Could be alot cheaper I guess TBF but then it wouldn’t be as much fun.

so because you have spent more money than me your having more fun?

6 – 10 sets of brake pads average per year

😯

if you want to save some money try letting go of your brakes at some point during your rides 😆

I think the most expensive bit for me is petrol to drive somewhere good to ride. Luckily I now work just down the road from Woburn so I can go after work which saves a bit of petrol 🙂 If I had decent local riding it’d be pretty cheap I guess, though stuff does always seem to break and need replacing, particularly drivetrain stuff.

Two words of advice for you…

Eight Speed

😉

3 full drivetrains per year at 200 quid a go

chain-£20
cassette-£50
chainring-£35

what else are u wearing out?

6 – 10 sets of brake pads average per year

what brakes you running? are the pads even worn when you take them out?
how many miles you doing a year? i had a hope m4 techs that had done about 2400 miles on the standerd hope pads and when i got rid thay still had about a quarter pad life left in them a lot of the milage was done on the road but at least 500 miles off road

Cassette about 50, chain prob 30 – 40, usually 2 chainrings 60 – 70 for both.

Brake pads are variable. I went through a new set of pads in 4 laps of the Bonti 24/12 last weekend! Couldn’t believe it particularly when prob 1/3 of those laps were pushed! Pad use depends on the trail surface though surely. I’d be lucky to use 2 sets of pads per year in Aus but they last about 6 to 8 weeks around here. I ride south Wales.

so because you have spent more money than me your having more fun?

Dont be argumentative. Most of the money I spend is on fuel cause I like riding different stuff every weekend. If I didn’t then I would have less fun. How much fun you have riding your local trails all the time is up to you.

if you want to save some money try letting go of your brakes at some point during your rides

My aim in life is to become as awesome and gnarcore as you one day. Unfortunately I am none of these things. 😆

Brake pads are variable. I went through a new set of pads in 4 laps of the Bonti 24/12 last weekend!

I’d suggest there’s something amiss with your brakes. I did more laps than that at the same event and my pads look completely untouched. Given that it was such slow going that they pretty much were untouched for the weekend, that wasn’t a surprise.

I used to ride a mountain bike in the Lakes that cost me £140

That was something which amazed me last week in The Lakes. The vast majority of the bikes I saw were what most on here would class as a ‘pub bike’, yet they were obviously well used and the owners appeared to be quite happy with them.

Apart from the odd road bike, it wasn’t until I went to Grizedale that I saw a few that were of the ‘oooh that’s nice’ variety and even there, many were low end and old.

So, in answer to the OP, it obviously can be a cheap sport.

This is an amusing thread.

watsontony, when you’ve finished, PinkBike is over here

GW, vid was to show that folk raced fairly big stuff on rigid or really short travel HTs BITD and thus the OP doesnt necessarily ‘need’ his Stinky in the same way he says we don’t need our 4-5K+ bikes.

All relative innit.

watsontony

get over it, people buy the bikes they like, not the bikes that somehow fit into your definition of appropriate for their ability. If you mate wants to buy carbon cranks then good for him, I hope he enjoys their carbon lovelyness, you’re right though they won’t make him a faster or better rider, but then that’s not what it is about for some people….

Just like shoes, clothes, watches, jewellery, houses, cars, BBQ’s, fridge freezers, bikes, roller blades, skis, boats, golf clubs, cricket bats, tennis rackets, cutlery, computers, mobile phones, pens, sofas, wallpaper etc etc.

How much other people spend on their bike is an abhorrent thing to judge a person by as they ride past you or vice versa.

and FWIW, your £300 – £350 bike is considerably more expensive than one of the ones I ride on a regular basis, am I allowed to be smug and condescending to you now?

It can be, and should be, what YOU want to make it. Expensive or not. But behind that obvious statement is an industry that is in popularity/ rip off mode. The ability to part fools from their money is obvious in every CP at every weekend. But who cares, it’s up to individuals to decide how and where they spend the fruits of their labour!!

Bit harsh about the sneering and condescending though – doesn’t everyone have a secret bit of glee at nipping past a highly specced rider at some stage!?! It’s like swimming past someone at a much lower stroke rate and effort level 😉

Bit harsh about the sneering and condescending though – doesn’t everyone have a secret bit of glee at nipping past a highly specced rider at some stage!?!

nope, I have a bit of secret glee at overtaking someone when I am trying harder than them, the spec level of their bike has nowt to do with it.

how well specced a bike is has no bearing on their skill or fitness so why would you even care?

I’m just curious as to what my abilty level should be, as I have 2 bikes, one is a cheap steel singlespeed DJ bike built from spares and bargains from the classifieds. T’other un is an all singing all dancing 160mm boutique(ish) frame with all the finest parts hanging off it.

Should I ride crap on the DJ and ace on the 160mm?

or, just do as I do and have fun on both, cause I can, not worrying about folk with a chip on their shoulder?

Seeing as we’re willy waving on how cheap we can replace drivetrains for, I reckon I could replace the DJs for £30. The 160mm? RRP is over £400. Woo. Go me.

Because I am an inferior human being, obviously 😉 he says responding to the slightly condescending tone 😉

GW, vid was to show that folk raced fairly big stuff on rigid or really short travel HTs BITD

didn’t do a very good job though, as the argument was that DH tracks are a lot gnarlier now, which your vid seems to illustrate perfectly..

I’m sad to say that I can’t join in the debate about the feeling that you get when you pass someone.. 😳

he says responding to the slightly condescending tone

sorry, genuinely wasn’t meant to sound condescending – hard to get across tone online, I guess what I was aiming for was mild bewilderment.

I just really don’t get why some people seem to think the money spent on a bike is in some way relational to the skill of the rider, other than thinking that someone who spends a lot, rides alot, therefore must be good, and there are a lot of (often incorrect) assumptions in that.

get over it, people buy the bikes they like, not the bikes that somehow fit into your definition of appropriate for their ability.

This. If folk want to spend a small fortune on their chosen sport/hobby then good for them. It’s good for the economy anyway.

If my neighbour decided to deck himself out in the latest high tec walking equipment.. goretex jackets, trousers, utility belts and posh boots etc..

but then only ever walked to the shop for his milk 2 minutes away then I have to admit I would have a bit of a chortle 😀

If my neighbour decided to deck himself out in the latest high tec walking equipment.. goretex jackets, trousers, utility belts and posh boots etc..

but then only ever walked to the shop for his milk 2 minutes away then I have to admit I would have a bit of a chortle

pretty much sums up what im saying.

amedias – Member
he says responding to the slightly condescending tone
sorry, genuinely wasn’t meant to sound condescending – hard to get across tone online, I guess what I was aiming for was mild bewilderment.

Understood and ditto (hence the smileys), but posts can easily get misinterpreted in the sense of intended tone!! My bewilderment comes from how much people are prepared to pay for a couple of wheels that are going to get filthy on the side of a mountain. This is in a non-judgemental way – just different priorities. The thought of trashing several £k’s of kit makes me feel uncomfortable, hence I ride my old HT instead. Still get occassional bike envy though!! 😉

The rest of my post was a little tongue-in-cheek and really goes back to races and more specifically triathlons. Walking into transition for the first time with a middle of the road, road bike is a daunting experience when surrounded by large amounts of aero bling. But it becomes very uplifting when the bikes are still on the racks as you enter T1 and even better when they are not there in T2!! 😉 Kind of a warm feeling that you can still compete despite inferior kit. In a silly way, the same applies to MTB (at least for me). Perhaps that is just a simple excuse for me being a tight a*** and not spending money on myself!!