Budget bikes more fun?

[Jcgill]

Lately i have been looking at the Trek Emonda ALR disc with 105. It is around $1,900 for an alloy frame with thru axles and full 105 with hydro brakes. Seems like a solid ride for a very reasonable price.

Last summer i bought a new mtb...a scott scale 950 alloy hard tail with sram gx 1x11 and a fox 32 fork. It was a budget ride, but i am having more fun on it than i ever did on my full suspension trek 26” fuel ex8 that cost twice as much in 2009 when i got it.

I have several nice rides from moots, trek, cannondale, and scott......but lately i have had the desire to just get budget rides, ride them and not worry about them as much as i do my nicer rides.

Does anyone else feel the same?

[cribbit]

Oh boy wait til you discover what prices used bikes can hit.

[joosttx]

My answer is no because budget bikes break quicker and its no fun having a broken bike. Also, I worry about the budget bike (and of course its cheap parts) breaking in the most inopportune times.

With that said, I try never to buy a bike that I think is too fancy to use as a weapon of fun. I have in the past and it sucks. So, in summary, a good quality durable bike that has some of your personality embedded into it is my ideal bike.

[vincenz]

I don’t think they’re more fun, but they definitely are better value.

[R3awak3n]

I don't think they are more fun but I think that because they are cheaper then you don't care about really abusing it and so you will have more fun.

The key is to ride the crap out of any bike you have. Sure, maintain it, clean it but don't baby the damn thing or its going to just be stress instead of fun. I used to baby my bikes but no more, I ride all of them, in good weather, bad weather, if they get a scratch oh well, not going to loose sleep.

I don't think I will be getting any more precious bikes, that is why I like my OPEN, sure its not a cheap bike but its replaceable... However say my English, to replace that would be a lot harder and a lot more time consuming.


Also, a Emonda ALR with 105 is a good deal but not really budget (ok, compared to some other stuff), that is a solid bike, I would def ride one.

[Jcgill]

My answer is no because budget bikes break quicker and its no fun having a broken bike. Also, I worry about the budget bike (and of course its cheap parts) breaking in the most inopportune times.

With that said, I try never to buy a bike that I think is too fancy to use as a weapon of fun. I have in the past and it sucks. So, in summary, a good quality durable bike that has some of your personality embedded into it is my ideal bike.

Basically that is what I mean.
I would use a cannondale caad or evo with ultegra or 105 to its full potential, no worries. However a pinarello or colnago with Super Record, i would baby too much to enjoy.

[charliedid]

I don't consider $2000 a budget bike. But that depends on your budget I guess.

You make the fun.

[prototoast]

I don't agree. I have owned a bunch of budget bikes in the past but now ride exclusive custom frames (carbon, steel, titanium). They fit me better, they handle better, and the ride quality is better. All of that combines to make them much more fun than the cheaper stock bikes I used to own and ride (caad 9 / 10, Felt F3). I have enough money and enthusiasm so that if I wrecked one of my bikes, I'd still be fine. I don't begrudge anyone whose resources limit themselves to "budget" bikes, but for me, the fact that I have more fun riding my fancier custom bikes is the whole reason I bought them to begin with.

[sparky33]

I don't think I will be getting any more precious bikes, that is why I like my OPEN, sure its not a cheap bike but its replaceable... However say my English, to replace that would be a lot harder and a lot more time consuming.


a good point^
Even better when you could have a replacement arrive at your door with just a few keystrokes. Though I can’t recall the last time I broke a bike. Fedex did completely lose my Kirk, which sucked for a long while until I tracked it down.

[oldpotatoe]

Lately i have been looking at the Trek Emonda ALR disc with 105. It is around $1,900 for an alloy frame with thru axles and full 105 with hydro brakes. Seems like a solid ride for a very reasonable price.

Last summer i bought a new mtb...a scott scale 950 alloy hard tail with sram gx 1x11 and a fox 32 fork. It was a budget ride, but i am having more fun on it than i ever did on my full suspension trek 26” fuel ex8 that cost twice as much in 2009 when i got it.

I have several nice rides from moots, trek, cannondale, and scott......but lately i have had the desire to just get budget rides, ride them and not worry about them as much as i do my nicer rides.

Does anyone else feel the same?

Object of the ride is the ride, not the bike. If it fits and works...go ride..bigger $ frame, fork, brakes, shifters, wheels, etc...not necessarily a 'better' ride..

Ride ON!

[C40_guy]

It's true.

Rental cars make the best offroad vehicles. :)

And once, a rental car made the best race car. A guy showed up at a local SCCA autocross event in a rented Chevy Malibu. He kicked all our asses...turns out he was the local hotshot, had just sold his prior car and hadn't finished prepping his new one.

A good lesson that talent trumps hardware. Spend more money on skills building or strength or endurance and less on the last 1/100% improvement in gear...

[Ronsonic]

It's true.

Rental cars make the best offroad vehicles. :)

And once, a rental car made the best race car.

GPS has really taken ALL the fun out of life.

[benb]

My "budget bike" is my All City Space Horse, it was about $1200 and I've had it for about 5 and a half years.

It came with Tiagra and I did indeed destroy almost all the Tiagra stuff, but it's trucking along fine with 105.

It still has the stock wheels.

Because it's so cheap I use it in any weather, etc.. which does make it fun.

I have however done 100+ mile rides on it. After 50-60 miles it is definitely not fun compared to my Trek Domane which has 3-4x the money in it... The Domane will shave an hour or more off long hilly rides. Mostly cause it's almost 10lbs lighter and transfers less shock even with smaller tires. I have power meters on both bikes and thousands of miles of files on each bike and they're setup to fit awfully close so I don't really doubt one bike is a hell of a lot faster. (Bars are lower on the Domane)

But if it's cold and rainy/snowy/whatever the budget bike with the fenders wins every time.

I had a custom bike and I'd take either one of the current bikes over the one I had, and that frame 10 years ago cost 3X what the entire space horse cost and almost 2X what the Domane Frameset cost. I would happily replace both of them with a new custom that I new was going to fit just right, but Custom is no guarantee a bike is going to be perfect.

[benb]

It's true.

Rental cars make the best offroad vehicles. :)

And once, a rental car made the best race car. A guy showed up at a local SCCA autocross event in a rented Chevy Malibu. He kicked all our asses...turns out he was the local hotshot, had just sold his prior car and hadn't finished prepping his new one.

A good lesson that talent trumps hardware. Spend more money on skills building or strength or endurance and less on the last 1/100% improvement in gear...

I didn't go to much SCCA Autocross but when I did there was a guy (this was in NH) who was a national champion who drove an old Dodge Neon that was totally stock.

He was WAY faster than everyone else, regardless of how much their car cost.

[Jeff N.]

Life is WAAAAY too short to ride budget bikes.

[joosttx]

Basically that is what I mean.
I would use a cannondale caad or evo with ultegra or 105 to its full potential, no worries. However a pinarello or colnago with Super Record, i would baby too much to enjoy.

For me I rather have a pina than an evo. I would treat both bikes the same.

[kingpin75s]

A bike fine tuned to my preferences and riding style is the most fun, regardless of cost.

If I had a Charlie Cunningham, I would ride the crap out of it.

Budget bikes are for when I need to lock something up outside and will not be able to keep an eye on it.

[C40_guy]

GPS has really taken ALL the fun out of life.

Ha.

An early version of the Hertz Everlost system directed me into a cow pasture somewhere in TX. Still not quite sure where.

Turns out that I hadn't pressed the last programming button on the damn thing and that little arrow wasn't showing me which way to go, it was just showing me which way I was going.

Hence the cowpies.

[C40_guy]

I didn't go to much SCCA Autocross but when I did there was a guy (this was in NH) who was a national champion who drove an old Dodge Neon that was totally stock.

He was WAY faster than everyone else, regardless of how much their car cost.

Those Neons were pretty capable...and you could do a lot underneath that wasn't visible...suspension, bars, tires, subtle engine work.

Oh, and talent. :)

How does the old NASCAR saying go -- "If you're not cheating, it ain't racing!"

[lzuk]

Here’s a budget bike. Might be a little on the twitchy side

[mhespenheide]

I'm in this camp. I tend to be too careful with my best equipment, while I'm not afraid to play hard with my mid-level gear. Consequently, I've got a great fondness for blue-collar bikes or older race bikes that have already depreciated.

[pdmtong]

For me I rather have a pina than an evo. I would treat both bikes the same.
agreed, why not treat cheap or bling carbon the same? discs...ride in the rain and hose off. you are either going to crash, or not.

I wont run my rim Boras in the rain. so there is that.