Yeah. I can understand the benefits, but I look at this vs mechanical and see avoiding the electronic drivetrain as a great way to save money to spend on other parts of the bike that are more important to me like a set of WAO wheels, or better suspension. Call it a version of Andrews Min-Max philosophy. I guess if money was not a factor then sure, but even then, the idea of going for a ride only to find the batteries not charged just bugs me. Given that I ride 3 or 4 different bikes depending on season, and conditions, I feel like that at some point this would happen. Coming back to the money aspect, despite hitting all the cliches (middle aged, high income earner) I balk at paying north of 10K for a bike. It’s easy to get lost in the shininess of new bike tech which is to be honest pretty cool and amazing. However, I think at some point we are well into the area of diminishing returns. I bought a near top of the line Titus Moto Lite in 2006. I think it cost me just under 6K, and it felt so ridiculously extravagant at the time. You could have spent more, but it would have to have been custom Titanium. Now here we are and 12K is close to but not max cash you can spend on a analog bike. So roughly double over a 17 year period. Unfortunately salaries for most people have not doubled over that time period. Also while my bike today is undoubtedly better than that Moto lite, the joy of biking remains the same. I am certainly not enjoying it twice as much.
March 21, 2023, 10:04 a.m. - Moritz Haager
Yeah. I can understand the benefits, but I look at this vs mechanical and see avoiding the electronic drivetrain as a great way to save money to spend on other parts of the bike that are more important to me like a set of WAO wheels, or better suspension. Call it a version of Andrews Min-Max philosophy. I guess if money was not a factor then sure, but even then, the idea of going for a ride only to find the batteries not charged just bugs me. Given that I ride 3 or 4 different bikes depending on season, and conditions, I feel like that at some point this would happen. Coming back to the money aspect, despite hitting all the cliches (middle aged, high income earner) I balk at paying north of 10K for a bike. It’s easy to get lost in the shininess of new bike tech which is to be honest pretty cool and amazing. However, I think at some point we are well into the area of diminishing returns. I bought a near top of the line Titus Moto Lite in 2006. I think it cost me just under 6K, and it felt so ridiculously extravagant at the time. You could have spent more, but it would have to have been custom Titanium. Now here we are and 12K is close to but not max cash you can spend on a analog bike. So roughly double over a 17 year period. Unfortunately salaries for most people have not doubled over that time period. Also while my bike today is undoubtedly better than that Moto lite, the joy of biking remains the same. I am certainly not enjoying it twice as much.