Do people enjoy their expensive bikes more than their cheap ones?

[Milzy]

They're like fine dining restaurants. There's all those ridiculously expensive places in West London but sometimes all you really want is a KFC.

 

[screenman]

I think it might be that everyone is different. Not right or wrong, I have not done many of the things you lot do on a bike.

 

[Bimble]

You can argue that there's never pressure to go fast, but that's not strictly true because there's often a subconscious desire to do justice to whatever you're riding.
It's a human trait to wish for the admiration and respect of our peers, so who's going to admire the nobber dawdling along on his expensive racebike-based roadster? All the gear and no idea comes to mind.
I wonder if we feel this subconscious pressure when we're riding our carbon racebikes?

Nope. I'm not fast (and never will be). My expensive carbon road bike is a personal pleasure. Something for me to enjoy on the better-weather days. Slowly, steadily plodding along in comfort and style, blissfully ignorant of anyone on a shopping bike overtaking me ...

 

[jonny jeez]

If the more expensive bikes were not more fun than the cheaper ones, then why not just stick with the cheaper ones!

At anything above the price of a reasonable quality bike though the law of diminishing returns kicks in hard. A £2,000 bike might only be (say) 20% more fun than a £500 bike and a £6,000 bike might only be 5% more fun than a £2,000 one. I'm not sure exactly how you would measure that, but I'm sure that the point is clear.

If I had lots of money then I would definitely spend £2,000-3,000 on a new bike but I doubt that I would ever spend £6,000+. I would rather have the cheaper bike and £4,000 worth of cycling holidays!

If you had lots of money, you could have both.

 

[jonny jeez]

I have a range but dont yet own an expensive bike. (to me that sits in a £5-7k bracket)

I enjoy all my bikes for different reasons. And try not to duplicate. So the thing stopping me from buying an expensive road bike is not just the expense but the fear that I wont get much more out of it than I do...and have...on my current road bike.

I know that I enjoy my most expensive bike...the most... but that's not because of value but because its my only road bike. Also, we have history, she has carried me all over the UK and northern Europe, without a single issue.

I will never let her go.

 

[ColinJ]

If you had lots of money, you could have both.

I am so used to not having much money that I would struggle with extravagant spending.

I would be diverting any surplus cash into buying a house and setting up a pension for myself. If I owned a good £3,000 bike, was having regular holidays, and still had money to spare, I would give a lot of it to charity.

 

[Lozz360]

This got me thinking, which is usually dangerous
The 996 was the kind of machine that the faster it was ridden the more sense it made. To ride it slowly was truly awful.

That probably applies to many vehicles, sports motorbikes and cars. They are not comfortable if you want to ride / drive them slowly. (generlising a lot, I know). My racing sailing dinghy it is not possible to just pootle around I would need a different boat for that. But cycles are possibly different. It is possible to ride a road bike slowly and be comfortable it is just that most of the time we choose not to.

 

[SheilaH]

Well, Ive been riding a heavy crosser, with discs, musguards, tools, heavy 32mm tyres since october.

Just rebuilt the Look with new Dura Ace groupset and Zipp 303 wheels, and taken it for a test ride.

Cant tell the difference between them.






(might be lying )

 

[Vantage]

The most expensive bike I ever owned was a Proflex Attack LE and took me 9 months to pay it's £999 price tag. Between the Marzocchi Bomber Z1 forks, Hope hydraulic from disc brake and hub and other upgrades, it must have set me back near 2 grand in the end. The end being when some scumbag nicked it.
In that time, the chainstay snapped, the forks burst their seals, the brakes leaked and the XT transmission wore out. It was always developing faults and breaking. I was almost glad it was stolen.

The current tourer consists of a £120 frame and fork and Acera gears. The most expensive bit on it is the Spa XD2 chainset at 60 quid.
She glides along wonderfully always

 

[biggs682]

Well after visiting Condor Cycles in London today i can see why people buy new £2k+ bikes , but i still feel you can get the same quality for a lot less especially in the 2nd hand market

 

[slowmotion]

My first road bike cost £750. Three years later, I bought another for £650. The cheaper bike is far more fun to ride and I just love it.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Thinking back, the most fun - and perhaps the most reckless danger - I ever had was as a young teenager on a special I'd built. This bike was a Raleigh Wayfarer, a 26" wheeled gents bike, with a 24" rear wheel from a Chopper, and apehanger bars. Obviously, no rear brake, but it was built from scrounged together bits and cost me nothing whatsoever, yet was probably the most outrageous fun I've had with my clothes on.

I had a Raliegh Wayfarer ( in blue unmodded) what a tank!

 

[Dogtrousers]

I had a Raliegh Wayfarer ( in blue unmodded) what a tank!

Me too. With a bottle dynamo. And a cycling proficiency badge.

 

[confusedcyclist]

My relatively inexpensive and on sale £700 2014 Giant Defy 1, mostly original 105 components with new 105 hubs and mavic open pro hand built wheels rides like a dream. I have ridden bikes with full dura-ace and ultegra group sets just to compare, suffice to say there's not much difference in ride quality, and measly improvements in weight.

I'll be happy riding my cheap road racer until it cops it, and I'll probably get another and put that money saved towards my investment portfolio instead so I can retire early from office drudgery and ride bikes more instead.

 

[Ian H]

Some many years ago I bought a cheap no-name Italian frame. It handled beautifully and was a joy to ride. Around the same time I got a semi-custom Ribble for rather more money. Never liked it. Currently I have two Ti road/touring bikes (geared and fixed), both based on a Mark Reilly design. Both handle extremely well and are good long-distance steeds.

If I want to go faster I'll enter a time-trial with the tt bike, which is a whole different kettle of components. Not necessarily more expensive—just different.