[bike_rider_v2.0]

I read these threads and most people have product reviews and talk about how sweet their rides are. Why? My bike sucks, but i dont care. My singlespeed cost me $8, and i would go riding with my friends on geared bikes and smoke 'em. Then they got singlespeeds, spent like $1000, and i still smoke them when we ride.

i was just wondering if you guys think that better parts really make the ride that much better?

 

[saviour machine]

I read these threads and most people have product reviews and talk about how sweet their rides are. Why? My bike sucks, but i dont care. My singlespeed cost me $8, and i would go riding with my friends on geared bikes and smoke 'em. Then they got singlespeeds, spent like $1000, and i still smoke them when we ride.

i was just wondering if you guys think that better parts really make the ride that much better?

Well, It makes me feel better about myself. I know I look good with the bling, bling and all. plus it shows everyone how much money I make.But I think it's the key to my speed.
No parts will not make you faster. It's the person on the bike that makes the speed.But you could look good like the rest of us blingers.

 

[Thor29]

Sometimes.

If you were to graph the performace vs cost of mountain bike parts, you would see the cost skyrocket for very little gain as you get towards the more expensive stuff. Would a Phil Wood hub make you go any faster than a Surly hub? I doubt it. Could you go faster on a full custom super bling titanium single speed vs a Redline Monocog? Probably a little bit, depending on where you ride. But yeah, the rider is definitely more important than the bike - I can ride my skinny tire rigid cyclocross bike faster on gnarly single track than some people can ride their full-suspension bikes. On the other hand, I could ride the same trail even faster if I switched to riding one of their full-suspension bikes.

I like going fast downhill, so good tires, good handling frames, and decent front suspension are very important to me. I could go a little bit faster if I had rear suspension, but I like hardtails better. I have spent way too much money on my single-speed 29er, but it has been a lot of fun picking parts and building up my own bike.

Ride what you like.

 

[endure26]

Check out Kent Peterson. http://www.mile43.com/peterson/rando.html

GDR racer/finisher and supreme rando man. Most of his rides are pretty low budget. Probably gets more biking miles per $ than anyone else I've seen.

.

 

[Ironhorse]

I don't find any difference between expensive and cheap parts, unless you talk cheap in terms of quality. Yes I realise this is the singlespeed forum, but,say if you got a SRAM X0 deraileur and had previously ridden some $10 Shimano one for wal-mart bikes you would notice a big difference in performance of the part, but it won't matter how much you spend, you still ride the same speed. it's all in the rider IMO.

 

[pacman]

well

I read these threads and most people have product reviews and talk about how sweet their rides are. Why? My bike sucks, but i dont care. My singlespeed cost me $8, and i would go riding with my friends on geared bikes and smoke 'em. Then they got singlespeeds, spent like $1000, and i still smoke them when we ride.

i was just wondering if you guys think that better parts really make the ride that much better?

I know that bad parts can make a ride much worse.

 

[Ironhorse]

I know that bad parts can make a ride much worse.

You can say that again

 

[-Anomie-]

I don't like riding crap because crap=crap. Words of wisdom, or something . Seriously though, I buy the nicest stuff I can afford because it generally lasts longer and looks better. No one NEEDS a Mercedes CL600, but if I could afford one you bet your ass I wouldn't be caught dead in a Pinto.

 

[E !]

Dude, you must be pretty bad azz

I read these threads and most people have product reviews and talk about how sweet their rides are. Why? My bike sucks, but i dont care. My singlespeed cost me $8, and i would go riding with my friends on geared bikes and smoke 'em. Then they got singlespeeds, spent like $1000, and i still smoke them when we ride.

i was just wondering if you guys think that better parts really make the ride that much better?

You are probably a stronger rider than your friends whatever they ride if you're smokin' them. As far as better parts making the ride better,well, if the parts are not cheapo than more than likely they will last longer and hold longer on the ride making the ride better do to no failed parts.(broken chain,taco'ed wheel etc..) I see your profile says you have a rockhopper. That's the $8 bike? Sounds like you got a good deal on that.
Keep on smokin' em!

 

[JMH]

Additional Kudos

Well said, sir.

JMH

I know that bad parts can make a ride much worse.

 

[xrmattaz]

I'm getting older and wiser.....I hope!

Able to afford some of the finest stuff, but I don't buy into most of it personally. My bikes all have Surly hubs (proven themselves to ME...!), Salsa Semi rims (same thing).

Thomson stems and seatposts, as I can't break 'em. Brooks saddles on all. Mary bars on all, not the cheapest around, but I love 'em. ODI Rogue lockon grips. WTB Mutanoraptor tires. Avid brakes.

I'm more in to comfort AND durablility these days. Nothing bling/bling perhaps, but everything works....and works very well!

 

[cruzthepug]

I agree that alot of it is the rider, but I think better parts will make a rider faster. The parts with bearings, bottom brackets, hubs, pedals, headsets etc., the better the quality the better they perform. Less energy used to make the bike go forward, the more energy saved to be faster, longer. If your fighting friction with every pedal it takes more energy. Same is true for suspension. The suspension on a Walmart bike will not perform as well as the suspension on a high end frame, once again less effort exerted, more energy for later.

If you put two riders (same weight) at the top of a mile long hill with the same bikes except for hubs. One high end bling hubs and the other cheap low end hubs, no peddaling allowed. I think the high end hubs gets to the bottom first.

Just my .02

 

[Enoch]

I'm more in to comfort AND durablility these days. Nothing bling/bling perhaps, but everything works....and works very well!

I totally agree. I don't mind spending money on Bling if it is more durable. I do believe in spending money on a good set of wheels. Light but NOT fragile.

 

[slowrider]

Maybe

I built my SS as light and cheap as possible and it came out to 22.5 lbs and rode O.K.. When I sold a cheap bike I used the Cheaplight wheels from the SS to build it and replaced them with my freeride expensiveheavy wheels with light 2.4 rear and 2.5 front tires and to my supprise I could clear hills that I couldn't with the 2.2 front 2.25 rear tires on light wheels I was using before. The cheap Performance wheels would spin backwards when I spun the cranks backwards to lube the chain and the King wheels don't do that, it might indicate the cheap hubs have drag equivilant to the extra 2 lbs and extra drag of the big tires that my times are the same on the same trails but it's totally unscientific. I really like the ride much better with the bigger tires though.

 

[Sparticus]

Word

...i was just wondering if you guys think that better parts really make the ride that much better?

We're lucky to live in a free country where we can do as we wish, so long as it isn't illegal. We are free to waste our money or save it for retirement or give it to charity or buy expensive bike parts with it or whatever.

Some folks wanna invest in their sleds not because they make them faster but because riding a bling mo-sheen makes 'em feel happy. In so doing, they're not saying anybody else would or would not be happy doing the same thing.

Run wut ya brung. Your results speak for themselves and you don't seem motivated to spend more than $8 on the sport of singlespeeding. Don't worry about what other people do or why they do it.

That's my advice, anyway.

--Sparty
(Loves to throw money around like I've got it.)
(Not saying I can't kick a little butt on the bike, though.)

 

[Obi]

It all depends on how much abuse you dish out.

IMHO: I don't like to buy pricey stuff, but have found through experience that the "Rule of $10" applies.

"Every time you ride a bike, over the course of 5 years, you'll spend $10 either in repairs and maintenance, or through the initial price, with only minor repairs popping up."

IE: I ride 3-4 times a week, between 5-10 miles, singletrack, technical stuff, etc. I take 2-3 weeks a year total off, sometimes without bringing the bike. So, the math easily is: 50 weeks multiplied by $30-40.00 . 50x$30=$1500.00. Thats about what my ride was worth before I decided to swap in my Talas fork and good wheelset, after destroying my previous fork, and obliterating my singlespeed wheelset.

So, I'd like to believe that over the course of the next 2-3 years, it'll be money well invested. Yeah, you could go cheaper, but I'm down to just 1 bike, and believe me, it does everything I want it to do and more.Like Sparty said, worry about yourself and run what you brung. If you're not sure, ask to borrow a buddy's "Blinglespeed" and see if the hype's right.

 

[bike_rider_v2.0]

i'm in high school and my friends have not been biking quite as long as me, but they sure have a lot of cash to throw into their bikes

 

[bike_rider_v2.0]

yeah, specialized has a life-time warranty on their frames. my dad's broke, so he got a new frame and gave it to me. my friend just quit biking so i got all his stuff, all i needed to buy was a chainring and some spacers

 

[Rainman]

Junk !

I get the best stuff I can. I learned a long time ago that generally, you get what you pay for.

If you want top quality parts you have to pay the price for them. They work better, last longer, and usually make the whole bike perform properly.

A lot of the cheap stuff is absolute garbage. Mass produced, heavy and crappy.

So many parents bring their children's bikes to me to be fixed after they paid peanuts for them at the local marketplace. These are usually Taiwanese or Chinese mass-produced junk that won't last more than a year before falling apart and rusting.

You don't have to pay a lot for decent quality bikes and bike parts when you compare them to cars. Trying to save $$$'s by buying cheap junky crap just isn't worth it, imo.

R.

 

[Menso]

Some parts more than others

THE EXPENSIVE STUFF
Frame-must be decent, suitable geometry, usually=more $$$
Fork-most definately the best one can afford, or just go rigid
Brakes-I value my ability to stop=mucho dinero

CHEAP STUFF---keep in mind this doesn't apply for XC race bikes. For competition, one obviously wants the highest performance possible combined with the lightest weight. These are the lower end parts that are strong, durable, and functional

Stem and Bars---Carbon is nice, but in-house brands like nashbar and sette are strong and durable
Bottom Brackets---They make high end ones? If it's 30 bucks and it last two years, it's definately worth it.
Wheels---cheaper may mean heavier, but for $150 one can find a wheelset that, with proper maintenance, is nearly as strong as more expensive models. Again, not for race bikes
Crankset--mid range stuff weighs a bit more, but is nearly indestructable.

other parts (grips, pedals, etc.) I chose based on comfort, not price. Sometimes cheaper parts (ex: Oury grips ~8$) feel better than more expensive models.