Dear Magilla,

Your post doesn't even respond to what he was saying, your moron.

Everything Tom said below is correct and Magilla-certified. A lot of you
dumbasses in here ride around "training" on 16 pound bikes with carbon fiber
chains and frames made out of balsa wood.

Hinault rode on steel. Steel is for real men.

Magilla


Magilla Gorilla wrote:

IN A RACE YOU DO NOT NEED THE LATEST EQUIPMENT.

Here's the bottom line: If you're racing you DO NOT need the latest
equipment. If you're racing, come prepared. If you're training or just out
on a ride, and assuming you have disposible income to burn, go ahead and get
another bike with less bling and that way you'll be really safe, and don't
forget to wear a helmet because helmets will prevent you from becoming an
organ donor, but don't wear your "racing" helmet, rather, wear a helmet that
you can rely upon.

Thanks,

Magilla

"Tom Kunich" cyclintom@yahoo. com wrote in message
m...
In a race you need the latest equipment. Campy or Shimano top of the line
stuff, carbon fiber bikes, saddles without padding etc.

The problem is that people who don't race buy this stuff because they
think it's the "best" instead of "appropriate for racing".

Today we're seeing people riding around on the streets on equipment that
barely has a working life of a year and they don't know that.

Let's not mention the actual name of a major wheel manufacturer whose
wheel bearings are good for perhaps 10,000 miles and then need replacing.
In fact they can get so loose that the rocking of the axle can cause the
freehub to slip. Worst case you could destroy the freehub.

I can't tell you how many carbon hinged rear derailers I've seen with
broken pieces. And these aren't cheap. You're paying a small fortune to
save 12 grams on a part that will never see a race for most people.

Mind you, Campagnolo and Shimano make components that are plenty reliable
and long lived. The top of the line stuff is designed to meet other
criteria. They are building them for the lightest possible weight now and
that means that they had to make decisions about product lifespan. Since
these parts are designed to be used by racers and are replaced, at the far
end, every year it means that you can't expect the best parts to have a
lifespan compatible with normal bicycle use.

It is true that most bicyclists who buy the most expensive stuff generally
don't ride all that much. And since they could afford the stuff in the
first place it isn't as if they can't afford to replace it when it gets
broken.

But be aware that now it isn't just the components that are failing. Now
entire wheels, forks and frames are failing catastrophically and when they
do you're going down and it might be really hard.

Personally I'm six months into recovery from a failed front fork (caused
by a foot turned loose by a failed new fangled pedal). The foot could
never have gotten into the spokes of an older 32 spoke or more wheel but
went right in that expensive low spoke count wheel.

Last year a medium sized dog ran in front of a guy with whom I was riding.
The dog was essentially uninjured. The steering head broke off the bike
and my friend went head first into the asphalt. He broke his neck and for
a long hour I supposed he'd be dying. He survived and rides today. But if
he was riding a steel bike with a steel fork he wouldn't have crashed like
that.

Here's the bottom line - if you're racing go ahead and use the lightest
stuff available. If you're training or just out on a ride maybe you ought
to be using stuff that you can rely upon.