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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   2635 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for September 19, 2025

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Ok one more hot take: Brands in cycling barely matter, they really only do the frame (if they do!) and then assemble parts from suppliers. So pick PARTS not brand.

Yeah, what's annoying to me as an outsider is that I thought "Shimano" was a brand name like an Edelbrock engine, only to realize they make EVERYTHING, so they're not really any indicator of quality.

They sell product at every tier, but even their entry-level/cheap stuff (Turney, Altera, Acera) works well enough to ride around. If you buy a used bike for $200 and it has Shimano gearset and Shimano disk brakes, you don't even need to open google. It's going to be fine if it's new-ish, and it's going to be easy to replace components if they're EOL.

And if you spend more money or if you start comparing bikes, you can quickly figure out which component families are entry-tier and which are mid-tier.

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