Originally Posted by
beng1
Pssssssssst. The title and start of the thread asks if new equipment is a bad investment for those not pushing a competitive edge, for the average consumer. To clear things up for you, a "competitive edge" means that YOU are capable enough physically to win competitive bicycle races, so that the only thing holding you back from winning might be not having as new equipment as the other top finishers. So you putting up a comparison between a new and old bicycle is completely irrelevant.
Oh, honey, no! That's not how this works at all!
Are you new to the internet that you don't understand how forums work? Someone starts a topic. Other members post comments responsive to that topic. If the thread continues on, other posters will inevitably post issues that are related, but not directly. As time goes on, if the thread keeps going, the discussion will inevitably drift farther from its origins. That's how internet forums work. I hope this helps!
For 99.999% of those who ride bicycles and who do not have a "competitive edge" where equipment is keeping them from winning road-races or time-trials, they will still not win no matter if they are riding the same equipment as the Tour De France winner, so dumping the cash into that is a waste of money unless they are okay with spending one or two thousand dollars for each mph gain they get, and still losing anyway.
What if they just want to go faster on a more comfortable, more aerodynamic, more efficient bike that handles better on descents, with better brakes allowing them to carry more speed closer to a corner before braking, so they can go faster overall? Does none of this matter unless one is not only in a formal competition with other riders, but also only if one is likely to score a podium spot? What a miserable, joyless world that would be!
But you did mention "coolness" which is a completely different subject, unless of course your "competition" is as a hipster having the most expensive bike you don't have the physical fitness to truly make use of on your weekly slow-roll with all of your hipster buddies you ratchet-jaw with as you putt along at 15mph.
Coolness does not require competition with anyone else. I don't buy and fix up bikes I think are cool to impress strangers. I do it because the bikes themselves are sweet machines, beautiful pieces of engineering that are also a blast to flog through a couple of sweaty hours on the road. The beauty of a well-designed, well built bicycle is one of the joys of this sport, and if you can't appreciate that, or feel some need to piss on others' appreciation of that, well.... That's on you.