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I started biking around three years ago. Lots of biking, like 5000-8000+ km a year. As long as I don't weigh my ideal weight and aren't planning on becoming a

I started biking around three years ago. Lots of biking, like 5000-8000+ km a year. As long as I don't weigh my ideal weight and aren't planning on becoming a machine myself, I have zero interest in spending anything in optimizations which will make my bike a better one. I don't care if it could go faster or be more lightweight, spending 600€ for the bike was enough. The cheapest 30€ Schwalbe tires are good enough; I didn't even have a single flat tire this summer after I learned to avoid driving over blackberry branches. And I really enjoy it. During this summer, with the extreme heat, where I loved the 28°C in the shade of the woods I was thinking about how much I'm going to hate this fall, and now that it's here, I love breathing that cold, fresh air and smelling the humid forest. The only thing I hate is when there's frozen snow on pavement in the winter. The only thing I spend money on for biking is quality clothing appropriate for the seasons and accessories like good smartphone holders or bags.

chitowneats 4y ago
I appreciate your approach but the reason people like optimizations is for speed. The thrill of riding fast is what keeps a lot of us coming back.
- lm28469 4y ago
  Lots of people optimise because they fell in the rabbit hole of optimisation and it became an addiction. Like in every hobbies some people completely lose touch with reality. I've seen videos of people comparing weight of bicycle seats and how to shave like 13 grams of weight of the bike, meanwhile the dude had a dad bod and shaving his torso would have shaved more weight than his $$$ seat
- qwertox 4y ago
  Don't get me wrong, I also love to go down a forest path at 45 kph to the point where I get scared, but I know that I also have to go up again. But going as fast as possible on a horizontal path is not attractive to me at all. If I want to expend energy, I prefer to ride up a hill where I then can have the fun of riding down, even if I have to pedal 20 minutes up to then go down within a minute or two. But I also recognize that there are those who are already super efficient and want to get the absolutely most out of their gear, even improving it as much as possible, which is really ok by me. I wish I were at that point, but I think I'd first have to go to the gym for that.
- prmoustache 4y ago
  There is riding fast and there is riding fast but just a tiny bit slower. I have a modern race bike, less than 3y old with some but not all of the latest aero features. I also still own my 30y old racing bike that I used to race until 20years ago (it was already old bike then). It stays at my parents place and I ride it maybe twice a year. If you ask any bike reviewer he will tell that old bike is obsolete, feel much slower and make me lose 45s over the course of a 50km ride according to the data given by the manufacturer. If you ask me, sure I feel a difference, mostly in feeling, when I start riding the bike. But after 5 minutes all this is forgotten and I enjoy the ride as much as on my more modern bike. And that bike is perfectly fine surrounded by superbikes in a group ride. Actually I did one this summer with a group that tend to stay together but ride at a fast steady pace until the last 20k where the wait "policy" disappear and people start to attack the climbs at max pace. I ended up in the 5 rider leading group out of maybe 40 and I was totally out of shape. That old bike would sell for 300-400€ in the second hand market right now. The difference with a 2k and 8k modern bike is much lower.
  - redler 4y ago
    Ultimately, it's the engine.
lm28469 4y ago
Reminds me of this bicycle subreddit where they spend thousands on bikes and cosplay attires to get smoked by 60+ years old dudes on 40 years old bikes As a casual rider you'll be the bottleneck for years before your gear matters even the slightest
- 8ytecoder 4y ago
  There’s also a saying in bike communities, along the lines of, it doesn’t get easier you’ll only ride faster. Riding a heavy bike with no aerodynamics will lead to building strength faster. While it can be a bit frustrating if you’re new and riding in a group, joining more beginner friendly groups and upgrading the bike later is much better overall. It is however really important to get the posture and pedaling technique right. Way too many people in expensive gear do push-only instead of a push-pull. That’s like biking 101. It’s much better to get that smooth pedaling and core support. It’ll prevent injuries and fatigue.
  - adolph 4y ago
    > push-only instead of a push-pull My body never got this until using fixed gear. The whole circle is important.
- elliottkember 4y ago
  I've been circling the fountain pen reddit for a little while now and it's a similar thing. They spend thousands on pens, import ink from Italy, buy fancy paper, but their handwriting looks like a doctor's scrawl.
  - evandale 4y ago
    I almost went down that route! I settled for a $5 Platinum Preppy instead for a few years and picked up a Procyon recently. Don't think I'd spend anything more than that though. I tested out some $250-500 pens and didn't notice a difference but from Preppy -> Procyon is huge with how much smoother the Procyon is.
- cheeze 4y ago
wink 4y ago
I'm not here to advocate for expensive equipment but my cross country hardtail MTB (even with the wide tires on the roads, non-carbon) feels like half the effort to pedal than my old crummy commuter trekking bike with narrower tires, so I guess your 600€ bike might already have one of the biggest optimizations packed in ;)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
scott_w 4y ago
That’s absolutely fine. This article is aimed at people who race bikes for fun and for a living.
Melatonic 4y ago
The thing is that expensive isnt always better - those "cheap" Schwabe tires are actually superior than most specifically because of the way they are designed - not because they are cheap or expensive (touring style tires). You could also buy more expensive touring tires and they would be better than those cheap ones - but expensive tiny skinny tires would not (nor would big expensive nobby tires). As someone who did a lot of different bike riding and has built many bikes there are also many benefits to going pricier other than just being a wannabe racer - but in the end it is more about choosing the right style of component for the job vs just buying what is priciest or trendy.
heywherelogingo 4y ago
Lots of biking? My commute alone: ~10 000km. A 600€ was crap twenty years ago. Contributions are great when the person making them has something to back them up.

chitowneats 4y ago

I appreciate your approach but the reason people like optimizations is for speed. The thrill of riding fast is what keeps a lot of us coming back.

lm28469 4y ago
Lots of people optimise because they fell in the rabbit hole of optimisation and it became an addiction. Like in every hobbies some people completely lose touch with reality. I've seen videos of people comparing weight of bicycle seats and how to shave like 13 grams of weight of the bike, meanwhile the dude had a dad bod and shaving his torso would have shaved more weight than his $$$ seat
qwertox 4y ago
Don't get me wrong, I also love to go down a forest path at 45 kph to the point where I get scared, but I know that I also have to go up again. But going as fast as possible on a horizontal path is not attractive to me at all. If I want to expend energy, I prefer to ride up a hill where I then can have the fun of riding down, even if I have to pedal 20 minutes up to then go down within a minute or two. But I also recognize that there are those who are already super efficient and want to get the absolutely most out of their gear, even improving it as much as possible, which is really ok by me. I wish I were at that point, but I think I'd first have to go to the gym for that.
prmoustache 4y ago
There is riding fast and there is riding fast but just a tiny bit slower. I have a modern race bike, less than 3y old with some but not all of the latest aero features. I also still own my 30y old racing bike that I used to race until 20years ago (it was already old bike then). It stays at my parents place and I ride it maybe twice a year. If you ask any bike reviewer he will tell that old bike is obsolete, feel much slower and make me lose 45s over the course of a 50km ride according to the data given by the manufacturer. If you ask me, sure I feel a difference, mostly in feeling, when I start riding the bike. But after 5 minutes all this is forgotten and I enjoy the ride as much as on my more modern bike. And that bike is perfectly fine surrounded by superbikes in a group ride. Actually I did one this summer with a group that tend to stay together but ride at a fast steady pace until the last 20k where the wait "policy" disappear and people start to attack the climbs at max pace. I ended up in the 5 rider leading group out of maybe 40 and I was totally out of shape. That old bike would sell for 300-400€ in the second hand market right now. The difference with a 2k and 8k modern bike is much lower.
- redler 4y ago
  Ultimately, it's the engine.

lm28469 4y ago

Reminds me of this bicycle subreddit where they spend thousands on bikes and cosplay attires to get smoked by 60+ years old dudes on 40 years old bikes As a casual rider you'll be the bottleneck for years before your gear matters even the slightest

8ytecoder 4y ago
There’s also a saying in bike communities, along the lines of, it doesn’t get easier you’ll only ride faster. Riding a heavy bike with no aerodynamics will lead to building strength faster. While it can be a bit frustrating if you’re new and riding in a group, joining more beginner friendly groups and upgrading the bike later is much better overall. It is however really important to get the posture and pedaling technique right. Way too many people in expensive gear do push-only instead of a push-pull. That’s like biking 101. It’s much better to get that smooth pedaling and core support. It’ll prevent injuries and fatigue.
- adolph 4y ago
  > push-only instead of a push-pull My body never got this until using fixed gear. The whole circle is important.
elliottkember 4y ago
I've been circling the fountain pen reddit for a little while now and it's a similar thing. They spend thousands on pens, import ink from Italy, buy fancy paper, but their handwriting looks like a doctor's scrawl.
- evandale 4y ago
  I almost went down that route! I settled for a $5 Platinum Preppy instead for a few years and picked up a Procyon recently. Don't think I'd spend anything more than that though. I tested out some $250-500 pens and didn't notice a difference but from Preppy -> Procyon is huge with how much smoother the Procyon is.
cheeze 4y ago

wink 4y ago

I'm not here to advocate for expensive equipment but my cross country hardtail MTB (even with the wide tires on the roads, non-carbon) feels like half the effort to pedal than my old crummy commuter trekking bike with narrower tires, so I guess your 600€ bike might already have one of the biggest optimizations packed in ;)

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

scott_w 4y ago

That’s absolutely fine. This article is aimed at people who race bikes for fun and for a living.

Melatonic 4y ago

The thing is that expensive isnt always better - those "cheap" Schwabe tires are actually superior than most specifically because of the way they are designed - not because they are cheap or expensive (touring style tires). You could also buy more expensive touring tires and they would be better than those cheap ones - but expensive tiny skinny tires would not (nor would big expensive nobby tires). As someone who did a lot of different bike riding and has built many bikes there are also many benefits to going pricier other than just being a wannabe racer - but in the end it is more about choosing the right style of component for the job vs just buying what is priciest or trendy.

heywherelogingo 4y ago

Lots of biking? My commute alone: ~10 000km. A 600€ was crap twenty years ago. Contributions are great when the person making them has something to back them up.