Equipment Geeks



Hoya1500

New Member
Jul 17, 2005
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I have a friend that spends all his time wishing he had this, that, and the other for his bike (Trek 1000) or his "future" bike (Madone 5.9). CF Wheels, CF bikes, Dura-ace, Trek TTX, blah blah blah. I keep telling him to ride first, buy later and invite him out on group rides, but he can't seem to make the commitment (even with his leisurely class schedule), doesn't seem to even try to keep up with the pack. How can I save this guy from wasting his money and becoming an equipment geek?
 
ah yes, group rides, the trek 1000, if it fits him and is tuned, is oppropriate.
as much of a bike geek as i certainly am (got a good bike but have another 90% new built) we gotta remember the fun-damental truth,
you eventualy just gotta ride the thing.


Hoya1500 said:
I have a friend that spends all his time wishing he had this, that, and the other for his bike (Trek 1000) or his "future" bike (Madone 5.9). CF Wheels, CF bikes, Dura-ace, Trek TTX, blah blah blah. I keep telling him to ride first, buy later and invite him out on group rides, but he can't seem to make the commitment (even with his leisurely class schedule), doesn't seem to even try to keep up with the pack. How can I save this guy from wasting his money and becoming an equipment geek?
 
Tell it to him like it is: you might have a $6000 top-of-the-line everything bike but if the engine (your legs, lungs, and will) is not up to the task then you will be at the back of the pack no matter how much money you throw at the bike.

Get out and ride!
 
That's the point that i'm trying to get across to him. I'm all for having an expensive bike, I can't afford one now as i am a college student. But can appreciate those that do have them and actually ride them. I'm not sure he understands


Hypnospin said:
ah yes, group rides, the trek 1000, if it fits him and is tuned, is oppropriate.
as much of a bike geek as i certainly am (got a good bike but have another 90% new built) we gotta remember the fun-damental truth,
you eventualy just gotta ride the thing.
 
Hoya1500 said:
That's the point that i'm trying to get across to him. I'm all for having an expensive bike, I can't afford one now as i am a college student. But can appreciate those that do have them and actually ride them. I'm not sure he understands
If he finds a way to get the Madone 5.9 and then gets dropped by the pack, maybe then he'll understand.
 
even if your off the back it's nice to have cool stuff LOL but yes big buck bikes really don't make you faster, they do however help inspire one to ride more, which in turn tends to make a guy or gal faster...

but have you noticed the number of "big guys" on pimped out mega buck carbon rigs? I'm almost thinking carbon fiber makes you fat or something...

Stuff that makes your bike fit better makes you faster...

HR
 
My question here is why isn't he trying to keep up? Is he out of shape, or is it a psychological thing? Every group has a pecking order, but lagging far behind brings up questions. That might be the key to his obsessive buying.

doesn't seem to even try to keep up with the pack. How can I save this guy from wasting his money and becoming an equipment geek?[/QUOTE]
 
I'm not sure 100% sure why. But i'm guessing its the lack of any sort of training or riding (in a group or alone). Plus, he's got a thing for downhills


lehowe0 said:
My question here is why isn't he trying to keep up? Is he out of shape, or is it a psychological thing? Every group has a pecking order, but lagging far behind brings up questions. That might be the key to his obsessive buying.

:D
 
I think I may be becoming somewhat of an equipment weenie...

I've noticed that when riding up a certain hill near my home with groceries, that an extra 3 kg of weight does make it quite a bit harder to ride up the hill, so on a hilly course I'd say shedding 3 kg off your bike could make a nice little improvement. Too bad I can't afford a carbon frame bike, and soon I'll have dropped 700 euros on a Zipp 404, FSA aerobars and pair of good Michelin tires, so that's about my limit (and should do me!) till same time next year. I'll write a review of the Zipp 404, should be here within next couple days. I'll review it after riding it for a week.

-Bikeguy
 
Hoya1500 said:
I have a friend that spends all his time wishing he had this, that, and the other for his bike (Trek 1000) or his "future" bike (Madone 5.9). CF Wheels, CF bikes, Dura-ace, Trek TTX, blah blah blah. I keep telling him to ride first, buy later and invite him out on group rides, but he can't seem to make the commitment (even with his leisurely class schedule), doesn't seem to even try to keep up with the pack. How can I save this guy from wasting his money and becoming an equipment geek?
Whoa. Hoya Saxa! I am an SFS '91 grad. Is there still the GU team that we set up? ;)
 
Powerful Pete said:
Whoa. Hoya Saxa! I am an SFS '91 grad. Is there still the GU team that we set up? ;)

Wow, small world! There are some remnants of a team. There's a med school student by the name of Chris Pickett who competes regularly. Its more a club sport now and we've been having trouble scheduling group rides. Hopefully come next season we'll all be out in force.
 
Eh, let him do what he wants and worry about your own riding. Don't let yourself slow down just to get him to pedal harder.

Like mentioned above, let him be "that guy". And if you think thats funny, I once saw a litespeed bike fully decked out with carbon record and the guy wanted a powertap hub. I had no idea what the guy looked like until he stopped by to pick it up. The guy was, no kidding, about 350lbs and wanted the bike to show off to his friends. He told me this... I just laughed it off.
 
bikeguy said:
I think I may be becoming somewhat of an equipment weenie...

I've noticed that when riding up a certain hill near my home with groceries, that an extra 3 kg of weight does make it quite a bit harder to ride up the hill, so on a hilly course I'd say shedding 3 kg off your bike could make a nice little improvement. Too bad I can't afford a carbon frame bike, and soon I'll have dropped 700 euros on a Zipp 404, FSA aerobars and pair of good Michelin tires, so that's about my limit (and should do me!) till same time next year. I'll write a review of the Zipp 404, should be here within next couple days. I'll review it after riding it for a week.

-Bikeguy
for most of us, probably shedding 3 kg of body weight makes more sense. LOL use the $2000 or $3000 it would cost to shed that much off your bike as a tropical vacation incentive instead. ;)
 
tel him to do what I did....

started first with a good TMB to get the legs working... and then beg God for a new pair of lungs :eek:

lol.. once I was sure biking was for me... I sat on my money ( the budget I had) till the right bike came along. It's right for me...cause I could afford it, it's better than what I need and even if I spent another $3000 on it... I would still be no faster or pleased...

becoming a techno-equipment geek is the quickest way to ruin a sport for anyone.... just enjoy what you got and smile at those that blame the bike for week knees...:cool:

Tony
 
philso said:
for most of us, probably shedding 3 kg of body weight makes more sense. LOL use the $2000 or $3000 it would cost to shed that much off your bike as a tropical vacation incentive instead. ;)

I weigh 73-75 kg and am 181 cm tall. I don't need to lose any more weight, and I've noticed I tend to get a lot more cramps at 73 kg then at 75 kg. As to 3000 USD for a light, carbon frame bike, I had the opportunity to buy a whole (carbon frame) bike for 750 euros from a rider in our club, but didn't have cash then. Anyway, I won't be buying a new frame until at least 1 year from now. I usually drop the other riders in my club on climbs, but I would really like to rub it in with 3 kg less weight.

-Bikeguy
 
Hoya1500 said:
I have a friend that spends all his time wishing he had this, that, and the other for his bike (Trek 1000) or his "future" bike (Madone 5.9). CF Wheels, CF bikes, Dura-ace, Trek TTX, blah blah blah. I keep telling him to ride first, buy later and invite him out on group rides, but he can't seem to make the commitment (even with his leisurely class schedule), doesn't seem to even try to keep up with the pack. How can I save this guy from wasting his money and becoming an equipment geek?
What's wrong with being an equiptment freek? Some get more pleasure out of the equiptment than being as fit as the group. at least he rides. I'm both an equiptment freek as well as fitness. I just like machines of all kinds. I've been riding for 45 years, I'm 60, ride a C40 Colnago and am proud to be an equiptment freek. If he continues to ride it will all come into focus. by the way I can still kick many young asses. Have enjoyable rides. John
 
hughes said:
What's wrong with being an equiptment freek? Some get more pleasure out of the equiptment than being as fit as the group. at least he rides. I'm both an equiptment freek as well as fitness. I just like machines of all kinds. I've been riding for 45 years, I'm 60, ride a C40 Colnago and am proud to be an equiptment freek. If he continues to ride it will all come into focus. by the way I can still kick many young asses. Have enjoyable rides. John

I guess what I'm asking is: Doesn't seem incongruous to want to spend tons of money without ever using it? I, myself, am an avid fan of engineering and the like. Cars, motorcycles, bikes, Digital SLR cameras, i've been intrigued and obsessed by them all, and still am. But i know i don't need a new top-of-the-line anything. I wouldn't be able to utilize those things to their full potential and hence would be wasting my money. I still ride hard and don't feel limited to what i can do on my Trek 1500 in the least bit. My friend hardly rides and wants a new CF bike. Neither of us can afford one as we are college students, but he's always talking like he's about get one.
 
I think hughes makes a good point.

You should probably specify if he just likes the equipment, or if he uses it to brag and misrepresent himself. I can imagine there are people with carbon and dura ace/record simply so they can tell people they are a great cyclist. People that throw on a full kit on their $5,000+ carbon bike and ride around the park every day "doing recovery rides", just so they get the looks and tell people how expensive their bike is, and how fast they are.

If he just does it because he likes the equipment, than I think it's fine.

-Matt
 
mattjf said:
I think hughes makes a good point.

You should probably specify if he just likes the equipment, or if he uses it to brag and misrepresent himself. I can imagine there are people with carbon and dura ace/record simply so they can tell people they are a great cyclist. People that throw on a full kit on their $5,000+ carbon bike and ride around the park every day "doing recovery rides", just so they get the looks and tell people how expensive their bike is, and how fast they are.

If he just does it because he likes the equipment, than I think it's fine.

-Matt
One can't deny the beauty of precision engineering. :)