darkySp

Do you think that MTB/XC biking is too expensive for what it's worth ? I bought a hardtail recently and while browsing, I found that there's a huge gap between "shit" and "good, but fucking expensive" in the price ranges. It's like there's no middle ground.

Everything is so expensive, man. Rock Shox have "budget" forks that cost more than a reasonable pre-made bike. And unlike PCs or other DIY projects, building a bike from scratch saves you no money at all. I'm not sure if this is for my country, but I see people all over the world talk about how expensive a good MTB is. Forget the full suspension ones, just a hardtail even.

What are your thoughts as a professional ?

Has chronic pain impacted your day-to-day activities to the point where it's socially impactful ? Say, having an episode (if your chronic pain is in episodes or constant all the time). Say, you're shopping and suddenly you feel pain that causes you to grunt or moan or make a grimmace, have people looked at you like: "That was a little weird" or asked if you're okay and stuff like that ?

Or do you "man up" and hide it when you're out in public ?

I get you 100%, you don't need the best bike to ride. But I think there's a gap between the quality/price ratio that puts you at shoddier parts or over budget parts. No sweet spot in-between for something that's good, but budget.

It's a budget hardtail from a local manufacturer. 29" and I think a ZOOM fork. For a spring fork, it's pretty smooth and the only gripe with the bike that I have is that the gears are a bit iffy after shaking around. And the handlebars could be a bit wider, but I'm really happy with it! Haven't put it through a course yet, but I have ridden it rougher on streets, curbs, pavement and some cracked asphalt. It's an okay bike, but I feel like I could've spent a bit more for a biiit better gear. But the choice just wasn't there, it was too big a gap to the other stuff.

I just wish that there was more choice without jumping straight to big stuff, for upgrading and what not IF I go there. Compared to basses and bass gear that I also play as a hobby, bikes seem more limited in their choice.

Thanks for the answer!

For example, there's no Treks for 500$ around me. I have some other bike brands that mostly make urban bikes like BMXs which have a good range.

Then come the MTB and it's either sub 500$ from local brands or Cross and then immediately goes to 1000-2000 and higher from Trek and NS. And then you have the full suspension ones that are obviously never budget, comparatively to hardtails. Maybe it's for my region, I don't discard that. But I've been on threads where people do find bike parts to get expensive real fast. Which leads me to believe that it's not exactly a regional issue and more widespread.