Been riding MTB since about 92 and appreciate a good bike,but the older I get the more aware I am of youger generation staring at me at the top of the down hill track thinking to themselves "Who is this chubby middle aged fool sitting on this top of the line DH bike".Not that it will stop me from buying a new M9 but Ive done the hard yards the kids are growing up and I can afford one.Just wondering if anyone else seems to feel like this.
The thing is that the younger guys will make assumptions about the older guys (like that they have too much money and they're slow). And the older guys will make assumptions about the younger guys (oh he's got a decent bike his parents must have paid for it) and of course everyone may make assumptions about everyone else in general.
Now how do you know they're not just thinking "gee that's a nice bike, wish I could afford one".
Whatever your age, if you see a bike that's better than yours you're prone to look aren't you? It doesn't mean you're thinking negatively about the rider. Sure jealousy and envy will always be there amongst some though, so will self justifications and doubt amongst others. Why is it so hard not to care what others think?
Is it what they think or what you're thinking they're thinking?
The beauty about riding is that once you're heading down that track you've most probably forgot how much your bike is worth or what colour it is, even the brand written on the downtube. What you get out of it is what you put in on the trail, not the money you've spent on your bike, that's just a "nice to have".
But in the end what's the point of having money if you can't have some guilt free enjoyment out of it in your own way, whatever that may be (holidays, giving to others, buying materialistic stuff, whatever).
Lol maybe money can't buy happiness but would you rather be miserable drinking expensive champagne or miserable drinking plonk?
I do wonder would they be thinking any different if the chubby middle aged fool was sitting on top of that hill one some elcheapo DH rig? Well apart from the fact that you wouldn't be on a bike they can envy, I'm sure they would still be curious about your riding ability, the sport does have a competitive nature to it after all.