Well .... some people are curious about the world and want to understand it better. Some people like to know whether what they say is likely to fall on deaf ears, or be roundly rejected due to ignorance, prejudice, or both.
Some people just like learning. Some ..... feel differently.
In this case, I (and please not I never mentioned where this guy might live (e.g. "under some bridge") or anything like that. That is a specific Livedarklion issue .... ) am interested to know that this guy is planning to write a book about an epic bike ride but has never ridden a bike.
Maybe you only go to doctors whop plan to go to med school later, or only bring your car to mechanics who plan to learn auto maintenance later ...... Personally when I read that a guy who doesn't even ride a bike has a dream of writing a book about a very arduous activity about which he knows nothing ....... I know the person isn't serious. We have all lived a long time and met many people .... we know that some people are dreamers who make it real or at least reach for it, and some are fantasizers who grab a good fantasy, pretend it might happen, and then move on to a new fantasy and act like that is real for a while.
Contrast this with the post of @
79pmooney in the "Is fixed gear more efficient for pedaling?" thread (post #79.) (
https://www.bikeforums.net/22324579-post79.html)
79pmooney talks about the fatigue, the pain and discomfort, the energy needed just to get out of a sleeping bag on a cold morning with stiff, sore legs and a long cold ride ahead ... you know he has been there. You know if he says he is gong to write a book about an epic ride, he is absolutely going to try the epic ride .... maybe not the book, but he will at least try the ride. he knows about the highs and lows, the pain and pleasure .... he knows how it feels when your brain and body are so burnt out that you want to quit but can't or won't, and ride on hating that day .... and how the next day might be better, or not.
He knows how sometimes finishing the ride isn't a real sense of victory or relief, it is just .... "Meh. I made it." and it is only afterward that you remember some of the stuff that faded into haze after days or riding. He knows how it feels to know it was a hard effort over a long time and not always pleasant but know that for reasons beside s the simple joy of riding (which he could do in short doses, returning home each night,) there is a larger environment, and even foreign environment entered on a long tour .... the world and what it means changes, focused on the events of the day and the plans for the next day.
Life takes on new meanings, you live by a different value system, and it is so immediate and demanding that you Have to engage fully (which not a lot of us do all the time is quotidian 9-5 life.)
If 79pmooney said he planned to write a book, I would take that seriously. If a guy who lives in fantasy worlds tells me anything, I know it is just part of his latest fantasy.
The OP talks about a lot of stuff, and frankly a lot of it is incoherent. he sounds like the sort of person whio isn't engaged in real time in the sotry he is telling .... that it is a mostly fictional story.
When (not if) I decide to get a bike, I do the research, I do the cost/benefit analyses, I sort through available features and match them to needs or desires ..... I narrow my search, to what I really and reasonably can expect and afford, and then rewiden the net to see what might be around the edges .... then I slowly close the net, pulling out and tossing the inedible bits, until I am left with exactly what I want.
I didn't need to consult anyone here when I bought my Fuji, nor when I equipped it. When i wanted to learn about mechanical discs versus hydro discs, I did my own research. I chose two-bolt cleats after weighing the benefits of each system. I chose the lights, the racks, the bags, based on research I did .... because it was a real thing in my life, not a fantasy. I really wanted it so I put the work in.
Sure, part of the research involved asking people on forums for personal experiences with specific systems .... I don't fault the guy for coming here. But I sincerely hope he is out there right now actually looking at the bikes on his price range. I hope he is making lists of what he wants and needs and ordering those thing by importance. I hope he is researching the accessories he says he wants.
Then when I read that he is planning a multi-thousand-mile bike trip .... right after he buys his first bike .......
Yeah, that is useful information.
I don't worry too much that I might be in a "troll thread," because I am conversing with the other BF trolls .... we are all here having ridiculous jousts over ridiculous topics most of the time, why should I worry if the starting point was Rydabent railing against clouds or some guy who has a 20-year-iold bike he has never ridden? I get my entertainment from interacting with my fellow BF trolls ... I mean, half the time we are busting on each other at least slightly, and almost everything is written at least slightly tongue-in-cheek, it seems. We are all just here trading posts for pleasure ..... None of us really care that much if this guy buys a bike or not. it was just a good place to start a meandering conversation.