RE: You don't need an expensive bike for fitness
Bro, you're right about the top brands. I always HAD to buy a Specialized mountainbike. Just because the champions rode those and ofcourse there is some beauty and proffesionallity in the looks of em. Frames also had a reputation of being the best. Then i saw the light. Because i was already passed the rookie level and going towards more mid class biker i wanted the hardware to be shimano XT at least and the derailleurs and breaks at least XTR. The fork should preferably a FOX and those on a Specialized frame. That price is going crazy high do fast. A specialized with all XT parts is already crazy expensive, let go with some XTR and a hood Fork. I know some people riding CUBE bikes, ordered online and delivered from Germany to the Netherlands. It has some kind of pricefighter reputation, but i took a look and, wow all the great parts i wanted on their frames, for half the price of a specialized. Say 1000 euro's and you get yourself a great bike to even take the rougher terrain trails with ease. I was interested. But then a Dutch bycicle factory came for the first time ever with decent mountain bikes. I ordered me a Gazelle W8, just because it was a lot of bike for the bucks, the color was cool, and after a first tour on it i knew for sure, this bike felt like an extention of my body, so perfectly did that geometry fit my body. And a light frame, great hardware, great bike overall. For me the best i ever owned, but at a well damn lower pricetag then a specialized.
Now I realize that buying a specialized would eventually be nothing more then a materialistic showoff of what i could spend on s bike. Just that. And i am so against that behavior so im glad i woke up in time.
Unfortunately my precious bike got stolen without it being insured at that moment.
But as we speak i am on the search for one on the second hand market. They are 7 years old do if i find one, it should be cheap as a MF.
your great story has such a tragic ending. :(
You are clearly know much more than I do but you bring up a very good point. Essentially the derailleur and everything involved with it is the most important part of the bike. Sometimes people don't even pay attention to this, just the name on the frame.
At $250 I can admit that my gear setup is less than perfect and wish it was a bit nicer, however, since i don't ride competitively and i am 95% on road, it works just fine for me.
I don't think i will upgrade my bike until a good deal comes up on a second hand sale for now.
Oh, also the lower shimano parts are great. It completely depends how hard you will let the bike work for you. If you use it mostly on the road, they will be great. Although i would choose either a real race bike or would go for a single speed, that saves you a lot of money for one of the most important and expensive parts. No more derrailleurs. Maybe just keep the front one and thats not the expensive one.
I thought i needed the XTR stuff, because i was going to take it to the beach and the woods. Rough terrain. Well XT would be good enough,and i think even cheaper ones would survive me.
Its mostly marketing what we fall for
I've been real happy with my hybrid tires although a vast majority of my riding is on-road. I just need to find some tougher inner-tubes though. I think having a single speed would drive me a bit nuts as I actually enjoy hitting the high speeds but yes... this would dramatically lower the price of the bike as I am quite certain the ONLY piece of semi-expensive equipment on my rig is the derailleur :)