|   Am I the only one??? | francisco
Apr 15, 2002 12:30 PM | | Am I the only that when I scratch my new bike, I worry all about, because it isn´t just as perfect as when it comes out of the shop?
plz, comments... |
| it's a bike, not a museum piece | RVM
Apr 15, 2002 7:39 PM | | if you ride, of course it's gonna get scratched, broken, etc... |
| the first scratch hurts, but I'm with RVM... | KRob
Apr 15, 2002 8:43 PM | | Use it. Abuse it. Enjoy it. Get it dirty. Wash. Repeat. Take care of the components, linkages, drive train etc. so it will continue to function like new, but don't sweat the cosmetics too much. I must've dropped my brand spankin' new HH100x 10 times onto hard rock at Gooseberry and South Mountain (Phoenix) on it's maiden trip. I scuffed my knees and elbows and tweaked my wrist trying to spare it some of the blow, but to no avail. It still works (and looks) great. Damage assessment: one bent rear roater. small scratch on downtube decal, pretty good gouge on bottom of fork lowers. Rocks will do that.
Enjoy! It's just stuff. Nice stuff. But still just stuff. |
| See, that's why I'm looking for similar performance... | BowWow
Apr 15, 2002 10:01 PM | | ...for less money. I want to thrash the bike, and I don't think I could ride as hard or as worry-free on a $4,000 bike as on a $1,000 bike! Dang! This makes me lean even farther (further?) towards the Dakar over the Racer-X or Hammerhead! Drool factor just isn't worth the extra cash, at least at this point in my life....
But Charles and those boys at Titus sure know how to catch my eye!!!! Maybe I'll win the Bicycling "Win Any Bike In This Issue" contest and finally get the X!!! Just gotta pick the right seven words.... Hmmmm...
Steve |
| Get what you can afford, and have fun. | KRob
Apr 15, 2002 10:37 PM | | With the Dakar Comp or Expert or FSR Stumpjumper you prolly get 75% of the performance of the HH or Racer X for less than a third of the cost retail. I have a friend who vows she'll never own anything that she can't afford to give up if she had to. Good words to live by. My problem is, once I have something I want(need), that does what it's supposed to and works exceptionally well, I no longer think of it as $3500. To me at that point it's a tool. The right tool for the job. If it breaks, or someone steals it, that would stink, but I'd get over it, and get another one. If, on the other hand, I spent $1200 on a bike that worked pretty darn well, and performed pretty much to my expectations, but wasn't exactly what I ultimately wanted, I just blew $1200 that I could have put towards the dream bike. If it fell apart, broke down, or didn't perform better than my current ride, I'd feel ripped off and mad. Having said all that, $3500 is a lot more money to some than others. Weigh carefully how much you can stand to lose, before investing. |
| Good advice | Louie
Apr 16, 2002 9:45 AM | | You can generally have 98% of the fun at 35% of the price, but if you can afford to drop 3 or 4k on a bike... why not? Life is short, bikes are fun.
However... there is a really nice feeling about riding a "cheap" bike, especially when it comes to crashing. Straight gauge tubing is a lot more dent resistant than the ultralight ultra-butted stuff. |
| I agree who cares how it looks *NM* | andym
Apr 16, 2002 10:18 AM | | |
| scratch shows that it has been riden, gives character (nm) | Dan_the_ bike_man
Apr 16, 2002 12:03 AM | | |
| Thanks people | francisco
Apr 16, 2002 3:31 AM | | Thanks for their opinions. It has some scratches on the chain stay, and down tubes (rocky trails). But I know that I must be used to that "less painted surfaces". It is a specialized stumpjumper m4 comp 2002.
ride fun
bye |
| scratch it IMMEDIATELY! Get it over with. nm | bottombracket
Apr 17, 2002 2:43 PM | | |
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