Gear Acquisition Syndrome: Do You Really Need All That?

Love that Pat. This was supposed to be a light thread.

Chopper1192":249hn966 said:

Won't be long before we'll be fat enough to be the new Americans.

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Well I'm way ahead of the game in that respect! :facepalm:

Determined to keep it off this time; lost 17lb then put most of it back on due to stress (well, the comfort eating that went with it I guess!) following some hassle at work...

...just takes me a while to get into the mental groove then I can hack it.

Looking at my bikes and guitars makes my assertion that I have no interest in material gain seem a tad hollow, but I could quite easily get rid of the lot and I'd be happy so long as I had books to read...

I've been reading this book recently:

http://idler.co.uk/product/books/how-to ... d-edition/

While I think a lot of what he says is bollocks, he touches on an interesting point. Stuff won't necessarily make you happy, and having to pay for it traps you into a way of life you wouldn't necessarily want.

Owning expensive things is a pretty poor second place to living the life you want to.

I flogged a lot of expensive stuff whilst the job situation was yo yo-ing

What I've ended up with is a happy mishmash of tip finds and car boot sale stuff.

Now the Sky has just gone tits up, that will probably go too to be replaced by Freesat.

'Do you really need all that'?

Yes

tintin40":29d372b5 said:

'Do you really need all that'?

Yes

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Yes

Wife: 'Do you really need all that stuff'?
Me: 'What stuff.... I sold it all, remember?"


Me: 'Do you really need all that stuff'?
Me: 'Duuhh.... Yeah?'

Trinkets and baubles. Nice but not necessary.

This ok to potter about on then HF Have to as ive no offroad skills to speak of. Unless falling off is considered a skill ,of that im an expert

Ti frame
Ti CK
Manitou R7 pro sus fork
Thomson stem
Controltech bars
Hope wheels
USE alien post
Hope tech X2 full red ano
Red ano hope finishing kit
X9/XO drivetrain.

I've never understood people who spend £££££s on brand new gear when older top-end stuff still works just as well. It might be obvious to forumites where bikes are concerned, but elsewhere (hifis, cameras, etc) it's really bizarre. The only things that could have genuine redundancy issues are PCs (I run old ones but I accept most people need to use Windows), very few other things genuinely improve drastically in function over short periods of time.

Actually, scrub that, I DO understand why people would rather be seen to have the very latest, shiniest stuff rather than an equally good, but slightly dated, cheaper alternative. Maybe I'm the daft weirdo for not embracing the whole consumerist ethos. Hell, I'm still listening to vinyl.