livedarklions

If there's anything in there relevant to the tread topic, I guess it's how much should our choices be affected by the equipment used by pros. Obviously, my considerations as a 61 year old non-competitive cyclist are completely different from those of someone whose career prospects may be advanced or dashed by their choice of equipment. Also, they may be a lot less risk adverse than I am as the rewards for performance are such that they're willing to risk safety to a much higher degree. I think that may actually relate to the dancing chicken issue.

I've had a similar argument before where someone was asserting that we should look to the habits of pro cyclists as models for maintaining long-term fitness. My counter to this was that pro cyclists were infamous for having taken substances to increase their short-term performance at the cost of potentially shortening their lives, and that people who need a sophisticated testing regimen to prevent them from doing that are probably not good models for maximizing their active longevity.

I have no data to support any idea that the kit and equipment used by pros is somehow more dangerous than that more commonly used, and I'm not asserting that at all. I'm just trying to be charitable as to how you decided to bring this dancing chicken bit in.

Maelochs

Athletes sacrifice their bodies long-term for short-term achievements.Everybody knows that .... Ask any boxer ... well, never mind ....

livedarklions

Right, but as far as cycling equipment and kit, is there any example of that? The only thing I could come up with is possibly putting yourself into super-aero positions on downhills.

Again, I was just trying to figure out how the dancing chicken comment had any relevance to the thread topic. The answer may very well be that it absolutely had none whatsoever.

seypat

It didn't. It only has relevance from about post 606 on when the thread veered off topic.

tomato coupe

A dancing chicken is the biggest waste of money in biking.

livedarklions

Worse than the Flying Pigeon?

bbbean 

That would be a great nickname for a racer. We've had the cannibal and the badger, we need the flying pigeon!

livedarklions

Don't miss your chance to race the real thing!
https://www.vintageartsinc.com/produ...gn=sag_organic

Or 150 of them:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...64171f59MA0z2o

Eric F 

Here's a fantastic waste of money...

Anodized bike parts. Zero performance gain and therefore a complete waste of money.



In related news...I just ordered a blue chainring for my MTB.

ShawnBikes

I've seen people pay high dollar for lightweight water bottle holders.

I feel like that was a big waist of money.

But I welcome to be proved wrong!!

I bought me a large saddle bag for bikepacking. I could had spent a lot of money on a very well-known brand named one. But I bought a cheap one that looks like it will do just as good.

veganbikes

For something like a King Cage, no I would happily and have happily paid good money for their Titanium cages, they look good, don't weight a lot but hold onto bottles really well. Other lightweight cages that don't hold bottles as well I can see the waste but King Cage is made in 'Murica of high quality materials. Ron who makes 'em is super nice and isn't trying to veer out of the lane with odd products that don't fit the brand or materials.

A good saddle bag won't wag a whole bunch and hold up to a lot of use and abuse. For instance my Arkel panniers are 10 years old and I could probably pass them off as recently purchased. They cost a lot new but say at $13 because they should easily last 30 years and probably more is not a bad deal. Cheap materials won't last as long and I like bags that last and hold up to my poor packing.

indyfabz

What do you consider “high dollar”?

Whatever that is, it wasn’t your money. Do you think the people who made the conscious decision to buy them thought they were wasting their money?

badger1

Might one ask: what, precisely, is a "big waist of money"? Does that refer to an individual wearing one of those (very well-stocked) olde-timey 'money belts'? If so, how is that relevant to bottle cages?

bbbean 

Thread summed up:

seypat

Roof racks can be big wastes of money....................If you forget you have bikes mounted on them.

ClydeClydeson

If you subscribe to the theory that 'time is money', the biggest waste of money is internet threads arguing about what is the biggest waste of money

Maelochs

I won't argue with that.

b88

One of the biggest waste of money, having a tire fetish. Purchasing a set of tires, changing out the current ones which were only used a couple months. Then spending a ton of money on sealant cos it gets spilled all over the place in the process. Then a week later, you see another set of tires you want to try and repeat this process a couple more times. I guess the only saving grace is that sooner or later, you will get full use out of all of them. Providing you stop your fetish addiction.

But thinking about it, doesn't sound all that abnormal. How many people even on this forum have multiple wheel sets with diff tires mounted. Probably a lot. At least I can say I'm frugal because I only have the wheels that came on the bike.

krakhaus 

I once spent $40 on a pair of gardening gloves that said Pearl Izumi on them, because I forgot my gloves at home. Basically the same gloves you can buy at Home Depot for like $3. I was feeling pretty ripped off that day.

livedarklions

You might as well make up a few more "fetishes." How about changing the frame once a week, that'd be a bigger waste of money, right?

WhyFi

Well, that may be a waste, but it depends on why you're going through the process and how much you ride. If you're in it to experience what's on offer and to find what you feel is the best tire for your riding, that may just be the cost of business. Some people feel life's too short to putz around, looking for their grail tires. Also, getting two or three months out of tire could very well be the useful life of a tire, particularly the rear, if you ride a decent amount.

And yeah - you should really get a sealant syringe and appropriate valve stems if you're spilling all over the place.

wolfchild

You seem to have a fetish and obsession with how other people spend their money and what they buy...BTW I enjoy testing tires out. I purchase a set of tires ride them for a few months then purchase a different set of tires ride them for a few months etc etc..I have three bikes and multiple wheelsets so none of the tires are ever wasted because I always eventually go back and end up using all of the tires I purchased until they wear out.

Homebrew01

5 minutes of practice.

PeteHski

Of all people to make such a claim.... Your obsession with how much people spend on cycling specific/branded gear is legendary.

csport

Short jerseys, long shorts and long socks.
Also overly stiff shoes which make it hard to walk the bike up steep hills (even though it's OK to do that).