Originally Posted by
Super D
Good perspective. Not all bikes, regardless of materials, are created equal (my Cannondale Evo Hi-Mod road bike is far superior in several ride quality and performance areas compared to my previous/older Scott Addict, for example).
In terms of the topic of getting more than you need (or more pointedly, getting more than you can exploit), I used to do a little auto racing and ski racing in younger years, and the same thought process applied in those environments. What good is getting something which offers better performance, if you don't have the ability or capacity to make use of it? How many skiers do we see on racing skis who can't buy a turn, or drivers on track piloting killer sports or racecars getting passed by someone in a much lesser car who has actual driving skills? ...
Total aside but a fun story re: race car driving - my uncle race Formual Vees at Lime Rock, Conn when I was young. (Formula Vees are Volkswagon chassis and engines in an open wheel body.) Decades late, Audi came to Lime Rock to promote their race level hottest car by renting out driver time on the track. (Kinda like auto-school, with an instructor with override controls in the passenger seat.) The promoter got word of my uncle and looked him up. Offered him a ride. My unc got to seat himself in the hottest car he had ever been in to drive a track he hadn't seen for 30 years but that he knew better than the back of his hand. Took the first lap slow as he got used tho this completely different car. Next lap, faster, in fact a touch faster than the instructor had driven, Instructor didn't react but was clearly a little nervous. Next lap, my uncle just let it hang out. An ashen instructor asked him if he wanted a job doing what he was doing!
Ben