Lester, i totally agree. I couldnt give a monkeys what peoples views are based upon what you ride. It makes no difference to how much i enjoy my ride. It is a shame though that people judge or are judged by how much money they have spent, but unfortunately, i feel thats how modern society is.

If I want to ride my 6″ trave bike on the Verderers trail then I blooming well will. Why does anyone care??

Removing the “high” end kit from the grasp of mortals will only serve to slow down the trickle of technology to the general public and make the kit more expensive.

And we are all cr@p riders compared to the likes of Sam H or Danny M.

If you care what anyone else thinks of your bike or your handling skills you probably don’t ride it enough.

surely a 5k bike for someone earning 100k is infinietly more affordable than a 1k bike for someone on the dole.

Lets be honest, 3-4k isn’t a huge amount of money for a lot of people. I imagine folks who take issue with expensive bikes aren’t in such a priviledged position, so see things very differently.

Could it also be a confidence thing.
Having an uber expensive bike and knowing with 100% certainty that the bike will handle the type of riding you are doing, will encourage people to push a bit harder than they have previously?

Ha ha.. You seriously think being expensive ensures a bike will handle well?

I find quite a few riders become even more cautious when they finally buy their first uber expensive bike, especially now there’s so much carbon involved.

You’ve only got to look at how much heli tape some folk’ve applied.

Having an uber expensive bike and knowing with 100% certainty that the bike will handle the type of riding you are doing, will encourage people to push a bit harder than they have previously?

I really doubt this, look at all the nice bikes in the classifieds: no dints, scrapes, excellent condition etc. It would seem that having an expensive bike makes people afraid to crash them.

The point for me is that, for the vast majority of riders, a 20g saving on this, an almost indiscernible amount of extra rigidity on that, a 0.1% increase in potential speed etc is totally irrelevant as they are not chasing podiums. Therefore why pay £XXX for a bike when you could get the same fun for £XXX/2 or 3. It’s just a waste of money.

How many of the naysayers are in control if their own budgets and would be shot if they actually bought what they really wanted!!

I find quite a few riders become even more cautious when they finally buy their first uber expensive bike, especially now there’s so much carbon involved.

I am happy to try dodgy bits on my inbred. Worst happens and I wrap it round a tree or rock I’ll just buy another. £150, nae gears to worry about and mostly deore. My full suss I’d probably just sit down and cry as it would be nearly £1k for the frame and a lot more for any of the XT bits that snapped. Remember the first XTR mech I snapped, I bought XT after that.

Just cause you wrap a bike in helitape doesnt mean your a cautious rider…just prudent about possible future retail value…or OCD about aesthetics!

Kristoff, hats off chap.
How did you manage it?
Need a tale of someone else’s success to spur me on. 😕

It’s not about the affordability of expensive bikes it’s more that as you spend more bikes tend to become more focused on certain elements of riding at the expense of others. For newer riders who may not necessarily know what they want to pursue then it may hinder their enjoyment/development, a cheaper bike that is a better allrounder may be better to begin with for a bit and then spend what you want on the right bike.

Who cares what people ride, if someone wants to spend x on a bike, will so be it.

All that matters is people are enjoying been on their bikes!!

I hate Orange’s.. I’m not jealous as seems to be a constant comment in here. Far from jealous, I think they are good bikes. But they seem to be the “go-to” bike for people with a few spare quid, and in return you get a lot of whoppers riding them with little to no skill…

Takisawa2 – I used my fitness pal to keep track of my calories and just kept riding when I could.

In fairness prior to this year I was very lazy and had a really bad diet so it’s a big step change which meant the first 2stone came off very easily. After that just a steady plod of 1800calories a day and riding when I can 🙂

some of the ‘bling’ that goes out of our shop..no idea how its being ridden, hope they are enjoying their bikes though!

Ride what you like. Talent will always show.

people can, of course, ride/buy what they like.

But the truly valuable things in cycling – like talent, skill, fitness, toughness, and satisfaction – cannot be bought. They must be earned, through devotion, discipline and plain hard work.

^^^That TT bike is hideous.^^^

#fellouttheuglytreeandhiteverybracnhonthewaydown

The other 3rd one is much nicer.

#fellouttheuglytreeandhiteverybracnhonthewaydown

…and then got run over by the big ugly bus.

@ Spin 😀