>Going into a bike shop, I couldn't just purchase the cheapest bike. The person said maybe now I want to bike for 20 minutes on weekends for fun, but in 1 year

>Going into a bike shop, I couldn't just purchase the cheapest bike. The person said maybe now I want to bike for 20 minutes on weekends for fun, but in 1 year I'll want to bike 50 miles. So I should consider buying bike that is 3X as expensive that is made of carbon fiber. Want to buy a pair of shoes to go for a 20 minute run? Well, then you want a custom measurement and evaluation of your gait and ... you see where this is going. When you go into a sports store to buy something they want to sell you a lifestyle, not a product. Agreed, a lot of hobbies have these "gearheads" or "hardcore" people and they can be quite intimidating for a beginner.