hmmm, interesting thoughts. Setting aside the misguided "whataboutism" of EVs vs ICE, I have a somewhat divergent view of the issue...
1\. People dropping 'because I can' money on an 'out of a box' bike, probably aren't die-hard enthusiasts like we are. Let them have their fancy bike on their manicured flow trails. I don't care. In fact, if it keeps them off the old-school, technical trails that don't do well with heavy traffic, all the better.
2\. For those of us who don't have 'because I can' money to drop on a bike, along with competing priorities for our limited resources, I'm beginning to question the wisdom of customization and 'trying things out'. My recent experience with my trusty 2016 Transition Patrol got me thinking. Over the years, I've made lots of customizations and installed interesting things on it: King hubs, Luftkappe and tractive tunes for my suspension, Garbaruk derailleur cage and cassette mated to an 11-sp XTR shifter, lots of anodized colour matching. It rides like a dream, exactly how I want it to. And I like how it looks.
But when both my chainstays and seatstays snapped recently, I was faced with the possibility that none of those high-dollar interesting upgrades could be transferred to a new bike - hub width is now outdated, shock size is now outdated, and 11sp is no longer specced. These are things that make the bike unique to me, and I've really learned to adapt to how this bike rides (or is it vice-versa). Luckily, Transition being the awesome company they are, had replacement stays for my 6-year old bike, despite the old standards. They had me back up and running within a week. Hats off to them.
But still, if and when this bike eventually gives up the ghost, I'm not sure I'm going to bother with personalization and 'interesting upgrades' anymore. First, I think bike geometry is starting to settle down at a very good place and even mid-level equipment is getting really quite good nowadays. Second, I think I'm a good enough rider that I can adapt to whatever bike (and equipment) I eventually settle on. Third, 'standards' change so much in this industry that they're barely worth calling them that anymore. And finally, prices are so ridiculous, even for mid-level stuff that I just don't want to give this industry any more of my money than I have to. I think the 'get a good bike, ride it for a couple of years, sell it while it's still relevant and has value, and get a new bike (or maybe a used one-year old bike) is the most sensible approach to take these days. Which still kinda makes me angry, because I'm still playing into the planned obsolescence of the industry. But I'll still have something that rides great and won't be so attached to an object I can't keep running for years to come...
July 11, 2022, 8:44 a.m. - slyfink
hmmm, interesting thoughts. Setting aside the misguided "whataboutism" of EVs vs ICE, I have a somewhat divergent view of the issue... 1\. People dropping 'because I can' money on an 'out of a box' bike, probably aren't die-hard enthusiasts like we are. Let them have their fancy bike on their manicured flow trails. I don't care. In fact, if it keeps them off the old-school, technical trails that don't do well with heavy traffic, all the better. 2\. For those of us who don't have 'because I can' money to drop on a bike, along with competing priorities for our limited resources, I'm beginning to question the wisdom of customization and 'trying things out'. My recent experience with my trusty 2016 Transition Patrol got me thinking. Over the years, I've made lots of customizations and installed interesting things on it: King hubs, Luftkappe and tractive tunes for my suspension, Garbaruk derailleur cage and cassette mated to an 11-sp XTR shifter, lots of anodized colour matching. It rides like a dream, exactly how I want it to. And I like how it looks. But when both my chainstays and seatstays snapped recently, I was faced with the possibility that none of those high-dollar interesting upgrades could be transferred to a new bike - hub width is now outdated, shock size is now outdated, and 11sp is no longer specced. These are things that make the bike unique to me, and I've really learned to adapt to how this bike rides (or is it vice-versa). Luckily, Transition being the awesome company they are, had replacement stays for my 6-year old bike, despite the old standards. They had me back up and running within a week. Hats off to them. But still, if and when this bike eventually gives up the ghost, I'm not sure I'm going to bother with personalization and 'interesting upgrades' anymore. First, I think bike geometry is starting to settle down at a very good place and even mid-level equipment is getting really quite good nowadays. Second, I think I'm a good enough rider that I can adapt to whatever bike (and equipment) I eventually settle on. Third, 'standards' change so much in this industry that they're barely worth calling them that anymore. And finally, prices are so ridiculous, even for mid-level stuff that I just don't want to give this industry any more of my money than I have to. I think the 'get a good bike, ride it for a couple of years, sell it while it's still relevant and has value, and get a new bike (or maybe a used one-year old bike) is the most sensible approach to take these days. Which still kinda makes me angry, because I'm still playing into the planned obsolescence of the industry. But I'll still have something that rides great and won't be so attached to an object I can't keep running for years to come...