#!markdown
No one's buying a bike that's known to be "good enough for the average trail
rider". In any sport, or for consumer goods, the 'proven by professionals' or
'at the top level' means the consumer can be confident that no matter how good
they are (or think they are) or how hard they are on their gear, someone,
somewhere, has put it through something even worse or placed higher
performance demands onto it.
The unique thing about bike racing vs. say auto racing is that bike consumers
can buy the exact bike being raced at the top level within a year of it first
appearing on a race course, whereas a lot of motorsports equipment is
unattainable (and there exists a greater divide between existence and need at
the consumer level).
Sept. 20, 2016, 4:14 p.m. - Pete Roggeman
#!markdown No one's buying a bike that's known to be "good enough for the average trail rider". In any sport, or for consumer goods, the 'proven by professionals' or 'at the top level' means the consumer can be confident that no matter how good they are (or think they are) or how hard they are on their gear, someone, somewhere, has put it through something even worse or placed higher performance demands onto it. The unique thing about bike racing vs. say auto racing is that bike consumers can buy the exact bike being raced at the top level within a year of it first appearing on a race course, whereas a lot of motorsports equipment is unattainable (and there exists a greater divide between existence and need at the consumer level).