Jesus sometimes posting on this site feels like arguing with autistic children.

My son is autistic and I find that offensive

because why spend 4k on whats pretty much a pro bike when a lot of pepole cant use them to what the bike is capable of. lots also think buy new parts will improve there riding and this is not always the case some/ most times its just lack off practice.

not sayin anyone on hear is like that. and if i had the cash i would probly spent it on bikes its more the pepole who give it a go on a 3k bike just annoys

I’m far from being a Pro so I get great satisfaction in knowing that my 5k DH rig will be able to take everything I can throw at it and much more.

bet all your parts are choosen on what looks pretty no matter what

I go through expensive periods and cheap periods. Currently it has been an expensive period but barring any damage causing crashes should be going into a cheap period.

Watsontony, So are you saying ones spending should be linked to their ability to use the product to it’s full potential?

Can’t be bothered to explain why that’s ridiculous. Anyone?

wel sort off unlees u have bottomless pockets and nothing better to spend your cash on, if your enjoy your riding thats all that really matter. them pepole just make me laff tho

There was a video a while back of a guy in Portugal doing huge drops and jumps and generally ‘pinning it’ on what looked like a £50 supermarket full suspension bike (until it snapped and he broke his neck).

Therefore you on your £300 bike are in fact woefully under-using it’s full potential too (unless you are doing huge stunts on it?). It’s all relative – not healthy to be too judgemental about other people IMO.

wasent trying to be judgemental. was just stating i think a lot of plp waste a lot of money to either compensate for skill or to simple try and keep up with the “jones”

grum

There was a video a while back of a guy in Portugal doing huge drops and jumps and generally ‘pinning it’ on what looked like a £50 supermarket full suspension bike (until it snapped and he broke his neck).

EDIT: I am too cynical.

Trust is a big thing for me. i will spend the money if for some reason or another i dont trust the bike anymore

Grum, didn’t that guy win a giant glory for that vid?

proper running is probably more expensive than mtb. a pair of shoes £60-75 every 10 weeks.

you could use nike mayflys to make it more expensive

The original Mayfly, named after an insect that would only live for one day, was designed to last only 100km or one marathon first used tear-resistant envelopes for the upper.

£80 quid a run

because why spend 4k on whats pretty much a pro bike when a lot of pepole cant use them to what the bike is capable of.

because 4k is **** all to some people?

wow for 80 quid you could defo get a taxi (even marathon distance)

because 4k is **** all to some people?

yep very true. i earn 220 a week so 4k to me is a hell of a lot of cash to be exact its 727 hours of work for myself

A broad range of costs from:

Low: Riding a second-hand rigid singlespeed on local trails

to

High: Maintaining a £4000 Carbon DH competition-level bike and driving to races all over the UK every weekend

But still cheaper than hobbies that involve engines!

But still cheaper than hobbies that involve engines

yep my dad used to race sidecars. the 2 weeks in the tt alone would cost 15k back in the late 90’s and he was a privateer the top teams were spending mega bucks

cheaper than hobbies that involve cameras or boats or car detailing or audio visual stuff etc etc

High: Maintaining a £4000 Carbon DH competition-level bike

wont get much if any change out of a frame and forks at the high end even for trail/xc riding

last frame i bought came with a receipt which included a fork and was 4400 euros (scalpel + lefty)

without the high end, there is no trickle down technology for the low end

without the high end, there is no trickle down technology for the low end

yes this is the best thing about plp with mega money to spend on mtb. and the second hand market is ace. you can buy top end products for cheap prices and half the time thay havent even REALLY been used and certainly not abused. although there is sum shit out there aswell

OP: by your logic if anyone ever overtakes you on a cheaper bike you should immediately stop them and hand them your bike, as they would be better equipped to use it than you!

it’s madness how much some people care about how much other people spend on things and use words like ‘justify’ and ‘potential’, especially when most of the time what they are actually looking at is how expensive the other persons bike *looks* most wouldn’t recognise and rate a royce-hubbed custom built yates or equivalent as costing more than their spangly 2012 FS bike.

it’s just bikes, buy the ones you like and can afford, ride them and have fun. As others have said its as cheap or as expensive as you want to make it.

by your logic if anyone ever overtakes you on a cheaper bike you should immediately stop them and hand them your bike, as they would be better equipped to use it than you!

who said that? not me. i just laff to my self think ha you have spent all that money and your still shit come on admint it you would be pissed off if you were riding you 4kdh bike and some little chav looking guy on his 150quid stinky (probly achally worth about 700) came rattling past. no one agree???

No.

No-one agrees.

Inverse snobbery at its worst.

really cant be arsed now so whatever you say. carry on spending your money to make youself “faster” and ill carry on riding my bike to make my self faster

Jealous that you don’t have the money to spend…?

😉

I know this sounds massively patronising, but how old are you? You might feel differently when you get a bit older. Yes people shouldn’t think that having an expensive bike is the be-all and end-all and you can’t enjoy yourself without one – but if they just fancy one, and can afford it, what business is it of yours to sneer at them?

As someone said above, there’s always someone out there who’s faster on a cheaper bike than you, or some that will be slower on a more expensive bike – so what?

not realous at all. my bike progress with my riding. i am not at all sayin thay you shouldnt spend it if u got it. all im saying is why would you want to if its not needed?

like a friend of mine has just bought some new carbon cranks he had saint 2’s. are thay gona make him any faster? no are thay gona make him have more confidence in his bike? no probly less. do thay look pretty yes. not complaing tho im getting the saints 🙂

all im saying is why would you want to if its not needed?

Define need. Do you need a suspension fork on your bike? Disc brakes? Quick releases on your seatpost/wheels?

Mountain biking is a leisure activity for most people, so ‘need’ doesn’t really come into it. I’m not advocating being a complete gear-whore by the way.

So why are you buying his Saint cranks then?

[/Devil’s advocate]

because thay are cheap and i currently have isis drive and cant run a decent chain guide and my chain comes off when it gets bumpy

So let me get this straight – you ‘need’ a chain guide? I bet all the people without chain guides who ride the same trails as you without their chains coming off will be having a right old laugh at you. 😉

no thay are usally sat with me on side of track putting our chains back on

I rode (and loved) a £260 GT Avalanche 3.0 for 5 years and just about everything apart from the frame broke. This resulted in parts being sourced from t’internet, friends and LBS. End cost of bike circa £1000 but it didn’t matter ’cause I wanted to improve the bike as I improved as a rider. I now have a Mount Vision (bought second hand for guess what?…..£1000) and the Marin is light years ahead of the GT straight out of the bag. What I’m getting at is enjoy your ride whatever you spend, but don’t judge or begrudge.

Chain keeps coming off? Ride smoother.

When talking about what people ‘need’, remember that DHers raced on rigids with canti brakes and drop bars. Still ‘need’ your stinky?

Guessing you dont ‘need’ my boxxers either? 😉

nope dont need any boxxers yet. unless thay are near enough free. and when dh racers raced on ridgeds were the tracks anywere near as brutal?

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4nbGE8gXzw&feature=fvwrel[/video]

have a look…

Great film! And some bang tidy riding too.

I think mountain-biking is expensive for me and I certainly do not ride as much as many of my group of friends.

3 full drivetrains per year at 200 quid a go
6 – 10 sets of brake pads average per year
10-12 hours of driving per week to my preferred destinations
1 – 2 pairs of tyres per year
miscellaneous repairs 3 times per year

Adds up to quite a bit without counting unnecessary upgrades (if such a thing exists).

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

mtb can be as cheap or expensive as you want, my cheapest bike cost £50 and could be used for 90% of the riding I do each year, it is nice to have a fleet of much more expensive very specific types of bikes to choose between or each ride instead tho.

What’s the relevance of the Cap d’ail vid, Tom?

Expensive compared to unicycling. Brand new top of the range muni for ~£500. Bought one s/h which is almost as good as that for £90. Maintenance costs are also minimal – I was pleased to find after muddy mayhem this year that I didn’t even need new bearings after a bit of a clean (£9 if I had).