most expensive build.
Just right for me,fun to ride and always brings a smile.
It’s a mountain bike ,the idea of worrying about crashing or scratching it seems a bit daft.
Bikes are for riding. 🙂

I think overspeccing things can spoil them too, there’s something very satisfying about a bike, or anything else that is exactly fit for purpose with nothing extraneous. I think it’s part of the reason that 1x drivetrains are appealing.

It’s easy with expensive bikes to get caught up in paying attention to whether it’s all working as well as it should do and concentrate on how the suspension feels, or how the gears shift, or what that noise is and completely spoil a good ride on a really nice bike.

Agreed. Could substitute ‘expensive’ for ‘complex’. Enjoy riding for what it is, it’s not really about the kit once you’ve got the basics sorted.

If its your favourite you may as well sell the others (to make way for newer more expensive bikes)

If its your favourite you may as well sell the others (to make way for newer more expensive bikes

now this I like

My favourite bike is the only one I own 😉

If its your favourite you may as well sell the others (to make way for newer more expensive bikes)

True .. usually an expensive version of that cheap simple bike you liked in the first place )

bike that gives most smiles per mile was s/h from a mate, £75 for a bit more than f+f. Still keeps on giving, 6-7 years later.

It’s because you bought the wrong expensive bikes…

I’ve settled on a 3 bike garage, 2 of which are cheap and cheerful and get used more than any bike I’ve had in 6 or 7 years

charge cooker 29er ss that was £300 for here secondhand (probably £450-500 ish when I added the second hand uno’s Thomson bits and king headset off my cutis and sold the OE stuff)

cannondale caad 8 sora that I built from used and cast off bits for about £300