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Comment by gensym | Hacker News Reader

This is exactly why I switched my sport of choice from cycling to running. In cycling, I kept getting pulled into the gear and tinkering. (It didn't help that I raced cyclocross, so during race season, every Monday was spent cleaning and repairing the result of the previous day's races). TBH, it was fun, but if I spent as much time training as I did tinkering, maybe I would have had some decent race results.

With running, it's harder to believe that the gear is what's holding me back from performance. Get a rotation of shoes, and that's pretty much it. My shorts and tops probably need to be replaced at this point before their growing transparency scandalizes the neighborhood, but as long as they're light and sweat-wicking, it doesn't matter too much what I replace them with.

But then I made the mistake of getting into rock climbing...

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Haa...cyclocross is definitely gear intensive.

I always enjoyed running becasue I could be ready in like 2 minutes vs going for a bike ride that involved at a minimum kitting up, pumping the tires, and more often than that for the type of riding I like (cross/mtb) I'd also have to drive to a destination. Now I can't run due to injury/surgery, so I have a bike on the trainer now and that's my tv time. minimizes the bike futzing.

That's part of the reason I love running too. A minimum of fuss. It's funny that you mention rock climbing, because it's the same reason I love bouldering. You only need shoes. Climbing has something for everyone - trad for the gear heads, bouldering for the people who can't be bothered with planning, sport for people somewhere in the middle.

> With running, it's harder to believe that the gear is what's holding me back from performance.

Running reminds me of strength training. No one thinks a new barbell is going to add 10% to their one-rep max.

Not a new barbell, no. But there is potential for endless fiddling with nutrition, supplements and exercise plans.

More than enough gym bros enjoy taking about 3x12, 5x5, creatine shake timing and hormones more than lifting heavy things.

> Not a new barbell, no.

though Rogue sure tries their best.

I do some triathlons a couple to times a year, and I find it enjoyable to beat people on a steel frame bike with lower quality / older gear.

Also riding a recumbent really gives you perspective on what a fast bike is. No amount of carbon fiber can beat the more streamlined and comfortable position.

> Also riding a recumbent really gives you perspective on what a fast bike is. No amount of carbon fiber can beat the more streamlined and comfortable position.

Until the uphill starts...

What is hilarious in road cycling is all the middle aged men who really do believe that kit = faster. If you have any basic bike of a reasonable standard, it is ALL about hours, weight and power. Nothing else. On a one hr climb up a 10% mountain, nothing is gonna save your fat ass.

Yeah, having a 3k$ carbon bike or a 1k$ aluminum model doesn't make a difference that's true. However, having good cycling clothes is way more comfortable, as is a lightweight helmet. A more upright bicycle absolutely robs you of energy due to wind resistance, even at low-ish speeds on flats (30 km/h).

I could exercise on my 40 lbs, 3 speed upright 1940s english roadster in jeans and a sweater for cred, but that doesn't sound fun at all. People who don't cycle (unlike me and you I guess) can't price cycle kit by eye so they'll see me in lycra and think that I'm some dentist when in fact my gear is all very reasonably priced, comfortable and appropriate to my level.

Also, it always bother me that people talk about 10,000$ bikes or whatever which is very far from reality, meanwhile they buy 45,000$ cars when 20,000$ cars exist and no one bats an eye.

That is definitely the best approach in my opinion. Getting the things that help you enjoy the sport/hobby more. Drumming, nice comfy stool (throne) Skiing, custom fitted boots Guitar, take it to a guitar tech so it plays easier Gardening, good waterproof jacket and hat

My kids race BMX, and I used to ride trails quite a bit.

My advice to them was that there are no slow bikes, just slow riders.

Sure, there are benefits to picking gear that works for you, but that's probably about 10% of it. The rest is your mind and body.

I don't think they have any illusions about it. They are enthusiasts and enthusiasts like to spend money on their hobbies. If they can afford it, I don't see the harm.

True. Live and let live.

For that kind of training, the body is the machine with which you can tinker.

Have you seen all the specialty bars fittube is repping?

i just decided that i enjoy working on bikes more than i do riding them and i decided that was fine. What i dislike the most is talking to people on reddit about it. if i need a new part that i dont know where to find google will lead me to the forum that will lead me t owhat i need. if i can't find it i can ask on reddit. but i do not want to sit around on forums talking about bikes. what a waste of time. and look at me, im sitting around in a forum talking about bikes. i'll see myself out.

> and look at me, im sitting around in a forum talking about bikes.

You're sitting around in a forum talking about talking about bikes. If that helps.

it does. thank you.

Personally, I like both. I like riding a lot but I also take a lot of enjoyment from cleaning and tuning my bikes. It's meditative!

Yeah it's quite nice to do something where you aren't constantly attached to information flow.

You are sitting on a forum talking about not wanting to be on a forum talking about bikes. Very meta.

For rock climbing, stick to bouldering. All you need for bouldering is shoes. The situations where even a chalk bag is required are very particular outliers, as are situations where gloves would be a consideration. You could spend plenty of money on shoes of course, same as running, but once you find comfy ones you tend to invest in them over and over again. Like running, it really does come down perseverance - I do think there’s a creativity I didn’t expect in bouldering.

I do enjoy bouldering because of its simplicity (little gear, no need to coordinate with others), but sport climbing gives me something that bouldering does not. Maybe it has to do with flow, as it's easier to get into some kind of flow on a 15 meter wall compared to a 4 meter wall. I'm not sure what exactly it is though that makes sport climbing more attractive to me than bouldering.

(I admit though that due to bouldering's simplicity, I do it much more nowadays compared to sport climbing...)

This is one thing I appreciate about swimming. I don’t own the pool, so no fiddling there. My swim trunks require no fiddling. The only thing that could possibly require fiddling are my goggles, but I use Swedish goggles that are so simple (two pieces of plastic and a piece of rubber - there isn’t even a gasket), they don’t require any fiddling.

can you recommend water proof earplugs? i have a ruptured ear drum and have to protect it but the wax moldable ones never seem to be completely water proof.

I cannot. I've never needed them. Sorry.

But rock climbing doesn't have the gear heads of other hobbies - at least, I've never encountered these. There are definitely people that enjoy the technical aspects of how to best secure yourself with your gear, what knots to use and so on, but otherwise I haven't had many of these discussions.

On that aspect, rock climbing and especially bouldering are very similar to running. Don't get me started on trail running, though...

I would guess it's because most climbing gear isn't performance-related, shoes being the main exception. (And chalk is chalk... I think.)

I know people with certain shoes for certain climbs. If you’re an outdoor climber there’s plenty of gear to be had and debated, from carabiners to anchoring to assisted (or unassisted) belay

YouTube seems to have some gear focused channels like HowNOT2.

on the non sport side of things, people talk about and collect a lot of gear. read some stuff about trad climbing

Yeah, trad is different, you're right. There are subreddits devoted to displaying the whole trad gear, neatly arranged in dedicated cabinets. I stand corrected, doing mostly sport climbs and boulders.

Isn't it marvellous to simplify. Remove all 'things'. I feel it in playing guitar, I often only play the most simple of setups (acoustic guitar) as it gets the the root of my itch without distraction, blame or gear desire.

As a guitar player, this really resonates. I now spend almost all my time with my unadorned acoustic, leaving behind the tinkerhole of my electric guitar and its effects pedals, looper, amp etc.

Oh yes! GAS is real, and seemingly endless. I'm getting better though.

I've had the same two electric guitars for about a decade now, and have no real urge to change them up.

The pedals though. I can't use an amp in the townhouse I'm in, so fell into the rabbit hole of ampless setups. Almost everything is just a new take on a 30-60 year old circuit though, or a model of the same.

I can't handle guitar modelling software. It seems like a really cheap way to go, but it's just endless futzing about. Not only do I need the gear, I need the PC to work too. Nope.

I think somebody once said that this entire industry would fall apart if everybody just learned to use an EQ, and I have to say it feels really accurate. I think I'm almost "done" with gear though, and I can feel my playing getting better as a result.

Happy to note after a couple years using S-Gear that I tinker with it less than I expected and haven't been seriously tempted to buy an amp. I think having the option to try all the presets is satisfying enough, whereas with amps I would always wonder if just one more pedal purchase would find the magic tone. I still need more guitars, though.

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