Forgot one thing: the FAT TAX. It's a bit of an outside case, and hit especially hard because I'm such a cheapskate, but there is a rider mass threshold at which there are imposed price floors.
If you're over 100kg and athletic, to put it very simply, cheap coil forks, basic frames, and budget machine built wheels simply won't work... and don't get me started on brakes. I annihilated two square cranksets and knocked out around 5 rear tire tubes before I accepted that I'd have to spend over $1200 USD (in 2013 money) to actually participate in mountain biking, instead of being an overencumbered hiker. I'm entirely confident that I could still put a $600 hardtail into an inoperable state after a single ride, and honestly to properly experience a mountain bike ride as most people get to enjoy on the same hardware required spending twice as much.
Now that I'm running all carbon everything with 200mm brake rotors, most of those things I'm probably never going back just due to personal income growth.... honestly I think the generational improvements on things like drivetrains and frames are such that I probably will come down from the XT level spec and top end carbon frame on stuff with my next bike to make more space for the parts I've discovered matter a whole lot more (suspension tuning and brakes), and particularly stop seeking weight targets if it means I'm taking any durability hits. I'm just at the absurd point where my income outstrips my ability to demand greater performance from my hardware, which is equal parts tragic as it is liberating.
Feb. 14, 2022, 1:14 p.m. - Tehllama42
Forgot one thing: the FAT TAX. It's a bit of an outside case, and hit especially hard because I'm such a cheapskate, but there is a rider mass threshold at which there are imposed price floors. If you're over 100kg and athletic, to put it very simply, cheap coil forks, basic frames, and budget machine built wheels simply won't work... and don't get me started on brakes. I annihilated two square cranksets and knocked out around 5 rear tire tubes before I accepted that I'd have to spend over $1200 USD (in 2013 money) to actually participate in mountain biking, instead of being an overencumbered hiker. I'm entirely confident that I could still put a $600 hardtail into an inoperable state after a single ride, and honestly to properly experience a mountain bike ride as most people get to enjoy on the same hardware required spending twice as much. Now that I'm running all carbon everything with 200mm brake rotors, most of those things I'm probably never going back just due to personal income growth.... honestly I think the generational improvements on things like drivetrains and frames are such that I probably will come down from the XT level spec and top end carbon frame on stuff with my next bike to make more space for the parts I've discovered matter a whole lot more (suspension tuning and brakes), and particularly stop seeking weight targets if it means I'm taking any durability hits. I'm just at the absurd point where my income outstrips my ability to demand greater performance from my hardware, which is equal parts tragic as it is liberating.