Comments on: Does a More Expensive Bike Make a Better Cyclist?

By: JC

JC — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 04:53:00 +0000

If I get off my 1,400 Giant Defy 1 and into a 12,000 Cannondale Super 6 Evo Di1 I will probably feel it lighter hence I might be a tad faster, but that’s about it. My legs and lungs will not change so no, a more expensive bike does not make you a better cyclist.

By: Darryl is Loving the Bike

Darryl is Loving the Bike — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:44:00 +0000

It’s an interesting debate and I would like to thank you for joining in. I appreciate your comments.

Darryl

By: Paulevans

Paulevans — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 03:02:00 +0000

A better bike will be more comfortable and ride easier than a less expensive one. Seems like it would be obvious that a rider would perform better with a better ride. As i have gotten older I have upgraded my bicycles and find them easier to ride and more fun.

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:02:00 +0000

Never mind the bike, where can I get the T-shirt?

By: Miss Lynx

Miss Lynx — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:32:00 +0000

I certainly don’t think so – but then, I may be biased, since I have been riding regularly for the past two and half years on a $200 Canadian Tire SuperCycle (which I actually got on sale for $139, for the record). And really, it’s been pretty good. Not perfect, no, and I do expect I’ll move up to something a little better sometime in the coming year, once finances allow. But despite being a cheap bike from a big-box store, it’s been a sturdy little workhorse, and gotten me all around the city on a regular basis. And has never needed any serious repairs other than the one time I was in an accident – just the occasional tuneup.

Now, there are a lot of things I don’t do that others here might – I don’t race or do cross-country touring or anything like that. I’m just your basic urban bike commuter. But some people in the comments seem to be convinced that even that requires a $1000 bike, and it’s just not true.

That said, I don’t think all cheap bikes are necessarily going to be as sturdy and reliable as mine turned out to be. The mechanic at my local bike shop said that Canadian Tire bikes are highly variable in quality and the particular model I got was one of the better ones. And I did look at user reviews on their web site before buying it, and noted that everyone who’d posted one seemed to be happy with it. So I certainly don’t think all bikes, expensive or inexpensive, are created equal – anyone looking at buying a bike needs to do a bit of homework. But I do think it’s OK to buy within your price range – it’s just that if your price range is low, you may need to do a bit more digging through reviews to find something that’s cheap enough but still decent.

My main concern with all the you-really-need-an-expensive-bike stuff I see constantly is that, as ScottPost posted earlier, it can put people off cycling completely. I know that if I’d been convinced I needed a $1000 bike to be able to start cycling, I’d never have gotten one at all, because there was no way I could afford that at the time – hell, I can’t really even afford that now, so when I do move up from this one, it won’t be to one quite that high. And the ironic thing is that a lot of the same people I see, various local cycling sites in my city, that you just have to have a high-end bike or there’s no point in riding, are the same people who in other threads keep asking what it will take to get people out of cars and buses and onto bikes in larger numbers. I don’t claim to have any definitive answer to that, but maybe we could start by NOT constantly giving people the message that they can’t afford to make the switch…

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:30:00 +0000

I agree, the bike does complete the image. Have you ever turned up to a race and felt intimidated by the amount of high-end bikes sitting around? But it is always the legs that have the final say…

By: conjob

conjob — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 06:57:05 +0000

i am currently in nepal, riding a bike that cost me $35. i am still the same kind of cyclist that i am when i’m home in the u.s., riding one of my four other (more expensive) bikes.

conjob #5853

By: SilverbackWino

SilverbackWino — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 15:06:22 +0000

Yes! It motivates me to ride more and become a better rider. When I see it hanging in the garage I think to myself “Time to ride”.

By: greg

greg — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:02:12 +0000

No. The subjective quality of being a better cyclist and the very fact that having more money could make someone better than someone else is really problematic. There are at least as many types of people riding bikes as there are types of bikes. I have met plenty of roadies who wont go out for a ride unless they are in full spandex and its a sunny day. (I really like passing them on my fixie) I have also known plenty of people to tour on old huffies that I wouldn’t want to work on let alone ride. If anything I would say having a less good bike and still being able get where you want in the time you want to get there makes you better cyclist.

To me the best bikes are old steel frames resurrected with a good set of wheels and the rest is just personal preference.

2755

By: Olev

Olev — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 01:57:42 +0000

There’s an optimum bling level for every cyclist. Average riders need a slightly better than average bike to be the best they can be… whereas pro cyclists or olympians need the absolute best bike and parts/equipment available to them to eke out the last little advantage of a few hundredths of a second (or less).

#6386