No, I'm not touchy at all, but I absolutely hate the way folk spout drivel about who should ride what, where and how, based solely on their own experience and means. I give advice where I can, but would never presume to criticise anybody based on their choice of kit. Not so many years ago on this forum there was a sort of apologists' race to the bottom if anyone ever dared to suggest that your off road experiences would be better if you got yourself a light, well equipped quality bike fit for purpose and designed to do the sort of riding you wanted to do. There was even one poster who used to insist that there was absolutely no need to get anything more than a budget hardtail, and spend the rest of your budget on road tyres lights and panniers so you could ride it to work. In today's market that means a lot of beginners will,find themselves on bikes with crap geometry, under damped forks, wrestling oversized, overweight monstrosities around difficult routes because someone told them what they should be riding based on ridiculous stereotypes.
The truth is that up to a point you get what you pay for. A bike equipped with decent components is a joy to ride. It's light, looks good and the kit does what it should do. It costs money to own or build, so why advocate neglecting it so you can sound cool?
