@stark @Diplomjodler3 yeah, there's an element of that: a $10k superbike isn't as good for getting the shopping as a $500 city bike, if getting the shopping is all you're doing. I'm more talking about performance bikes for enthusiast cyclists here, be they roadies/mtbers/gravel riders/whatever. I've reviewed a *lot* of bikes over the years, and for the most part you genuinely do get what you pay for, but with diminishing returns the more you spend.

@Diplomjodler3 yeah, i absolutely agree. diminishing returns applies from dollar zero, though, and everyone's tipping point is going to be different. someone saying they couldn't justify spending $2k on a bike is entirely reasonable. Someone saying they don't think it *can* be justified is wrong, though :-)

@Diplomjodler3 @retrospectology Everyone will have a tipping point, where they couldn't justify spending more on a bike for the improvement you get. Mine's around $4k: I couldn't really justify spending more for better components, lighter weight, etc. Much as I'd like to. But I could easily justify a $2k bike. It's a different number for everyone though.

@Diplomjodler3 @retrospectology Diminishing returns apply to bikes, just as they apply to everything else: the $15k pro-spec Specialized SL8 isn't more than 'twice as good' as the $6k SL8 at the bottom of the range. But $400 doesn't buy you much bike these days, and a $2k bike will be measurably better in every single way. Depends on what you're doing really. If you're riding to the shops a couple of times a week, not worth spending extra. If you're doing 1,000 miles a month, definitely is.

@rolling_resistance @PlantJam that's true to an extent, but having your saddle too high can transfer weight to your hands, and your ideal saddle height isn't necessarily what the standard calculations say it should be. mine isn't, because of historic back issues: it's about 15mm lower

@largess @ajsadauskas @green "No-one has to drive a car" is a pretty sweeping statement that I would argue is also entirely factually wrong. If you live 10 miles from work somewhere where there's been decades of no provision for any other form of transport, you need systemic change before not driving is an option.

@benchwhistler @18107 @ajsadauskas https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman

"This is fundamentally an infrastructure and public policy problem, not a problem of individual consumer choice."

The infrastructure is the millions of barrels of oil and the policies & systems in place to maintain its distribution for profit. You may or may not be able to switch out your boiler or use your car less. Many people won't have any other option without huge systemic changes. Making it about individual choices won't fix it.