If you see me at a race, I'm the guy on the old equipment. Its not that I'm in love with old equipment- its because racing is about being fast. When faced with the question of upgrading equipment, I do some math in my head.
Example: Everyone is infatuated with deep carbon rims for cyclocross. A deep carbon Zipp wheelset probably costs in excess of two thousand dollars. I would have to work about 44 hours to make that much money. Would I be faster with 44 hours worth of training time in the legs or the fancy wheels? Considering my race results are always better after I have some long or hard rides in, there is no question: I would be way faster with the training time. So I build up some alloy tubular wheels that probably work just as well as the Zipps.
I bring this up because its getting harder and harder to find the inexpensive but good parts I prefer- 8 speed drivetrains for example.
I've seen a Campy Record 11 speed cassette for 500 bucks. Bianchi just introduced an 8000 dollar racing bike that is made in Taiwan. We need to stop this madness. Remember, if you're thinking about springing for that Record 11 upgrade- time is money. You shouldn't be buying that crap unless you're a pro (and then its free).
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