Bike envy

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Thanks for that rabbit hole.
You're welcome.

Making diversions from the main subject is an art practiced a lot on CC, especially on repetitive threads where the subject has been discussed many times before and a slight diversion makes the ride a bit more interesting....a bit like my bike rides, in fact.
 

Alex321

Guru
Location
South Wales
If it's one of the two I'm thinking of here - I've met both of them on audaxes - the answer's "no". They're fine.
There is only one from that area of the country I watch that I really connect with Pinarello, and that is Amy.

Remember that the YouTube stuff is based on a persona and in real life the individual is often quite different. I'm even in one of their videos for my troubles and yes, they did ask permission before filming.

Yes, I know, that is why I was wondering if they might be different in real life.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
I don't have a Strava so have never checked whether I am a King or a Queen (is there such a thing?) of any rides or climbs. (Disclaimer: there is not a cat-in-hell's chance).

I deleted my Strava account after that ride.

It was a segment I rode daily without giving it a second thought and one day I noticed I was 11th out of 7000 odd without even knowing it.

with this knowledge I spent a few days sizing it up and getting a feel for where to put on the power, where to brake for the corner, how quickly I could safely navigate the curve, etc.

Then I went for it. For about a quarter mile I used every ounce of power and skill available to me and smashed my way round, but when I crossed the 'finish line'and eased off the power I neatly fainted,

That scared me a bit. I'd pinched the KoM convincingly with a 1.6 second margin, but I was in my early 50s and the rational part of me was saying that I could really hurt myself, or worse, if I carried on doing that. So, after a few days enjoying the awesomeness I deleted my account and the app.
 
Don’t get me wrong I ride the fast group and I keep up (not on the descents in the wet) but I feel a bit poverty shamed. How does anyone else deal with this?

Point made right there, I think: if you're keeping up, you're proving that the bike isn't the most important thing. I wonder if the banter is to cover for their awareness of this? From experience, sometimes this sort of "shaming" is because you've unconsciously got under their skin.

I've never had a problem with this, because I think my main bikes are the most awesome bikes ever, even though one lady on an E-Bike once commented, "That poor young man has one of those old bikes with gears on the frame." She had no idea how long it took to find someone who could fit those for me...
 
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Dirk Van Der Dirk

Active Member
Sod em. Like the pratts who swan about in expensive motors...most of it all on tick and they're living a life of being in large amounts of debt. I have an old uni friend like that, earns over 150k pa, gets all the latest gear that the media tells him he needs to have, massive house and mortgage to boot, maserati on tick, then moans he's skint every month! Course you are mate, caught up in the circle of soulless materialism. Again, sod em, they are the mugs, not you. Oh and before anyone says it, yes I know the above may not necessarily apply to everyone with top tier bikes.
 

Gunk

Guru
Location
Oxford
Sod em. Like the pratts who swan about in expensive motors...most of it all on tick and they're living a life of being in large amounts of debt. I have an old uni friend like that, earns over 150k pa, gets all the latest gear that the media tells him he needs to have, massive house and mortgage to boot, maserati on tick, then moans he's skint every month! Course you are mate, caught up in the circle of soulless materialism. Again, sod em, they are the mugs, not you. Oh and before anyone says it, yes I know the above may not necessarily apply to everyone with top tier bikes.

But, it’s about personal choice, if that’s how he like to live and he’s happy, who cares.
 

Gunk

Guru
Location
Oxford
Because this rampant, unsustainable consumption is ultimately detrimental to everyone; financially, environmentally and socially...

If you can afford it, it‘s not necessarily unsustainable
 

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
What @wafter means is our planet cannot sustain our current levels of consumption. It has nothing to do with whether or not the individual has the financial resources.

Absolutely this. Consumptive capitalism has done a great job of de-coupling the genuine, intrinsic worth of an item (in terms of energy / resource / disposal cost and practical utility) from it's "value" in our made-up paper currency..
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.

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"So in order to obviate this problem," he continued, "and effectively revalue the leaf, we are about to embark on a massive defoliation campaign, and...er, burn down all the forests. I think you'll all agree that's a sensible move under the circumstances.”

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