Appreciation and status are not mutually exclusive, in fact they rarely are. I certainly do appreciate all my expensive cycling stuff, but I have long identifie

Appreciation and status are not mutually exclusive, in fact they rarely are. I certainly do appreciate all my expensive cycling stuff, but I have long identified it as the outlet where I seem tochannel all my status purchase needs. When everybody around me is riding Shimano, I want Campag and the powermeter to go with that should better be Italian as well. I consider this to be deep in status-land, in fact it is the only part of my buying habits where the status component is so strong that I am aware of it (which I guess is universally rare, everybody has their rationalizations). The Castelli I wear on the bike has certainly been more expensive than the H&M (from the aughts, some of that stiff actually lasts!) I wear to the office.