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[Closed] Fighting "shiny new stuff" syndrome

bobnstuff · 2018-11-02T15:44:59Z

Hi, So I’m new on here but thought I’d pose a question for the STW collective. I’m a long time mountain biker (25 years) and it’s always been a big part of my life. Met a large proportion of my closest friends through it, and even my partner through a mountain bike ride. It's safe to say I’ll be riding off road in one form another as long as my body allows me to (and subject to a working bike) and my question is this: Due to the usual things (kids, mortgage etc etc), my financial situation means I can’t afford a new bike. Ok, no problem, my old bike still works (even though it’s 26" so I'm not sure how long I’ll be able to keep it running actually) and I always finish solo rides with a smile on my face. Great. The thing is that I also enjoy keeping up with MTB stuff on the interwebs too, which means bombarded with "you need this new / shiny thing" all the time. My head says "don't get caught up in all that, it's all marketing guff", but my heart says "you need a new bike", which means that I get really, really frustrated with having an old, obsolete wheel sized bike. This is compounded when I go out riding with others - that frustration raises its head again as I now tend to be the only one on an old 26" bike. I’m not fussed by being the quickest or whatever and I know a new bike won’t make me a better rider, but I guess it’s just feeling a bit rubbish about riding an old "obsolete" bike. I can’t bring myself to get into debt for the sake of a new bike (not fair on the family), and I know the logical thing is to either 1) choose a cheaper hobby/passion or 2) just steer clear of the mtb media outlets like STW/Pinkbike etc and just ride (mainly solo!). Unfortunately logic can’t win this for me as firstly I’ve been "into" mtb’ing far too long to not read about it on the web, secondly a large chunk of my social life revolves around it (e.g. going for a weekend ride is always a good way to get my old mates together who are scattered across the country which would be more difficult without the excuse of a riding weekend) and lastly my kids are getting into riding too, which is ace. Who wouldn’t want to share their passion with their kids? So, how do others fight the "shiny new stuff" syndrome (if they do at all, I know a lot of people don’t need to fight it? Thanks if you’ve read this far, I’m just curious to hear others people’s thoughts.

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jonnyboi

Posts: 3073

Free Member

I think the bike I most regret selling is my 2012 26” wheeled trance that had a 140mm fork upgrade. It would be interesting to see how that now feels to ride after being on more modern stuff for a few years.

Although, I swapped bikes with a guy on a 2007 or 08 for a spell last week and it was reminder of all the bad things we’ve left behind.

Posted : 04/11/2018 8:42 am

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