Originally Posted by
OldRailfan
Few of us are in the group in which a better/expensive bike will make a difference on how much we ride or how fast we ride. It's the person on that seat that determines it.
PS it's very similar to the situation concerning cars it doesn't need to be fancy, but it needs to be reliable aka getting from A to B whenever one wants/needs to.
Reliability is key for me as well. I have an old road bike (12-speed) that I bought years ago for $70. I have my LBS tune it up once a year (they always catch something extra) and it's been a rock.