has the boy-racer fad translated across to mountain biking?
we've all seen chav'd up corsa's & the like with rally style component stickers adorning the front wheel arches... sparco, brembo, goodrich etc. but has this trend passed itself on to bikes?
i've been known to put the odd sticker on a frame, more often than not for one of two reasons. 1, some stickers just look cool
2, its covering a paint chip or scrape to stop the elements getting to bare steel.
Today, i saw a modern ish trek full suspension number locked up in town with the following stickers. Hope, magura, giro, shimano, lizard skins, sram, avid & kona?! I slowed as i passed to get a better look & the thing was factory spec, full shimano deore / slx mix. not a drop of sram, avid, magura, hope or kona present & i'm only excluding giro & lizard because of clothing / protection garments the rider may wear. Is it just me that thinks this is a touch odd? did he get a sticker sheet with a copy of mbuk & decide he needed to use every last one? to the untrained eye (the missus) it just looked like a bike with stickers on it but much like the plebs driving round everywhere in 1st gear in a max power wannabe saxo, I kinda felt sorry for the guy because he too seemingly either cannot afford the parts he lusts after or he is under some kind of illusion that he will ride better if he pretends he has quality kit on the bike.
am i being too critical here in my thought that you should only really be shouting about what you've got if you've actually got it (should you be that way inclined) or am i justified in thinking that some folk just want to be seen in a better light & a £2 ebay sticker is cheaper than a £250 wheelset?
we've all seen chav'd up corsa's & the like with rally style component stickers adorning the front wheel arches... sparco, brembo, goodrich etc. but has this trend passed itself on to bikes?
i've been known to put the odd sticker on a frame, more often than not for one of two reasons. 1, some stickers just look cool
2, its covering a paint chip or scrape to stop the elements getting to bare steel.Today, i saw a modern ish trek full suspension number locked up in town with the following stickers. Hope, magura, giro, shimano, lizard skins, sram, avid & kona?! I slowed as i passed to get a better look & the thing was factory spec, full shimano deore / slx mix. not a drop of sram, avid, magura, hope or kona present & i'm only excluding giro & lizard because of clothing / protection garments the rider may wear. Is it just me that thinks this is a touch odd? did he get a sticker sheet with a copy of mbuk & decide he needed to use every last one? to the untrained eye (the missus) it just looked like a bike with stickers on it but much like the plebs driving round everywhere in 1st gear in a max power wannabe saxo, I kinda felt sorry for the guy because he too seemingly either cannot afford the parts he lusts after or he is under some kind of illusion that he will ride better if he pretends he has quality kit on the bike.
am i being too critical here in my thought that you should only really be shouting about what you've got if you've actually got it (should you be that way inclined) or am i justified in thinking that some folk just want to be seen in a better light & a £2 ebay sticker is cheaper than a £250 wheelset?
