It absolutely is, but as with any hobby spending money on new things is part of what keeps it fresh. The issue is that cyclists get really insecure about this. I am a commuter who does a solid 200 miles per week and can drop most of our local bike club on my steel commuter bike while wearing a tshirt and baggy shorts. I honestly don’t judge though, whatever makes you happy, but I do occasionally run into people who are like “you can’t join the group ride without proper equipment” because I don’t wear a skin suit or use the clipclop shoes. Whatever bro, let’s see if your $800 padded onesie can beat my 8 year old gap Khakis.
I absolutely do judge, because it doesn’t make them happy. At no point during their run on the approval-seeking treadmill of ‘gotta shave off another 0.3 seconds from my time, no wait, 0.4 seconds, no wait…’ do they actually have the briefest of moments where they can feel like they are just okay to be who they are. It’s painful for them to chase the carrot on a stick, vicariously painful for others to watch, and readily turns them into toxic people when they can’t get their fix.
It absolutely is, but as with any hobby spending money on new things is part of what keeps it fresh. The issue is that cyclists get really insecure about this. I am a commuter who does a solid 200 miles per week and can drop most of our local bike club on my steel commuter bike while wearing a tshirt and baggy shorts. I honestly don’t judge though, whatever makes you happy, but I do occasionally run into people who are like “you can’t join the group ride without proper equipment” because I don’t wear a skin suit or use the clipclop shoes. Whatever bro, let’s see if your $800 padded onesie can beat my 8 year old gap Khakis.
I absolutely do judge, because it doesn’t make them happy. At no point during their run on the approval-seeking treadmill of ‘gotta shave off another 0.3 seconds from my time, no wait, 0.4 seconds, no wait…’ do they actually have the briefest of moments where they can feel like they are just okay to be who they are. It’s painful for them to chase the carrot on a stick, vicariously painful for others to watch, and readily turns them into toxic people when they can’t get their fix.