Keeping up Appearances

yoohoo999

just noticed this thread.

wow, communist mountain biking, now that is an interesting proposition!

Should we all buy the same £500 bike?

What a pointless statement mate, and I don't mean that in a harsh way, just that it applies to every single product group I can imagine.

The world doesn't work the way you want it to.

I work hard, I earn money for that work, I spend it on things I want. End of.

I spent £200 on a pair of inner ear heaphones, much to the amusement of my friends, but they dramatically improve how much I enjoy listening to music on my commute. Yes, I actually do have a bit of a giggle to MYSELF when I see people spending £200 on an iphone and then thousands on their music collection.........only to listen to it through a pair of generic apple earphones! But to them, that is perfectly acceptable, their music sounds good and they can spend £200 on something else. I just don't see the logic in it.....but that doesn't mean i am right of course!

Similarly, I don't buy bike specific clothing (other than armour and gloves etc) since I quite like sticking on a t-shirt/hoody and pair of shorts and just tearing around. People often have a bit of a giggle at me sitting on an 8" travel bike at the top of a downhill run with a pair of paint splattered shorts on and t-shirts i got free from snowboard companies. But i don't see the point on spending lots on clothing i KNOW that i will trash within a few months. I crash....a lot! I tear holes in old jeans after a few rides so I would be a bit annoyed if I ripped a flimsy £40 Royal top and £120 pair of "rugged DH trousers".

But I know some people love to look the part and that it makes them feel good, so to those people its £160 well spent. I can't argue with that I would never try to.

I could go on for ever with examples, but at the end of the day mountain biking is one of the most accessible extreme sports there is. We have access to better perfoming kit than ever at better prices than ever. Yes, you will always have people who have better kit than you and who will be smug about it, but you have to live with that. That's life.

I've got a mate who I've know all of my life who I barely speak to now because his life didn't go according to plan and mine did. The jealousy/perceived injustice drives him so crazy that he won't even pick up the phone. He's told me to my face and thinks that I am smug about the whole thing.

The funny thing is, the thought hadn't even occured to me until he pointed it out As a matter of fact I was often jealous of him, he's got a bigger c0ck than me

For the most part, it's all in your head my friend, and that parts that aren't........c'est la vie!

Surf-Matt

We all make our own choices and while spending more on almost everything usually makes for improvements I am still completely mystified by the thousands that spend anywhere over £100 on...


a watch. That tells the time no better (in fact often worse) than a sub £100 watch AND needs servicing.

Sod the "amazing" movement - why not make a mechanical washing machine "just because you can" and charge £15k for it? About as useful.

yoohoo999

^ to be fair though, most of that is fashion and branding more than anything else.

I just bought a Hugo Boss cashmere coat the other day and that certainly wasn't priced according solely to the quality of the fibres used and how warm it will keep me!

I looooooooooooooove it though. I'm such a tart when it comes to work clothes -suits/shoes/overcoats seem to destroy my disposable income!!!

Surf-Matt

At least cashmere is good quality and a useful material though. And Hugo Boss make clothes that last and are usually cut well.

What does a £10k Patek Phillipe do that a G Shock/lower end Seiko/whatever won't do? Apart from have that slightly gay "dressy" look.

Dazzza

What iem's you buy, im a self confessed head fi tart myself. :oops:

As for the bike meh who gives a monkeys, so long as they're having fun is what counts, i just try not to fall off.

Adam Thompson

colintrav wrote:

Adam Thompson wrote:

its the same old jealousy story..

The spoilt rich kid who gets everything of mommy/papa
the little old lady driving a 60 grand car at 20mph..
or that ugly fat middle aged man with a stunning 20 yr old blonde in his ferarri

thats life just suck it up, i have

poo happens, if you cant afford that 4k bike just make sure as hell you outride the guy next time you see him on the trails

This has got sfa to do with jealousy yer barking up the wrong tree ,

It has everything to do with jealousy, its ok most people get jealous..i know i do, its human nature i guess

Joe_Pineapples

I think we can conclude that this post is well and truly finished.

All say aye?



The aye's have it.

yoohoo999

Dazzza wrote:

What iem's you buy, im a self confessed head fi tart myself. :oops:

After testing about a dozen pairs, I finally settled on a set of UE Super fi 5 Pro's

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ulltimate-Ears-Super-Pro-Clear/dp/B000KFSF2A

I spent a few quid more than they were available elsewhere because apparently only Handheld Audio Ltd offer full UK warranty benefits. Then I bought some nice tips to finish the package off

It was really difficult for me because my taste in music is so varied (Handel to Svan Vath) and the levels of compression I use is also so varied (from lossless to heavily compressed).

Some pairs were great on lossless, but then you could hear noise when listening to compressed tracks, others were great for melodic tunes but failed on bass etc etc etc

The last pair I tried were the UE's. I was absolutely blown away, and they were about £100 cheaper than I was willing to pay.

UE design inner ear monitors for almost every professional perfoming artist in the world, so they know their shizzle and these Super fi 5 Pros are just perfect. I wouldn't change anything about them.........they have changed the way I listen to music, I have tried going back through every track I have ever listened to because I now want to hear it how it was MEANT to be heard!

Best money I have ever spent!

yoohoo999

Surf-Matt wrote:

What does a £10k Patek Phillipe do that a G Shock/lower end Seiko/whatever won't do? Apart from have that slightly gay "dressy" look.

I know the answer to this one all to well unfortunately. Almost without exception, every male I work with over the age of 30 wears an IWC or Patek.

Quite simply, when you are not in your house or car, there is no way of demonstrating wealth other than by your watch.

I good eye can tell a suit made by a good tailor, or well made shoes that would have cost a lot, but not everyone. However, almost everyone can identify an expensive watch.

In my line of work, wealth is often (wrongly) linked with success, competency and seniority. We all look the same, suits and ties (clients and advisors alike)

Therefore the only easy way to display your wealth/success is buy wearing a very expensive watch.

It's the only reason i can think of as to why otherwise intelligent men spend over £10k on a watch.

I find it quite vulgar in some respects, but I do think that IWC make some of the most stunning watches I've ever seen, and it's almost a marker in your own life to set a "goal" of reaching a point in your career when you can spank £10k on watch with less than a months salary.

It's a crude yardstick, but there aren't many other easily identifable ones unfortunately!

Dazzza

Aah ue5's yeah i still got my old pair kicking about good phones, give them a try with comply tips, gets a better seal and improves the sound further, i switched the cabling on mine, it made the iem's stick out rather than in but that made it more comfortable and sit in the canal better plus it's easier to loop the cable over the ear.

http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/comply- ... -1838.html

You just need to line up the marks on the plug and the iem otherwise you reverse the polarty, not damaging but it kills the sound a bit.

I went for sleek audio customs, amazing sound not as bassy as the ue5's sound wise they have been compared to the ue10 customs, very balanced and neutral giving an accurate representation of the music.

I use a sansa clip atm as i broke the screen on what was my excellent cowon s9, but it's being repaired under insurance so fingers crossed.

Btw i really hope you didn't pay the amazon price they can be had for much cheaper, i've also heard the super 5 vi's are meant to sound a little bit better despite having just one armature.


Shot with DMC-FZ8 at 2009-02-07

RallyBiker

Strange the way threads veer off topic. :roll: From image consious folk on MTB to watches and earplugs!! :?: :?: :!:

yoohoo999

Dazzza wrote:

give them a try with comply tips, gets a better seal and improves the sound further, i switched the cabling on mine, it made the iem's stick out rather than in but that made it more comfortable and sit in the canal better plus it's easier to loop the cable over the ear.

You just need to line up the marks on the plug and the iem otherwise you reverse the polarty, not damaging but it kills the sound a bit.

yeah i've been running comply tips for about 6 months now. they are pretty damn good and inexpensive.

what cabling did you buy? could you link me to it please?

Dazzza

It's the standard cable, you basically put left right and right left making sure the marks on the cable and iem line up they look like little bumps, it's called the flip flop mod hmm i'll see if i can find it it's quite simple and improves the fit imo.

Right found a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWr7hzjv ... re=related

Just bear in mind you do get notches in the cable and iem that have to remain lined up to stay in phase.

Panter

colintrav wrote:

The select bikers that act like some people who are members of a Golf Club that have to be seen with the latest Bike that's just been released on the Market no matter what ,, It's all about projecting an Image ... and keepin up with Appearances !!!

Image is everything to these select sad people that have to get the latest gear no exceptions , when the bike they bought last year is still good enough to ride but they want a new one no exceptions


More money than common sense !!!

Here we go again....... :roll:

In need of a better paid job are we?

yoohoo999

Dazzza wrote:

It's the standard cable, you basically put left right and right left making sure the marks on the cable and iem line up they look like little bumps, it's called the flip flop mod hmm i'll see if i can find it it's quite simple and improves the fit imo.

Right found a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWr7hzjv ... re=related

Just bear in mind you do get notches in the cable and iem that have to remain lined up to stay in phase.

brilliant, i'll give that a bash!

thank's a lot for looking out the link