Are there downsides to being "overbiked"?

Giraffoto

Just that. Are there any real disadvantages to having a bike that's a much higher specification than you really need?

(edited to make the title sound more correct)

rudivoller22

No it's is compulsory

jordan_217

Yes, people will take the pi55 out of you behind your back. :-)

diy

If you are very heavy you could exceed the design weight of some of the higher end components. And the obvious of being a target to "race".

There is also a chance that the higher end bikes have geometry not particularly suited to the type of rider/riding.

It depends what you mean by being over biked.

ddraver

So long as your not a 55yr old "dentist" who can barely streatch past his knees let alone touch toes, on a race bike designed for a 25yr old with a spine like a slinky. No!

imposter2.0

Next time you see someone driving a Ferrari - ask them if they are 'over-carred'....(sp)

cougie

Just that you could have spent the money on something else maybe ?

turbotommy

Imposter wrote:

Next time you see someone driving a Ferrari - ask them if they are 'over-carred'....(sp)

This

Whatever your comfortable with I think is fine

(If you're trying to convince yourself you can justify a 5k bike I'll happily be the devil on your shoulder :twisted:!)

iPete

Some people on Bikeradar will bleat on about passing someone on a nicer bike on their Triban in their matching lidl kit.

tangled_metal

Get the best bike for your needs that you can afford. That's what I do but then my budget doesn't extend to anything that would class as being over-biked. Can you be overbiked for £800? That's for a Whyte Sussex I'm considering for commuting, touring and probably towing a trailer too (as well as easy off road/gravel tracks).

Anyhow, if you are a high roller looking for a bike that weighs a few 100 grammes less than your old one when you are a few thousand grammes overweight then I would say you are just too obsessive about your bike weight but still not over-biked. It is what you want, you can afford it without putting your family on bread an water for a year then get it. Just make sure there is not a better one for a bit more that you will want later on in the year. Get that as well!!

Man Of Lard

iPete wrote:

... in their matching lidl kit.

Now that's flash... matching Lidl kit. Some of us have standards (albeit low) where matching rarely happens

Mccaria

You start avoiding puddles, pot-holes, rainy days, threat of rain days etc....

alex222

Imposter wrote:

Next time you see someone driving a Ferrari - ask them if they are 'over-carred'....(sp)

A mate of mine had possession of an Aston Martin last night and this morning (short story - his company has bought one and he had to look after it for a day, the lucky boy). But with the snow he was so worried about being 'over-carred' that he left late for work to avoid the worst of the traffic.

veronese68

The only time you can be overbiked is when you have to lock it up somewhere. Obviously you need a pub hack for such eventualities.

kajjal

Just enjoy it and don't worry about it. For me it is important to spend just enough to get a good bike without going over the top for things that are just put there to meet a higher price point.

northpole

Depends entirely on your personality (and to an extent on how fit you are/ will become). An all out speed machine like the Spesh McLaren Venge, complete with tubs may well prove to be a horrible ride somewhere around the £15k mark. Some of the hand built steel bikes are also expensive, but serve a very different brief. Personally I love quality workmanship and can totally understand someone wanting something like the Feather, irrespective of their level of fitness. Different with the Spesh which, to my mind, has a very specific role in life!

Wheeling a team coloured Dogma f8 up a hill wearing full Sky kit for some would be the ultimate walk of shame....!

Peter

TheHound

The bike world seems to have this reverse snobbery, where people with cheaper stuff (aldi/lidl/dhb) look down on those that buy more expensive gear stuff (assos/castelli/rapha).

You can't please everyone, so just please yourself and buy what you want as long as you can afford it.

cattytown

TheHound wrote:

You can't please everyone, so just please yourself and buy what you want as long as you can afford it.

This.

My opinion? Why not have something that every time you see it, you just want to swing a leg over it and ride? If it motivates you to get out, why not? Equally, if swinging your leg over a Troban three and dropping the dogmas and Venges is your thing, be grateful to the overbiked owners of them :-)

Paul.

thegreatdivide

TheHound wrote:

The bike world seems to have this reverse snobbery, where people with cheaper stuff (aldi/lidl/dhb) look down on those that buy more expensive gear stuff (assos/castelli/rapha).

You can't please everyone, so just please yourself and buy what you want as long as you can afford it.

Yip. They don't like it up 'em. Especailly if you're wearing Rapha

jordan_217

cattytown wrote:

Troban three

Paul.

Didn't they get 25 years for a bombing in the 70's

diy

There is an argument that you are more likely to want to go for a ride - with something nice to ride. But like the Aston, Ferrari etc.. running costs can also be substantially higher.

ai_1

I think any answer to this is going to be very dependent on context.
First, what do you mean by "overbiked"?
Assuming you mean a more expensive bike than is likely to make any difference to your performance, the important question is whether the cost of the bike represents a lot of money to you or is it a small portion of your disposable income which you routinely spend on luxuries anyway. Because an expensive bike is a luxury for amateur riders. You can get nearly the same enjoyment and performance from €1k bike as a €10k bike. Yes, there will be differences in weight and refinement but they're not likely to ever be the difference between enjoying a ride or not.
An expensive bike is more about prestige and appreciation of the bike as a physical object as it is about what the bike will let you do on the road.

If the bike represents a major investment for you then the obvious downside is initial cost, maintenance cost and any anxiety that may come from using a bike that reflects a large chunk of your earnings. I could have bought a much more expensive bike than I currently ride without impacting my lifestyle. My savings would have been dented but not depleted. However I couldn't justify (to myself) spending €3k+ on a new bike so I spent about €2400. I don't think spending more would have given me a more enjoyable object. Some aspects would have improved but my attitude towards it would have also suffered because I'd spent more than I was comfortable spending on it.

The value at which any given person will say "that's too much" is pretty arbitrary and varies drastically. It really depends on whether they view their bike as a simple tool, a lifestyle accessory that reflects who they are, a pleasing engineered object with some aesthetic and tactile value, etc...

As others mentioned, the other issue is that other cyclists are likely to be a bit envious and/or amused if you ride a massively expensive and high spec bike but either rarely use it or can't perform at a level they consider appropriate for the bike. This may or may not matter to you but if you're worried about prestige then surely this goes in the negative column?

DeVlaeminck

For me it depends on how much money you have. If I had a Colnago C60 with Super Record I'd be scared of racing it, leaning against a cafe etc - whereas something that cost 2-3k I can maybe accept is a tool for the job and I can accept a bit of wear and tear as inevitable and not throw myself of the nearest tall building if I crashed it. I guess that's not about having a bike that is more than you really need but having one that is more expensive than you can really afford though.

Totally agree that inverse snobbery is just silly but I don't think it's that common - sure if I did turn up to the local chain gang on that C60 I'd get a bit of ribbing but most people would be genuinely interested in the bike. Myself I like to have a bike for a while - you replace a few bits here and there and it just becomes more personal - I'm quite attached to my old race bike I bought new 7 years ago and though I don't really need it now I'm keeping it anyway - each to their own though.

mpatts

It's impossible to overbike your ability, but it is possible to overbike your love and understanding for cycling.

In other words, if you ride (say) a colnago because you bloody love it and love cycling, and constantly seek to absolrb more info about our wonderful passtime, then that's OK in my eyes. Similarly, if you popped out and bought a Dogma because "you saw that chap Wiggo on one" and have left the valve caps on, then you are overbiked.

In ability terms we are ALL overbiked. Non more so than me.

passout

I love this question, but I'll answer it the most efficent way I can - yes! Main thing is to think about what you need vs what you want and arrive on something in the middle (depending on budget).

Giraffoto

DeVlaeminck wrote:

. . . something that cost 2-3k I can maybe accept is a tool for the job and I can accept a bit of wear and tear as inevitable and not throw myself of the nearest tall building if I crashed it. . .

and before that, Ai_1 wrote:

. . . However I couldn't justify (to myself) spending €3k+ on a new bike so I spent about €2400. . .

I'm planning to spend less than that and will still regard myself as overbiked (for my ability)

mpatts

Giraffoto wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

. . . something that cost 2-3k I can maybe accept is a tool for the job and I can accept a bit of wear and tear as inevitable and not throw myself of the nearest tall building if I crashed it. . .

and before that, Ai_1 wrote:

. . . However I couldn't justify (to myself) spending €3k+ on a new bike so I spent about €2400. . .

I'm planning to spend less than that and will still regard myself as overbiked (for my ability)

Almost everyone is overbiked for their ability. Just buy what you like.

I don't need a carbon chorus rear mech, but GOD it's lovely to look at.

ai_1

Giraffoto wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

. . . something that cost 2-3k I can maybe accept is a tool for the job and I can accept a bit of wear and tear as inevitable and not throw myself of the nearest tall building if I crashed it. . .

and before that, Ai_1 wrote:

. . . However I couldn't justify (to myself) spending €3k+ on a new bike so I spent about €2400. . .

I'm planning to spend less than that and will still regard myself as overbiked (for my ability)

Yep, as others have said including mpatts above, pretty much all of us are "overbiked" for our ability in so far as the bike is not really a limiting factor on our performance. As I said in my last post, the cost each of us considers excessive varies dramatically. There isn't really an objective measure of what amount you should spend on your bike.

mpatts

Ai_1 wrote:

Giraffoto wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

. . . something that cost 2-3k I can maybe accept is a tool for the job and I can accept a bit of wear and tear as inevitable and not throw myself of the nearest tall building if I crashed it. . .

and before that, Ai_1 wrote:

. . . However I couldn't justify (to myself) spending €3k+ on a new bike so I spent about €2400. . .

I'm planning to spend less than that and will still regard myself as overbiked (for my ability)

Yep, as others have said including mpatts above, pretty much all of us are "overbiked" for our ability in so far as the bike is not really a limiting factor on our performance. As I said in my last post, the cost each of us considers excessive varies dramatically. There isn't really an objective measure of what amount you should spend on your bike.[/quote

Cost is not a great measure - value is far better.

I get more value from my chorus gruppo than I would from a tekro grouset, because it makes me happy.

ai_1

mpatts wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

Giraffoto wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

. . . something that cost 2-3k I can maybe accept is a tool for the job and I can accept a bit of wear and tear as inevitable and not throw myself of the nearest tall building if I crashed it. . .

and before that, Ai_1 wrote:

. . . However I couldn't justify (to myself) spending €3k+ on a new bike so I spent about €2400. . .

I'm planning to spend less than that and will still regard myself as overbiked (for my ability)

Yep, as others have said including mpatts above, pretty much all of us are "overbiked" for our ability in so far as the bike is not really a limiting factor on our performance. As I said in my last post, the cost each of us considers excessive varies dramatically. There isn't really an objective measure of what amount you should spend on your bike.

Cost is not a great measure - value is far better.

I get more value from my chorus gruppo than I would from a tekro grouset, because it makes me happy.[/quote]
I think most people will have a cost above which they will not be willing to go. Of course this figure is not generally fixed in stone and when we go shopping for a new bike, or anything else, we tend to start off thinking X is the max we'll spend but then convince ourselves there is value (by way of increased enjoyment/performance for small incremental increases in cost) to be gained by spending a little more to get this and that better features or components. It's how marketing works really. So I did mean cost but we tend to use the value argument to tweak that cost value upwards.
When I was choosing my current bike I started off looking to keep the spend to about €2200. Then over a couple of months my budget drifted up until I was seriously considering bikes for around €3250 before I decided I was just getting carried away and went with the a €2400 option.

FransJacques

Only your view matters - you know when you're over-biked when:

a) you're embarrassed to show up to your club ride on a flashy Peter Sagan Limited Edition Super Six Evo when the rest are on steel winter beaters with mud guards and they drop you the first railway overpass,

b) your £6000 Kyklos Killer is so painfully unforgiving you can't ride it longer than 30 mins,

c) you keep puncturing your Veloflex tubs on the way to buy milk at the corner store

Basically, when the tool is overkill for its purpose you know.

However, if you do 1 annual holiday to somewhere nice like Mallorca or the Dolomites or Lake Tahoe or one of these £3000 Rapha travel trips and you have a custom painted RCA and dress head to toe in Assos, then you're living the dream and I want to be in your will.