Indeed, the proverb is never going to be one size fits all, and I would never present it as such, I wouldn't do precision work with a rule of thumb... but that doesn't make it unuseful. For the average Joe with an average income, upgrading from a £400 road bike to a £5000 road bike will not make them a better rider. Worse still, spending over a certain amount buys almost no improvement. The rule of thumb still applies to those with deep pockets, whilst £5K to a millionaire might seem like pocket change from the perspective of someone looking from the outside.... Typically millionaires don't stay millionaires if they throw their money around like it's going out of fashion.
The thing is, when you spend big money you are seriously long way down this S-curve. People who ride rarely would do well to buy somewhere between A and B, and serious hobbyists around C. Only those with deep pockets, or involved in elite competition should be looking to buy beyond D. Anyone doing so should be doing it full well knowing they are buying into a diminishing returns, if they do not realise, then they are by definition a fool. I am not throwing around insults. A fool is an ignorant person! Ignorance of the law of diminishing returns is ignorance, plain and simple!
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Imagine the X axis is capital outlay in this argument.
Consider if most buyers are spending around D, and of course we know the market responds to what people purchase collectively, yet people who are buying around D but don't really need it and would be better served conserving their capital and stopping at C. They are considered foolish according to Cipolla’s theory. Spending 5K 'foolishly' harms the rest of society, because there is now less incentive for the market to build a selection of bikes around the value sweet spot (C). OK, I'm stretching the theory a bit here... but I hope you can see where I am coming from.
In the road groupset world, it just so happens the C in this argument is not Ultergra or Dura Ace, but a lot closer to Tiagra. 105 is pushing it.
Very good! Not seen that before.
