I went and hit up some Caney Bottom and Long Branch today with Julia, Joh, Dan, and a new recruit for some sick single track action. We left from Bracken Mountain after some pastry eating, and headed down to the shop to grab my shoes. The trails were hooking up like they were made of duct tape, and there wasn't a puddle in sight. It started raining just as we got back to the parking lot, and I would say that we timed the ride pretty much perfectly. Today was the first time that I have really felt super comfortable on my bike, and trust me, it's a really good feeling.
I just put a new, wider bar on my bike, and finally got my new double crank, which is pretty much off the chain. Except not really. It's attached to the chain, and so far I haven't had any problems with dropping the chain either. So it's pretty much just awesome. Yeah.
And I was thinking about something, and because this is an area of my life that I catch a lot of flak for, I guess I best explain myself. I like nice bikes. I do. I have 3 of them. 2 of them are each worth more than my car. They both are very very close to the top of the line everything. I have them set up exactly how I want them, and I can't really think of anything that I would change on either of them.
All of that being said, they certainly don't make me any faster than I was on my last 3 or 4 bikes, and I don't think that the half a pound that I was so happy to lose from bike to bike is going to make a bit of difference on the trail. I think that people often convince themselves that having a nicer part, or nicer wheels, or even a nicer complete bike will make them faster than they were on the last, slightly less nice bike that they had. The reality is, though, if you started on a decent bike, the minor changes that you make when moving to a higher level of component really don't make all that much of a difference.
vs.
I just put a new, wider bar on my bike, and finally got my new double crank, which is pretty much off the chain. Except not really. It's attached to the chain, and so far I haven't had any problems with dropping the chain either. So it's pretty much just awesome. Yeah.
And I was thinking about something, and because this is an area of my life that I catch a lot of flak for, I guess I best explain myself. I like nice bikes. I do. I have 3 of them. 2 of them are each worth more than my car. They both are very very close to the top of the line everything. I have them set up exactly how I want them, and I can't really think of anything that I would change on either of them.
All of that being said, they certainly don't make me any faster than I was on my last 3 or 4 bikes, and I don't think that the half a pound that I was so happy to lose from bike to bike is going to make a bit of difference on the trail. I think that people often convince themselves that having a nicer part, or nicer wheels, or even a nicer complete bike will make them faster than they were on the last, slightly less nice bike that they had. The reality is, though, if you started on a decent bike, the minor changes that you make when moving to a higher level of component really don't make all that much of a difference.
vs.
So why do I have such sick machines? Simple. I love nice bikes. I like the way they work like they are supposed to. I like the way the look. I like the ride that you get from them. I like the X factor of a really nicely riding bike. I'm pretty much just a bike geek, and having really nice bikes is just something that gets me excited. I think that nice bikes are just more fun to ride, and since I have the opportunity to have a couple, why not go for it?
1 comment:
ok we got it, you can afford to have the best of everything. you dont have to rub it in.
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