>>1006426I'm in a weird spot where my main interest in cycling is the technical details of bike parts. Not even new ones, old ones.
I love thinking about outdated tech (some of which is better than modern stuff re:durability, style, etc). And I love thinking about building bikes, but when it comes to actually putting them together I get incredibly pissed off and bored at the same time, then inevitably never satisfied with the result
I also value frugality / ugly punk touring bike set ups. I resent both fap wagon and modern hipster Radavist stuff
But when it comes to riding, I only want to bump around town on short rides, or do 100+ mile rides as far as I can go.
I end up riding less than almost anybody who posts here, doing three or four long rides a year. But learning about bikes every day
I don't want to be an mechanic, or have an expensive bike. I just want to ride really far.
I don't want to wear lycra or go very fast, but I want to have an efficient, aerodynamic bike for my long rides. And no carbon.
It's an escape fantasy and a weird hobby. The pathetic part is the average 2+ year mechanic at a low-tier bike shop probably knows more than me, so my knowledge isn't even special.
I dream about a multi-year bike wander when my kids leave the house. That is two decades away.
All escape fantasy and obsessive knowledge hoarding.
I'm currently giving it all up. Clearing out every part from my basement and settling down with a single, ugly, low-quality touring frame that has been tweaked to hell. I have wasted thousands of dollars on crappy old bikes, obscure eBay parts, and piles of things I decided were not right. I have built dozens of bikes and stripped them all to pieces on a whim.
I wonder if my childhood lego obsession has mixed with wageslave escapist fantasies and then translated into a dysfunctional adult hobby
