Chris(NJ)

I'm just surprised people still read the New York Slimes err, times lol. This article was a good example.

Koyote

What is your objection to the piece?

Camilo

And the NYT in general? I find it to be one of the better sources of news.

rsbob 

Your politics are showing - take to the P&R Forum.

axelwik

I trust the NYT more for an honest opinion on bicycles than a magazine in the business of keeping bicycle industry advertisers happy, and they were only making a general statement. And I agree with their conclusions - "high end" usually means lighter, but sometimes less durability. I certainly wouldn't go on a tour in a remote part of the world with a "stupid-light" bike with CF wheels containing fewer high-tension spokes, shifters that require special batteries, proprietary parts etc.

Nothing really wrong with Bicycling Magazine - they do a good job of reviewing things if you're in the market for it, but most of it is really in the "want" category for those of us who already have a nice bicycle that works.

indyfabz

Maybe the crossword puzzle is too hard for him.

rsbob 

Hysterical. Spoiler: A knot in the present? is a “bow”

rydabent

Remember when Sears use to adv their products as Good, Better, and Best.? Almost always the "better" was the best deal between cost and serviceablilty.

indyfabz

If you play with matches, you can get burned.

I don’t bother with it early in the week. Too easy. I only do Wednesday because I get the paper for the Food section. Thursday-Sunday is my zone, although I missed last Sunday. I tried a weekend delivery plan several months back, but they had so much trouble delivering the paper. I canceled after 3 weekends. Out of 9 papers, only 2 were delivered on the days they were supposed to be delivered.

Koyote

It's been a couple days, and no response. I'm guessing this means that he didn't read the article, but just wanted to slur the NYT.

Calsun

The writer provides no information that is useful. Better to have said that the value is with buying a used bike for a fraction of what it sold for when new. Smarter to buy a middle or upper range used carbon fiber bike than a new aluminum frame bike with cheaper components.

In terms of theft the better looking a bike the more likely it is to attract thieves. Friends who biked to the college campus would have a bike for that purpose with the front derailleur removed and the frame painted with some ugly color or flat black and using a cheap wheelset. A thief wants to be able to sell the bike as quickly as possible and does not want to invest in fixing it up.

In cities I never would leave a bike out of my sight and hope it would not get stolen. At a minimum I would invest $300 in a Hiplok D1000 and still have the bike in sight. I would still have a stripped bike that provided little of any value to a thief.

Kapusta

Your average person reading Wirecutter for info on this is not going to know what to look for in a used bike.

And many people would rather buy a new bike from a shop with support.

mikeoverly

I've always liked the way Wirecutter cuts to the chase in their reviews, and they cut to the chase just fine here. Now that you can easily build a UCI-minimum bike with 105, the high-end groups exist mainly as bling. Even back in the day, the practical difference between top-tier and second tier stuff was mainly which bolts would crack first. FWIW I have stuff with Tourney that shifts just peachy after decades of use.

VegasJen

Agreed. My 2015 Shiv has mechanical shifting, cable operated rim brakes and I have no idea why I could use a power meter, and I'm doing just fine. I am running tubeless on that bike, though. Mainly for puncture protection, not any kind of speed/efficiency benefit.

Smaug1

I agree with the premise.
Buying good basic quality is important. For example an entry-level Trek is worth the money.
Buying less weight will only make a difference for maybe < 5% of us.

One anecdote from my own fleet:
I bought a Chinese eBike with the entry-level 7-speed Shimano thumb shifter. (heybike Ranger) Many folks turn their nose up at it, since it is entry-level. But it still has Shimano's basic quality and was smooth & reliable.

My next eBike, I bought had a nicer 8-speed trigger-shifting Shimano that they really talked-up. I prefer the cheaper one, because I can downshift all 7 gears at a time in one stroke of the thumb as I come up to a red light. (upshifts are still one at a time, but I can decelerate a lot quicker than I can accelerate, right?)

Another one: On my road bike, I have a nice Shimano brifter setup. Push the brake lever inwards to go to bigger sprockets, push the lever in to go to smaller ones. On my gravel bike, I have a cheaper Microshift arrangement with one protruding button for upshifts and one lever for downshifts. No sideways movement of the brake lever is needed, and I prefer the cheaper Microshift arrangement.

I think with shifting hardware, it's mostly down to weight and that tactile goodness of the higher end stuff. It just FEELS better; slick and refined. It's not functionally better.

Last one: I was out riding with a couple of buddies. I was on my humble Domane AL3. My one buddy was on an old Gary Fisher mountain bike set up as a road bike. (he's one of those older guys who's a lot stronger ride than he looks like he'd be) The other buddy was on his top of range Domane SLR9 with carbon everything. That guy got a flat and it was a ***** to pry the tire off the deep carbon rim. It took three of us at least 40 minutes to fix that flat. He was running lightweight, high-performance 25 mm racing tires, but he flatted with just two tiny little grains of glass that worked their way into the tread. My cheap & heavy 32 mm Bontrager Hardcase "Lite" tires would have shook that off no problem, and if I had flatted from it, it would have been quick & easy to fix.