[Closed] a loss of the urge for bling?

Nope, completely lost interest in the bling as well! Definitely something to do with getting old I think 😉

Nope.
But the bike industry hate you.

I think it's a "happy with what you've got thing". I'm perfectly happy with my 26" Anthem X and my 26" Inbred 853 SS. Bike and component tests don't hold any interest for me either.

I've paid a bit more attention to road bike tests recently because I was looking for a new "big mountains in Europe" bike. Now I've got one I can't see me spending much time reading about them. Until the next bike itch comes along.

Well I don't think I'm THAT old, but have pretty much decided that all the kind of bikes that are featured in tests, mags, online articles etc. are way more than I'll ever pay for a push iron.

It's interesting that upto £2500 bikes are dominating the poll on the from page right now. I hope this prompts Singletrack to focus more upto mid price-range tests for the mag in future, rather than the exotic wonderwheels that are often featured.

I know they do mix it up occasionally, but I think the balance is a skewed too far to the pricey end of the spectra,

I think it's a "happy with what you've got thing"

That about sums it up for me. I have all the bikes I need but they're not exactly bling or stuff someone wouldn't want to steal; they're just decent bikes fit for purpose.

I don't desire most new stuff but I still have an interest in where it's all heading.

I used to spend lots of my time in bike shops, and spent lots of money in them. Can't remember the last time I was in one, and don't even tend to pause to look in the window when walking past. It's not just you.

i have got to the stage, where if i do go in a bike shop, i will pick a item up, see the price, and put it down, walking away shaking my head in disbelief.

I did have this affliction until last night when I saw a brand new YT Capra CF Pro Race in the flesh and now I"ve got the itch again.

It was nice wasn't it

Don't worry, you are completely normal. I now ride a fully rigid singlespeed bike all the time, everywhere and enjoy riding as much as ever. couldn't care less about the latest bike bling, IT ADDS NOTHING !!!.
welcome to a far more enjoyable, less guilt ridden stage in your bikeing.

Ton... Yes.

Love my 26 camber. I am super fit (ish) so it's awesome passing all the 29ers enduro **** 650b **** carbon **** boys / girls on the trails in swinley. Even better when I take my fully ridgid 200 squid frankenbastard out. It's all bikes..... But twit me.... Bike stuff and bikes have gone silly now. I laugh every time I see a carbon bronson being carried over a small puddle (see that Weekly).... And before you holier than thou ball sacks start waving off.... I would love a bronson! Just cannot afford one.....but to be fair.... All the people I have seen on them cannot ride more than 50m before having to down the contents of their camel back and eat 8 energy bars (throwing wrappers on the floor). Grrrrr

Its now financial necessity

But to be honest I never really got it about anything after about the age of 20 (now 48)

It should work

I got to the end of a short ride today worried that something was up with the forks

I just thought could I manage with just a Genesis Longitude. I don't think me body can do single speed so that's as simple as I could go

+1 aracer

Possibly related to having less free time to ride now so just enjoy riding the bikes I have and would rather spend the money on other things than the latest new toy.

There comes a point when you realise that there is no correlation between how shiney your bike is and how much fun you have riding it.

Erm...

Erm..

Erm......

I'm the opposite.

I fiddle and faff with the bloody things all the time. Constant cleaning, lubing, fettling, changing Bar Tape, scanning tyres for cuts, endless brake blocks/pads de gunking. Almost, very nearly almost, changing tyres on a daily basis.

But then I have got the time ATM, so I think if I ride the bloody things hard all day they do deserve a LOT of TLC.

I do however take your point about LBS and stuff in there, hardly ever do I find something that's a) useful b) i need c) carry homeable on the bike.

Ohh hang on, I lost a rear light the other day so popped into Hargroves in Fareham to buy another, just for the 10k journey home on the road. So hey there you go, I contradict myself. 😆

yes, i just bought some deore brakes for my single speed, whereas a few years ago i would have to have xt. rather spend the money on going away somewhere nice to ride. dont buy loads of mags anymore as they were getting a bit samey. i have a hope laden full sus but i always seem to throw the single speed in the van when we go riding, and thats made from secondhand bits i had laying around, old tyres and so on (apart from my shiny new 70m quid brakes) and i love riding it.

I guess I'm a bit the other way. My bike is my only vice and I like trying stuff out. I don't spend huge amounts of money and tend to sell my stuff before if gets to the point of it being worth FA so it's minimal outlay to try something new.
I'd love to be able to afford a brand new bike but my old 2009, 26" wheeled bike is a plenty good enough bike for me.

I'm more on the fiddling with components rather than buying new bikes. Changing grips, stems, handlebars that sort of thing. If only I could find a jones h bar for a reasonable price.
Big on the low maintenence idea though, hub gears on 2 bikes and ridged forks.

Sat through a Shimano new stuff presentation a while back and dozed off during DI2 XTR. Jetlag mixed with a genuine lack of seeing much point in stuff like that. Nice for those that want / afford it though, I see a 6k bike and think it's cool that someone likes bikes enough to spend that much. Not for me though, I tend to trash/use my bikes a lot and it's almost too good for that? If you won't be upset to see it worn down and scuffed up it's all good. So not sure about bling but I'll pay good money for good kit that does what I want, lasts well and is serviceable. Quality and durability over tech.

yep, built up singlespeed with some 10 yr old hayes something or other brakes look like they are off a motorcycle, work great though with great modulation... dt5.1 rims, spesh bars and stem and some 2006 fox floats with a scratched stantions (some hamfisted fettling by yours truely). The whole thing rides lovely.

Got a hardtail on 1x9 that has every component just how I want & a roadbike that I'll never find the limitations of.
Now just concentrate on keeping them as close to 100% fettled as I can and ride them as far and often as I can.
Bling, bah 🙂

Yep, think it may be an age thing. I'm nearly 40 and just buy what I need as opposed to want I desire or what the industry tells me i need.

We live in an age where your smartphone is supposedly obsolete in 12 months as your iPhone 5 becomes the 5S, bikes that are no different to last years model are labelled as '14 and '15 purely based on paint scheme and command a ludicrous premium etc etc....

I find I get more satisfaction spending money on people and experiences/memories (holidays, dinner, night out) than just buying more stuff....also finding less appeal with sales pushing products at prices I used to struggle to resist until it dawned on me that there is ALWAYS a sale on somewhere!....it may not be where you usually shop but someone somewhere has what you want at sale prices, chill out there's no rush...by buying every bargain you see you'll end up with stuff you don't need and it becomes clutter.

i just buy top end/boutique and it stops the lust, simple

did the weenie phase, now prefer reliable

ton - Member
anyone else got this? is it a age thing?

new bike tests no longer grab my attention, i have no interest in the latest forks/wheelsets/bars/brakes or even clothing.
i dont want infinite trvel on a bike, i dont want any maintenance, i want to just get on my bike, go for a ride, and put it away until next time.
i dont want anything desirable that scrotes want to pinch.
i no longer even look at bike mags in WH Smiths.

am i odd?

I'm mostly this way now, took a few years but I really have no urge to spend on high end stuff anymore, as long as my bikes are fun to ride, durable and value for money, that's all I care about.

Plenty better things to spend money on.

Shame, as I get a good discount on stuff in my job.

anyone else got this?

Yup.
For me it was starting as an LBS mechanic that did it. I work on sooooo much low end stuff (I'm talking Acera level here) and it works brilliantly. It's cheap and effective.
For example I've bought 2 bikes recently that both retail at £850 and they're fantastic. Couple of cheap upgrades on each for convenience or comfort and they're spot on. Sora and SRAM X5 are ace. Why spend any more? 🙂

I thought so, but having recently totted up my 2014 bike related spending it would appear not! Having said that, it is all quality functional stuff rather than anything perticularly blingy or fashionable. Certainly don't have the shiny bike lust I had a few years back.

PeterPoddy - Member
...£850...Why spend any more

to get sealed bearings and light weight.

Tony, like myself, it's an age thing mate!!!

don't think it's age - i only just turned thirty.

I think the bike industry is too interested in tech and not enough in riding.

Acera is plop in my opinion. Tiagra is not bad.... Sora is the best bang for buck over 105 and ultegra****. Guess it's similar to mtb..... Deore brakes beat pretty much anything....... Except earlier deore. Slx again best bang for buck. XT more shiny.... Xtr pointless really to save a few grams. But pp get your point. If you can afford it I guess people spend.... More money equals better in a lot of people's eyes.

I was thinking this very thing this morning.

More interested in decent clothing and stuff that allows me to stay out longer and in more comfort.

I think the bike industry is too interested in tech and not enough in riding.

I think there is some of this. My trail bike for instance, it's nothing particularly fancy, an old alu HT frame, still 26", old KS dropper post, SLX and X9 run 1x10, I think the only carbon is the bars. It's really as good as I need it to be and a fun challenge to ride fast on the sorts of trails it gets used on. I don't think there's anything on it I want to change.

The race bikes on the other hand... 😉

Bikes are far more than just functional objects to me and are my one extravagance in life, so I do like quality stuff. But as time goes on - and as I can afford better stuff - I'm paradoxically questioning value for money a lot more.

I saved £3k to spend on a new bike / upgrading last autumn.

However, I ended-up getting a rigid steel 29er (Stooge), which I'm currently running singlespeed. Because I sold my old hardtail frame, forks and 26er bits, the cost to change was nil.

I still have an XTR 10sp drivetrain in a cupboard, which I'm struggling to find a reason not to put on eBay.

I'd rather have a bling SS that I know I will get maxiumum VFM from, than a bling full sus carbon dream machine that I will not get VFM from. 🙂

[i]"jameso - Member

Sat through a Shimano new stuff presentation a while back and dozed off during DI2 XTR"[/i]

Except that electronic shifting for mtb's is the biggest thing to hit the industry since droppers......but hey you guys in the biz snooze away

I was talking to somebody that had just bought a new bike to replace one he had got less than a year before, not a different bike just the latest model. I mentioned that I'd been thinking of getting a new bike with 3 years interest free credit to which he replied that he couldn't imagine keeping a bike that long. In his defence he has a good relationship with his local shop and he is a guide/coach so he needs a reliable bike but I just found it a bit depressing. I hate the consumer driven world we live in where people are obsessed with the latest shiny thing and things stop working or become obsolete in a couple of years.

I totally get where the OP is coming from, although if bling also means durable then I do draw a line.

About 5 or 6 years ago I stopped fiddling around with Retro bikes (my dream bikes from the early/mid 90's) when I realised that modern geometry and forks had come on leaps and bounds - and massively increased the fun factor of a ride (the advances in technology of modern lights for night riding also takes a lot of credit).
I then found myself fitter than ever and riding a Inbred 853 single speed - something I tried years prior and just didn't get.
Eventually I found myself on a 1x9 Soul with 120mm of super reliable Reba travel and knew I had found more bike than i'd ever need - and promptly stopped lusting over new bikes and bling.

Money has a habit of flying out of my wallet faster than I can ever make it, so I am super happy to have dialled in to a couple of bikes that I love.

Unfortunately I had to sell the Soul last year during a financial crisis but am now rebuilding my SS Inbred and cant wait to get back on the old reliable girl. I even dig the battle scars and shoddy paintwork now, to me the bike not only provides great times but also looks like it been through great times! - its liberating not worrying about scratches to paintwork etc.

So in summary - i'll buy bling brakes (for example) [b]IF[/b] they are known to be super durable, and I know i'll get years of good riding out of them. Otherwise I stay clear of the super bling reviews.
I do keep half an eye on new tech though. My riding has improved in the last few years mainly on the strength of certain advances in the industry.

: )
Winston, jetlag was part of it .. I don't spec any electric xtr either. Electronic mtb kit is top end niche kit for now, won't make any impact on most riders for a while yet. £400+ for a mech.. Very impressive but hard to compare in usefulness to a dropper or ust. I was much more interested in some other stuff they had. I made some notes and checked out the mock ups later, its now on bikes lined up for the summer.
I'd be rubbish working on high tech bikes, not what bikes are about for me and I think we do best with what we believe in and relate to.

to get sealed bearings and light weight.

What's the point? I'm 16 stone and can use a cone spanner!

Whilst I generally agree with most of what you post James and certainly have much less knowledge of the bike industry than you do (or indeed any love of bling - my bikes are a testament to that!), I think that electronic shifting for the masses will appear much sooner than most people think including a lot in the industry. I also think that compared to carbon saddles at £250 a pop and other nonsense it will offer a very real performance upgrade. I'd bet my bike on sub 2k full mtb builds with electronics within 3-4 years from mainstream manufacturers

£250 saddles? 🙂 DI2 on £2k mtbs in 3-4 yrs yes, I expect so. Maybe it'll be seen more widely on e-bikes by then, I think it's great for that.

i want to just get on my bike, go for a ride, and put it away until next time.

Currently my favourite bike is my Arkose. Minimal maintenance and great to ride.

i dont want anything desirable that scrotes want to pinch.

Agree with this. I haven't replaced my full sus bike for this reason

I'd buy cup & cone over sealed bearing hubs every time, but they don't come with shiny red anodising. 🙂

Been like that for the last few years Ton.
The rigid single speed was giving me everything I wanted from an (offroad) bike. The odd squirt of oil aside, its gone over a year without me needing to wield a tool in its direction, until I Knarded up the front last year.
Modern kit even started to bore me. 😐

But, a new bike arrives this week. My first FS bike for a few years.
Not sure where the decision to get a FS again came from, but I'm looking forward to some decent riding again this year.

I still like bike tart stuff these days but am a lot more selective about what I buy. I buy what I ride most so have just got a pickenflick to replace a 2004 Kona Major Jake

I've got to the point with mtb's that my bike has 26" wheels with 9 speed XTR and if I wanted to change to new stuff I'll have to replace the whole bike

Of course the fact that it works extremely well means I don't have to change it at all unless I believe all the marketing crap and buy a 650b.

I used to do the upgrade thing on MTBs but when you realise that what was a great bike one year is still a great bike the following year regardless of what else has come out or what fashion dictates what we should all buy

Although I might build a 650b trail bike (because I never have) using a 456 Carbon I have hanging in my garage....but then again I might not.......that's the joy of being an adult (my daughter may disagree with that) I can build what I want without worrying about what anybody else thinks

and breathe.........rant over

Think Di2 for MTB missed the boat somewhat - it makes a lot less sense for 1x11.

Self trimming front mechs and sequential shifting? No need.