[Closed] am i missing the point??

I've just had a lovely piece of steak, with some chips, mushrooms and baked beans.

Discuss:

[img] [/img]

So, why do your parents need a house?

good post there Alpin

Can't wait to take my £3.7k carbon baby to Leith when it arrives in the next couple of weeks, so I can be assessed by the self appointed ability/cost police! 😉

haha if your shit, i would ask my self if i need such a bike or a argos special would be just as adequate.

but yes like most say, if you have the money then why not even if you get laughed at by a lot of people thinking what a ****!

funny place this 😉

if you have been to leith hill you will see, you wont need to drag your brakes if you have a slight bit of ability! but hey.... its normal

Nick_Christy - Member

johnbot, if u dont like the thread then **** off??

haha o thanks for your er....... input

Forget that bollocks; boring now.

Now, back to Pop Art...

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To be honest, I think a lot of people will be reading this and thinking what a ****! About you and you're yet to swing a leg over whatever you ride, good night.

I don't begrudge anyone having too much money - although I'd prefer they deserved it, rather than fluked it.

Double standards ahoy though, as I'd love to win the lottery and never do a days work again (that wasn't of my own choice). I do alright, but if I had daft amounts of cash, I'd buy all sorts of overspecced stuff that I didn't really need.

haha if your shit, i would ask my self if i need such a bike or a argos special would be just as adequate.

No, see if you're shit, a good bike is much more likely to get you out of trouble than a rubbish one. Trust me, I'm shit 😀

I've got a mate who'll come riding on an ht from the early 90's and be quicker dh than anyone else there. If we swopped bikes he'd get bored waiting at the bottom...

its about the bike you want not the one you necessarily need.
its the size of the smile that counts

Well you're all shit because none of you know nothing about art. 😥

Surrounded by Philistines, in a cultural desert....

I've seen an old mate tonight who used to ride with us 4 or 5 years ago. He'd come out on a Big Hit with not enough seatpost showing and single ring up front. Any raised eyebrows and thoughts of wrong bike for purpose were quickly dispelled at the first climb when he trounced everyone.

Whatever you feel good on is the point here.

It's percieved wisdom.

Last week I and a pal went to Cannock Chase.
A 26er HT would be the weapon of choice IMHO, although I was on a 4in FS. He was on a 4 or 5 inch Scott FS.

Now said frined has it in his head that more suspension is everything. His skills are ok, his fitness is poor, he wear all his clothes every ride & wonders why he's overheating, his ride- knowledge is poor.
His comment: "I would like to do that again with a 6 inch travel bike"

Now STW is missing the icon: "head. bang. wall"
But that's what I have been trying to ride out of him, that a HT is the best choice for most trails unless you are injured or are taking on black grade trails.
But he doesn't get it at all. It'd be lighter and therefore easier to ride too, but no, a 5-6 inch FS is everything he really, really needs.

This then travells downwards, so his 9yr old son has a 32+lb FS kid's bike. Lunacy.

Head. Bang. Wall.

Anyone who was really good at riding would be in bed by now.

Now I've just written that on a computer that's worth about 150 quid at the most, but it was better than the OP's.

Anyone who was really good at riding would be in bed by now.

sheeesh 😉

in which way do i have a chip on my shoulder again... because i ask why people buy the bikes of £3k and ride on a road or pavement type trail (the ones i had asked at leith hill).

only wanted what these people with the bikes thought. not people who dont even have them....

do i want you to justify the big bikes...nope.

i personally am happy with my new bike i bought and i go on holiday also instead of buying a £2k bike. so for me its not important or nessasary to spend that much on a bike and after the chat i had with some guys at leith hill i thought i wouldon ask here too...

obviously have to be carefull so that some tin pot harrys dont take offence to a question they dont approve of or find jealous

just out of curiousity the people who think i have a chip or people who took this thread in the wrong way. who actually owns a £3k bike?

😉

3k? Pfffft, I'm not riding some cheap POS. 🙄

just out of curiousity the people who think i have a chip or people who took this thread in the wrong way. who actually owns a £3k bike?

dunno - can't be bothered to add it up

What really gets my goat is people spending shed loads of money on clothes
Only last night I was out in my £5 Primark jeans & 99p T shirt
Believe it or not, there were people doing nothing more than walking down the street in £100 jeans - I ask you?

Nick...I did a weeks guided riding in Austria, its was XC orientated with singletrack descents etc, so apart from the 'big hills' I'd say it was less technical than UK trails. I was there for the big views/new places/riding with mates etc so enjoyed it hugely. Obviously all six of us took our shockingly expensive full sussers, because they are fun to ride and more comfortable for long days in the saddle. (we only used a couple of lifts, most days we rode up as well as down)

Say you wanted to replace your hardtail with a full sus for a bit more comfort on long days/skill compensation on descents. You want the same quality components and a bike that is a similar weight, you are heading for £1500. Choose a lighter set of wheels (for going uphill, nothing to do with skill) and you will find yourself with a £2k bike.

I don't think it matters about skill v ability of the bike. If we all bought a bike that suited our ability (or as you say 'a little under') then we'd all be replacing our bikes every six months. When you are spending £2k or £3k on a bike you normally expect it keep it for a few years.

And many of us haven't gone out and spent thousands. I haven't bought a full bike for about 10 years (with the exception of a heavily discounted Kona Explosif for about £600). My last full bike was a GT i-drive 4.0, (can't remember the year but it was reduced as GT had just gone bust/been sold) until recently I was still running odds and sods on current bikes. I bought a set of forks one year, wheels another, a frame upgrade here, before you know it you have a blingy full sus with a replacement value of £2.5k, good grin factor and I don't give a shit that I'm only using 50% of its capabilities on the downhills. (or you overtake me on your heavy and lifeless crappy hardtail) [i]Tongue in cheek comment btw...just making assumptions like yourself :)[/i]

I have 2 bikes of +- 2k value each and I ride them because I cant afford 2 bikes of 5k value each. Oh- and I live in Surrey.

People with money will spend it how they see fit.

People with top of the range Ferraris, Porches, AMG Mercs: do they track-day them? Not many!

Because a neighbour has a Cayanne Turbo (£70k+?) does it mean she is happy to drive in the deep snow? No she leaves it at the bottom of the road when it's icy. She has not the first idea what it can do, on track or off road, & I'd wager you that goes for 90% of the people who buy such performance cars.

If you apply the same criteria, how many reading this post have actually taken their cars & / or m'cycles on track days? Bikers tend to do it more readily, but if you have a car why haven't you taken it to a track day to exploit it's full potential, no matter that it's a Focus, Mini, or a Passat?

Hmmmm... I wonder if this same logic applies to ugly people and expensive clothes? Or maybe thin people and expensive food? 'Cos after all, how can a skinny person really be that good at eating?

;o)

Aren't we missing the bigger point that these talentless middle aged wannabes are making the sport look so uncool?

Well the OP haven't reply to my post yet. How strange.

As someone who is regularly the slowest rider with my local group (only goes on the newbie rides after 2 years) very unfit & quite a latecomer to all things bike related hopefully I can shed some light on your quandry. I got a £600 hardtail for my 30th, rode it for a month and then got bitten by the riding bug and have lost track of the amount of "essential purchases" I have made! From discussions with guys I ride with and gleaning info from forums such as STW established that generally the best course of action when buying a bike is to spend as much as you can afford. I have applied this to my last 3 bike purchases. Now, none of them improve my riding but I do enjoy riding them and maybe they give me a false sense of security and the confidence to do things I wouldn't on my ht. It could be a placebo effect but if it works I'm happy! As for why I bought a £3k bike?

1. Wife said I could
2. I wanted it.
3. I can afford it.

Simples

if you apply your logic to anything in life we would all be wearing, driving, eating etc etc the same stuff. Sometimes function doesn't have to precede form.

There it took a long time to get there but .... Well sorry about that!

Cubeboy you say that 'none of them improve my riding' - that knowledge alone rules out the placebo effect you later talk about...

Gosh, I hadn't realised that "everybody is laughing" at me! I shall have to pay more attention next time I'm out, instead of really enjoying myself, lost in the moment of riding one of my lovely bikes - £60, £600, £6k, it doesn't matter, like Jedi said, it's the size of the grin that counts.

Yes, you [i]have[/i] missed the point, and I'm sorry for you that you feel the need to waste precious riding time worrying about how much other people's belongings cost.

Just get out and ride! (As the saying goes)

I'm rather suprised that it hasn't been pointed out yet (or I just missed it)

Steve Peat or several other top riders could ride your £600 bike much faster than you, Nick. As such you're nowhere close to getting the best out of your bike so you're committing the same crime as the Surrey riders you so dislike/envy/pity/whatever. By your own rules you should be riding something a good but cheaper.

FWIW having also been out in the same area in the past (and sold several of these 2k+ bikes to the riders you
mention) my only issue is with the ones who don't actually seem to ride them and just stand around the carpark/Peaslake talking about their bikes. That does seem like a waste.

And btw I don't have any bikes over 2k though I did when I was younger, a student and fit.

That said, the bigger the more expensive bikes that are sold, the more secondhand bargins there are and in theory the cheaper bikes will be due to larger volumes...

In the folorn hope that [i]somebody[/i] may have higher interests...:

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A mate and I drove down to Holmbury Hill last weekend. Got our 'not cheap' bikes out of the car (Audi!). Bimbled about for a little while. Took the piss out of others' riding abilities. Went and had a cup of tea at Peaslake. Looked at other people's bikes a bit, grumbled about others on more expensive flashier machines being 'overbiked'. Came home.

We enjoyed ourselves! 😀

My bike adds up to around the £3.5 k mark. I'm 38 and not loaded, but do live in Surrey. It gets me to work everyday so save on petrol. I also ride the very trails you mentioned among others. I think it looks nice, it's comfy and without meaning to brag, I am pretty handy on a bike. Biking is what I do, no gym membership, no fancy car, no designer clothes, I don't drink much or go to fancy restaurants. I do however thrash the arse off my bikes and that keeps me happy. However, when I'm riding along the river with my wife and kids, no doubt some other mountain bikers will think 'look at that middle aged bloke on his flash bike - as if he needs that to ride along with his kids. What a nob'. Oh, and my watch is about £60, yet a £9 Casio would tell the same time and also fit on my wrist. What was the point of this again?

I think people shouldn't shirk from saying, "I'm wealthy and I have more cash than i reasonably know what to do with." or "I posses an irrational obsession with owning expensive mountain bikes which I'm unwilling to control".

There's nothing particularly wrong with falling into either camp. There's a lot wrong with pretending that you don't.

A mate of mine did a bit of work for a rich feller, painting his house. Noticed the bloke had a TOTR mtb sitting there, all clean and shiny. Apparently the bloke had ridden it (in town) a couple of times...

I used to obsess over kit. It had to be XTR, carbon, Ti, etc. I'm a better rider now, and I'm not that fussed any more. I don't have the money to spend on expensive bikes, nor the opportunity to ride them in places where I can attempt to do them justice. So I stick with whatI've got. I get as much pleasure riding my skip-rescue hack around town, tbh. It's not about the bike.

Bit if I had sufficient funds, then I've no doubt I'd splash it on something bling. Why not? I doubt I'd enjoy the actual riding any more, but a nice bike is a nice thing to have, if you can afford it.

TBH I don't really give a hoot about what someone else is riding, as long as they're enjoying themselves. Good luck to them.

The whole bike riding thing isn't essential (except maybe commuting) so we're all spending money we don't NEED to spend. If you want to see nature, you can walk but we love riding bikes and the stuff that comes with it. If you're so concerned about what other people are riding that you post on a forum about it, you probably need to enjoy yourself more...

Personally I quite like looking at the variety of bikes I see out and about in the downs or surrey hills. Everything from £50 BSOs to titanium and carbon dream machines. As long as the owner is smiling, it's all good.

ChunkyMTB - Member

Well I have some time for a few Alpine breaks this year, I'll ride with you and see how good you are. Then I can come on here and say you're good or really rubbish. Sort of like a willy waving exercise. Although I've never met a guide with your kind of attitude yet - so you may be the first to break the mold.

Hope you're fit now, I seem to remember you asking advice on some pretty basic things not long ago..

Hi Chunky,

Serious offer... you can join me in a few weeks time on a transalp, Tegernsee - Lake Garda. i need to have ridden the (new to me) route before taking guests out. If you make it over to Munich by May 20 you can join me on a 6-7 day ride (380km, 9,000m ascent). you can book a flight out of Venice, Verona or any other place near to Lake Garda, or alternatively travel back through the Alps to Munich. you'll need ~350€ spending money whilst there (overnight accom, food etc.). in fact, the offer stands to any STWer with a bit of time on their hands.

i'll be riding another route prior to guiding it at sometime in summer. if anyone is interested in riding across the alps, you're welcome to join me.

oh, and with regards to my fitness.... i don't think i've got too much to worry about. comparing myself to the other guides i think i shouldn't have too much of a problem. i have been out for 3/4 3-4 hour rides a week for the past ~6 weeks. just not enough climbing to be had where i am now.

my nightmare would be a group of lads - a club or some such - where they all train each year just for their transalp, are all super fit and like to challenge each other to reach the top of the climbs first (can you guide from the back of a group - best charge up the walkie-talkies).

dasnut - Member

I find clicking on the "member" nest to the users name, and seeing what threads they started quite illuminating, usually.

you've got me going back through my old posts now......
nothing too derogatory/nasty/evil in there, i thought.

so the questions is whats the point of spending £2k+ on a bike where the bike is soooooooooooo much better than the riders ability or the places people ride???

I always try to push my budget by another £500 or so just to piss off people like you.

I ride around Surrey Hills. My bike's probably worth a couple of grand but I don't feel overbiked (long travel hardtail).

However, surely being overbiked on Leith Hill means that you are not overbiked when you go away ad ride elsewhere?

Are you suggesting that people should have a variety of bikes? One for Leith Hill, One for Scotland, One for riding DH tracks? Many people may only be able to afford one decent bike and so they try to strike a balance - without sanctimonious c**t like you starting threads about it on a biking forum simply to feed their own egos.

Well alpin if you close to Nice let me know so I can take you for a ride. But only if you want to ride with a crap rider with a 2000€ mark bike...

Aren't we missing the bigger point that these talentless middle aged wannabes are making the sport look so uncool?

no need to get personal - i'm doing my best 😥

juan, i'm not upset that people spend lots of money on flashy bikes. just surprised they do so without much technical skill to complement their ride. maybe the cost of the TF Tuned shock would have been better spent on a skills day, or more time spent learning how to ride a drop before forking out for that FS frame that takes away an element of skill needed to ride certain terrain.

i too - like a poster earlier - blame the mags. "the perfect trail machine with 120mm front and rear..."
"if you're riding drops do XYZ to your rear shock..." arrrrgh! what if i don't have a rear shock? what if i only have a 100mm HT?

oh, and my bike cost more than 2000€ to put together. more like 2700€, i think.

i'm not near Nice (unless i get very lost). Germany, Austria and Italy is where i'll be riding.

oh, and something tells me you're not all that crap on a bike.

Alpin, one group god like rider is another group average bloke...

true. t'was a little tongue-in-cheek, juan....

When you buy wine do you buy the cheapest? because it gets you pissed like the rest of them.

NO so why should you buy a cheap bike because you have just started riding, maybe because it makes you feel good, gives you a smoother ride and gives you a big smile.

I work in Engineering and since i started at my current place of work i have got a few guys into riding they have all spent over a grand on bikes, First bikes because they appriciate the technology and work that has gone into them, only 1 of 4 got up the first climb at Dalby but everyone of them had an awesome day.

JOB DONE

thank you frizzer finally someone talking sense other than being stroppy

Stroppy is the best description I've ever heard on here 😀 nice one

[i]When you buy wine do you buy the cheapest? because it gets you pissed like the rest of them.[/i]

er.....yeah. 😆

HT riders buy cider in plastic containers 🙂

I know and seen riders on cheap hardtails shoot past full susser £2K jobbies.

Same on the roadbike- cheap giveaway steel 1960s roadbike, fit rider and pi55es over Trek £4K Madone.

Some will buy a nice bike because they can and why not.

Some are trying to better their riding ability as their ability is 5hite so buy full suss.

If I had a Ferrari-it would be used for Tesco shopping and the track.

Why don't we just buy Apollos? because we have choice and reason.

To think about why -life is too short.

haha... you have taken this completly out of context..

Are you suggesting that people should have a variety of bikes? One for Leith Hill, One for Scotland, One for riding DH tracks? Many people may only be able to afford one decent bike and so they try to strike a balance - without sanctimonious c**t like you starting threads about it on a biking forum simply to feed their own egos.

i said i was talking to people there [b][u]WHO ONLY RIDE AT LEITH HIL[/u][/b] WITH THESE BIKES

i didnt say if u was riding other places

donkey boy

How do you know they only ride at Leith Hill?

They might also ride in Epping Forest, Swinley and the woods behind Nationwide in Swindon.

nick, i don't think you're doing much to endear yourself to others on this forum. make observations and such but don't get all shouty whilst sitting up on your horse.

Are you suggesting that people should have a variety of bikes? One for Leith Hill, One for Scotland, One for riding DH tracks?

Following the logic of posters on here that taking an mtb off-road is like taking a performance car to a track session, then wouldn't you look a tool if you could only pootle around the track at 30 mph in a performance car with all and sundry overtaking you? It's kind of willy-waving in reverse ie - look at me even with all of this assistance I can still only manage this p!ss poor performance...

nick, i don't think you're doing much to endear yourself to others on this forum. make observations and such but don't get all shouty whilst sitting up on your horse.

Could be worse, Alpin. He could be advocating the gassing and burning of 'Undesirables'...

Wow, what a shocker.
Nick sees loads of 2 grand bikes being used on a weekend day in Surrey of all the places. Who would have thought it!

As for cheap wine:

[IMG] [/IMG]

Following the logic of posters on here that taking an mtb off-road is like taking a performance car to a track session, then wouldn't you look a tool if you could only pootle around the track at 30 mph in a performance car with all and sundry overtaking you? It's kind of willy-waving in reverse ie - look at me even with all of this assistance I can still only manage this p!ss poor performance...

Indeed, but it seems many people are quite happy to use "I'm rich" as an emotional backup in such situations.

[i]Nick_Christy - Member

i got a more expensive bike than £600 i was using that as a example of what we were all riding yday when i borrowed the bike from a friend.[/i]

You obviously don't need this more expensive bike then do you, you sanctimonious ****.

I suppose it's a bit like a kid wanting to dress up like an astronaut, a footballer or a superhero. If you've got the cash you can buy the mtb pro look.

That's mountain biking for you - you get the cool* look without having to work for it; no apprentiship required.

* replace the 'c' with a 't' as required.

You obviously don't need this more expensive bike then do you, you sanctimonious ****.

He does because he's a better rider than everyone he saw riding anything more advanced than a penny-farthing and also he shreds the gnar in the alps rather than the surrey hills. Apparently.

Well atlaz I could put up my experience of english riders shreding the gnar on the alps but then I am not sure a lot of people will like it...
On the other hand what would I know I ride a more than 660€ bike... 😉

"i said i was talking to people there WHO ONLY RIDE AT LEITH HIL WITH THESE BIKES"

How the **** do you know where they all ride?

In all the time I've been riding on the hills I have never come across anyone who solely rides on leith hill, or the Surrey hills in general. This leads me make the assumption that you're a complete ****ing tool.

Nick_Christy I ride a hardtail on the north shore in Vancouver, that makes you a pussy for riding a full suss in the alps 🙄

I have a Posh full Susser and a 456 that cost 300 quid to build. I might be a bit faster on the FS but not 1000 quid faster! I ride the 456 more, too (to work, out with the dogs..up the beacon from work)

So why did I buy it?

I bought it 'cos I thought it was pretty

shreds the gnar

I bought it 'cos I thought it was pretty

That's a bloody good reason to buy something, if you ask me!

Dancake wins! 😀

were these over biked people having fun? i think thats the only thing that matters!

I bought it 'cos I thought it was pretty

That's a bloody good reason to buy something, if you ask me!

Dancake wins!

+1

I also like "the wife said i could"

I also do as i'm told. 😆

My bikes cost me 3k (overs the years) now its worth about 300 SH.

Therefore one can wipp asses having spent 3k on a bike. or one can just buy a bike for 300 SH and still wup someones ass. So whether one spends 3000 or 300 one call still ass wipp and enjoy the wonderful sport of mountain biking.

So which begs the question if one can wipp an ass on a 3k bike and on a 300 quid bike.....why on earth would you pay 600?

So which begs the question if one can wipp an ass on a 3k bike and on a 300 quid bike.....why on earth would you pay 600?

Over to you, Mr Christy....

Very poor troll, but to stretch it to 4 pages takes the piss. 😉

Make it stop!

Sorry to rake this one up, but the answer has just come to me!!

Add up all the RRP's of all the bikes produced, divide by the number of bikes available to find the price of "a bike" and then have a massive skills session to see who gets what, best rider getiing highest RRP bike before they were all changed to be the same price!!

There's always a logical answer 😉

but surely the 'winner' of the most expensive bike doesn't need such an expensive bike as a skills compensator.....

Oh no, what have I done 😯

I should have kept quiet 😆

Can see your point yeah u have ur 600 quid bike i have my 2.5k stump fsr and yes u maybe a tad faster but ill guarentee you my spine doesnt feel like its about to snap or my muscles arent bunched up after 8-09 hours riding yes its far m0re than most of us need but ill also guarentee you that plushness the looks there worth every penny,also if you do wanna go crazy ull be left for dust on ur hard tail at the end of the day.i also ride a marin hard tail but 5" of full sus is just so plush why batter urself when u can ride a sofa

if you do wanna go crazy ull be left for dust on ur hard tail

not necessarily.....

Can see your point yeah u have ur 600 quid bike i have my 2.5k stump fsr and yes u maybe a tad faster but ill guarentee you my spine doesnt feel like its about to snap or my muscles arent bunched up after 8-09 hours riding yes its far m0re than most of us need but ill also guarentee you that plushness the looks there worth every penny,also if you do wanna go crazy ull be left for dust on ur hard tail at the end of the day.i also ride a marin hard tail but 5" of full sus is just so plush why batter urself when u can ride a sofa

Could Babelfish translate this? Any ideas? 🙄

you = u

i'd like to know how much time people save by not hitting those first two keys.....

I know and seen riders on cheap hardtails shoot past full susser £2K jobbies.

Same on the roadbike- cheap giveaway steel 1960s roadbike, fit rider and pi55es over Trek £4K Madone.

I'm sure this happens but I've never seen it. IME the opposite is usually true.