Silly Commuter Racer modifications, is it wrong?

DonDaddyD

DondaddyD wrote:

You seem to be talking like your on the pro tour and your having a discussion with your team manager about an under performing bike! They only thing you should be worrying about it fit. If it doesnt fit, sell it and get a new one. If it does fit, you are going to have to live with the short comings of the bike you can buy within your budget and just try and get the very best you can. Test ride as many as possible.

What I do suspect though is that this is all pish and you will end up splashing out on a top of the range bike regardless! See what those Fulcrums have started!

You see those boy racers with crap driving ability and modified cars that are no faster than the standard versions. Well that's me with a bike!

I realise that I could shut up and just ride my bike.

The above made me think. Spending stupid amounts on my bike is a perverse byproduct of my hobby.

Back when cars were cheap and fuel came from taps. Boyracers would modify their cars to insane levels. It was this stupidity of passion that breed the Max Power generation. Very often the cars weren't that much faster than the standard version, if at all. Some would say they looked tacky and the guy's that owned them normaly couldn't drive for sh*t. But regardless of how stupid or needlessly expensive, it was their hobby, their passion and they can't really be criticised for that.

The same could be said of any hobby. A hobby demands that you and only you enjoy levels of pleasure from it that all others see as pointless and if that hobby costs £'s others will see it as a needless expense. They cannot attach a value to something they don't truly appreciate.

Yes I am only a commuter, but I do love bikes and enjoy upgrading the crap out of my SCR. Yes I may be slower on my Fulcrums, but that sound was needed in my life and worth the money spent three times over!

It wasn't bad advice from the shop that made me put a £100 seat post on my £350 bike. I accept that anyone else could ride my bike and claim that there is no difference than the aluminium post it replaced. But personally it feels divine, and that is the nature of a hobby, it's pointless except to the individual.

So I ask is it wrong to want to modify a bike (my bike) into some stripped down race machine of the gods.

Have you got this bug, what is the most ridiculous piece of kit you've bought and how much was it?

_Brun_

I think your hundred quid seat post is slightly more inconspicuous than a pair of 4" chrome exhaust pipes (I dread to think if it wasn't) so reckon you can be excused that extravagance.

I'm a bit confused about the wheels tho', how do they make you slower than the ones you replaced? Doesn't seem particularly sensible to me, despite the fact that I'm with you on the noise (although admittedly not to the same extent).

UnworthyPapaLazaru

DonDaddyD wrote:

DondaddyD wrote:

You seem to be talking like your on the pro tour and your having a discussion with your team manager about an under performing bike! They only thing you should be worrying about it fit. If it doesnt fit, sell it and get a new one. If it does fit, you are going to have to live with the short comings of the bike you can buy within your budget and just try and get the very best you can. Test ride as many as possible.

What I do suspect though is that this is all pish and you will end up splashing out on a top of the range bike regardless! See what those Fulcrums have started!

You see those boy racers with crap driving ability and modified cars that are no faster than the standard versions. Well that's me with a bike!

I realise that I could shut up and just ride my bike.

The above made me think.

Me too.

Im a hypocrite.

Ive bought and put a pair of £125 track wheels on a £90 second hand banger of a bike.

I want to apologise. You spend as you see fit, if it makes you feel good then do it. Its your money and you can spend it how you like.

Im taking back my comments and now saying upradge the bike AND get a new bike.

Im sorry.

PS - £100 seat post on a £350 bike. You've got to love that.

ChrisLS

...I would like to upgrade my legs...

edhornby

because this is commuting, I'd say keep the big spends for the non-commuting bikes - however this is dependant on how many bikes you own and what you commute on

I'd also advocate spending within the relative cost band of the machine as a whole - I fully concur that it's your money to spend on what you want but £100 on a seatpost for a £350 bike seems OTT for me

but this is purely my opinion based on my meagre bank balance

DonDaddyD

_Brun_ wrote:

I think your hundred quid seat post is slightly more inconspicuous than a pair of 4" chrome exhaust pipes (I dread to think if it wasn't) so reckon you can be excused that extravagance.

I'm a bit confused about the wheels tho', how do they make you slower than the ones you replaced? Doesn't seem particularly sensible to me, despite the fact that I'm with you on the noise (although admittedly not to the same extent).

I had a brushed and polished aluminium barracuda bike that 'blinged' in sunlight!

Note to self: must add bling factor to current bike....

The wheels make me slower because every time I get the bike up to speed, I go freewheel to listen to that wonderous sound...

I want to apologise. You spend as you see fit, if it makes you feel good then do it. Its your money and you can spend it how you like.

No need to apologise.

PS - £100 seat post on a £350 bike. You've got to love that.

Between the seatpost, seat, tyres and wheels I've all but doubled the price of my bike.

One benefit of upgrades and spending needlessly. The embarrasment of spending stupid amounts and then asking someone to put it on your bike - listening to their ridicule of how you didn't need to spend so much means you learn to do it yourself.

patchy

iwork on a hand-me-down principle.

Buy nice stuff for the race bike; transfer old kit from race bike to commuter as appropriate. Upgrade two bikes for the price of one!

greg66_tri_v2.0

DonDaddyD wrote:

So I ask is it wrong to want to modify a bike (my bike) into some stripped down race machine of the gods.

err, no. Quite the opposite. Anyone who disagrees is plainly mad.

DonDaddyD wrote:

Have you got this bug, what is the most ridiculous piece of kit you've bought and how much was it?

Second hand Lightweight Standards. Tubulars, sick light, as used by Jan Ulrich and a host of other pro riders - and that means that they buy their own wheels and bin the team wheels to ride these. A shade over £1300.

Sold them six months later because they didn't really do it for me.

Can't say it was a profitable deal :oops:

lost_in_thought

Is it wrong to spend money on a bike? Hell no!

Is it perhaps a little silly to extensively upgrade a rubbish roadie frame instead of buying a shiny new bike when you can afford it? Perhaps.

I was overcapitalising on my £85 investment when I changed the bar tape... the bike nearly doubled in value with that, the pedals and the lock...

DonDaddyD

lost_in_thought wrote:

Is it wrong to spend money on a bike? Hell no!

Is it perhaps a little silly to extensively upgrade a rubbish roadie frame instead of buying a shiny new bike when you can afford it? Perhaps.

I was overcapitalising on my £85 investment when I changed the bar tape... the bike nearly doubled in value with that, the pedals and the lock...

Whose bike are you calling rubbish! :evil:

Jay dubbleU

I have a very expensive lock so I have to fasten it to something to stop it from being nicked

Cantdosleepy

I play the bass and the drums. Like cycling, like boy racing, like computing, like any number of hobbies, these hobbies have two components:

1) Doing the activity.
2) Acquiring gear for the activity.

Both are fine. It's possible to get really into the second part of the hobby and not so much into the first. And the other way around. There's a weird nobility in being a ninja on a crap bike/bass/drumkit, and frequently a sneering mentality for incompetents who own fancy stuff. Which is a shame, because there's nothing wrong with wanting nice things, and no hard-and-fast rules as to who is 'deserving' of a particular piece of equipment.

My bike cost £450 and I can barely ride the thing.

I don't really play the guitar... yet am saving up for this portion of sex:
http://cachepe.samedaymusic.com/media/quality,85/brand,sameday/0255800550v1_hi-6f8dccaa1438357c2ba916ebe11866f1.jpg [hooooge image!]

By all means upgrade your bike, but be aware that you're doing it because you enjoy upgrading your bike. And be aware that's totally cool.

DonDaddyD

Cantdosleepy wrote:

I play the bass and the drums. Like cycling, like boy racing, like computing, like any number of hobbies, these hobbies have two components:

1) Doing the activity.
2) Acquiring gear for the activity.

Both are fine. It's possible to get really into the second part of the hobby and not so much into the first. And the other way around. There's a weird nobility in being a ninja on a crap bike/bass/drumkit, and frequently a sneering mentality for incompetents who own fancy stuff. Which is a shame, because there's nothing wrong with wanting nice things, and no hard-and-fast rules as to who is 'deserving' of a particular piece of equipment.

My bike cost £450 and I can barely ride the thing.

I don't really play the guitar... yet am saving up for this portion of sex:
http://cachepe.samedaymusic.com/media/quality,85/brand,sameday/0255800550v1_hi-6f8dccaa1438357c2ba916ebe11866f1.jpg [hooooge image!]

By all means upgrade your bike, but be aware that you're doing it because you enjoy upgrading your bike. And be aware that's totally cool.

Ooooooo I just had a moment. I also have tears in my eyes!

Not many know but I used to play the Guitar and that Fender is Oooooo!

Cantdosleepy

She's quite the minx, isn't she? I was close to affording it trough that German music shop Thomann.de, but then the pound fell down the stairs and now it's stupidly expensive. Lovely, though.

lost_in_thought

DonDaddyD wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Is it wrong to spend money on a bike? Hell no!

Is it perhaps a little silly to extensively upgrade a rubbish roadie frame instead of buying a shiny new bike when you can afford it? Perhaps.

I was overcapitalising on my £85 investment when I changed the bar tape... the bike nearly doubled in value with that, the pedals and the lock...

Whose bike are you calling rubbish! :evil:

Mine, you pillock... look at what it's called in my sig...

DonDaddyD

Cantdosleepy wrote:

She's quite the minx, isn't she? I was close to affording it trough that German music shop Thomann.de, but then the pound fell down the stairs and now it's stupidly expensive. Lovely, though.

Truly madly deeply!

DonDaddyD

lost_in_thought wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Is it wrong to spend money on a bike? Hell no!

Is it perhaps a little silly to extensively upgrade a rubbish roadie frame instead of buying a shiny new bike when you can afford it? Perhaps.

I was overcapitalising on my £85 investment when I changed the bar tape... the bike nearly doubled in value with that, the pedals and the lock...

Whose bike are you calling rubbish! :evil:

Mine, you pillock... look at what it's called in my sig...

Who you calling pillock missy!? You're cruising for a scalping (when you can walk) with talk like that

itboffin

ChrisLS wrote:

...I would like to upgrade my legs...

+100

spasypaddy

on my £400 commuter i have:
Garmin 705 - £300
Niterider lite - £85
Saddle bag and tools - £30
Pump - £15
Bottle cage - £6
Selle Italia seat not standard on the bike - £80
SPDs - £20

So as you can see the accessories on my bike are worth alot more than the bike...

Elganesh

I'll happily spend a little more than I should on my bike, though if I had enough money I'd rather buy a new bike. No..wait, I am buying a new bike! Trek Madone 4.7 here I come.

However I did get unreasonably excited about spending £12 on a new saddle bag for my winter bike which I found quite disturbing. Is that normal?

cjcp

patchy wrote:

iwork on a hand-me-down principle.

Buy nice stuff for the race bike; transfer old kit from race bike to commuter as appropriate. Upgrade two bikes for the price of one!

+1. Any goodies are really bought with the race bike in mind. The Reynolds forks are the luxury item on the commuter steed.

stuaff

Depends on the bike. My Jetstream cost me £400 or so, spent just under £300 on extra parts, but a new one (with those same parts) would have been nearer £800 at the time, and I'd have to have brought it in from Germany with no UK warranty support. Not that much better, I'll grant you. But the '08 model (admittedly with an updated frame and £££££ German-A suspension fork) is £1299. The '09 nearer £1800. Looking at it that way, it's a bargain....

Jay dubbleU

So far ( after 3 months) new Marathons to replace the Maxxis and avoid vists from the PF

SCS mudguards to stop my back getting wet and muddy

Topeak rear rack - very usefull

Crank bros pump, basic tools

Everything I have bought is absolutely essential for my daily commute

il_principe

DonDaddyD wrote:

So I ask is it wrong to want to modify a bike (my bike) into some stripped down race machine of the gods.

No!

DonDaddyD wrote:

Have you got this bug, what is the most ridiculous piece of kit you've bought and how much was it?

I have the bug bad. Most ridiculous piece of kit I have is my Pinarello Prince - I mean this thing is ridden by a Pro Team, I cannot justify it on any logical terms, I am not Valverde, I am not Fränk Schleck, but that's not the point is it?

What else? Well my £800 Focus has £500 wheels, and I've just lavished £1500 on a pair of deep rim carbon wheels (thank you Wiggle for your interest free credit!)

Passions tend to be illogical (or at least appear to be from the outside), and I'm sure many people would consider spending upwards of £3000 on a bike to be sheer madness, but I don't. I love that bike, I love riding it, love lavishing time, attention and money on it and quite frankly I don't give a to$$ what other people think. It's no madder than millions of amateurs spending thousands on golf, or extravagant holidays etc. At the end of the day, my hobby keeps me fit, happy and busy and is still less expensive than owning and running a car (which of course I don't). I'm sure that when kids and family appear on my horizon I will no longer have the time or money to lavish on cycling, so I'm going to make the most of it for now.

DonDaddyD

jashburnham wrote:

I have the bug bad. Most ridiculous piece of kit I have is my Pinarello Prince - I mean this thing is ridden by a Pro Team, I cannot justify it on any logical terms, I am not Valverde, I am not Fränk Schleck, but that's not the point is it?

What else? Well my £800 Focus has £500 wheels, and I've just lavished £1500 on a pair of deep rim carbon wheels (thank you Wiggle for your interest free credit!)

Passions tend to be illogical (or at least appear to be from the outside), and I'm sure many people would consider spending upwards of £3000 on a bike to be sheer madness, but I don't. I love that bike, I love riding it, love lavishing time, attention and money on it and quite frankly I don't give a to$$ what other people think. It's no madder than millions of amateurs spending thousands on golf, or extravagant holidays etc. At the end of the day, my hobby keeps me fit, happy and busy and is still less expensive than owning and running a car (which of course I don't). I'm sure that when kids and family appear on my horizon I will no longer have the time or money to lavish on cycling, so I'm going to make the most of it for now.

If we weren't so manly I'd give you a hug!

+1

Chapeau!

greg66_tri_v2.0

jashburnham wrote:

I'm sure that when kids and family appear on my horizon I will no longer have the time or money to lavish on cycling, so I'm going to make the most of it for now.

You poor misguided thing. You will have both the time and money. It's just that you'll have to hide things at home, or have them delivered to work, and generally lie: "No, that's not new, I've had it ages", and "I can't remember how much it was. I don't think it was much though. I got it from ebay".

Like the rest of us. :oops:

chronyx

What does a fulcrum sound like then? :? It would have to be a thumping great V8 to get my wallet opened

Bassjunkieuk

Nobody ever understands why one person can spend so much money on their hobby, it's practically an un-written rule!

My wife for example really enjoys doing crafts and sewing, so I didn't bat an eyelid (for fear of being refused a certain activity..........and I'm not talking about cycling) when she wanted to spend £600 on an all singing, all dancing sewing machine that was very clever and could do embroidery and little pictures all by itself!

Likewise when we first got together I started collecting a certain comic book series, this slowly evolved over time into trying to get my hands on signed issues of said comic and at my worst I ended up paying £40 for 1 comic from America (which was ONLY available to DEALERS at 1 Comic Expo and SIGNED by the ARTIST, talk about RARE!!!!!) and a few others ran into double figures. This was all at just after I finished playing Magic:The Gathering where at one point I sold a piece of card, about the size of a standard playing card, for £20!

She still moans about my spending on the bike but she (sort of) understands that I really enjoy the cycling, it makes me happy and keeps me fit so she just lets me get on with it.

So coming back to the OP, DDD if you want to spend lavish amounts on upgrading your existing bike go ahead! Also another word of advice..........whilst your freewheeling listening to your wheels YOU MIGHT GET SCALPED ;-)

il_principe

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

So coming back to the OP, DDD if you want to spend lavish amounts on upgrading your existing bike go ahead! Also another word of advice..........whilst your freewheeling listening to your wheels YOU MIGHT GET SCALPED ;-)

Hopefully by me whilst freewheeling on my new DTSwiss 190 hubs.

lost_in_thought

Speaking of hubs... what's the company called that begins with an R and makes wheels?

prawny

Is there going to be a minimum weight limit for SCR? Or drug testing? Can you get EPO from tesco's?

I'm all for sending money on hobbies, I play the drums too, my kit (shells only) cost me £500 and then I spent about £3000 on cymbals including 4 ride cymbals which is just plain stupid :shock: