There’s an old story that I heard years ago. I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s believable enough. It was about heli-skiing pioneer Doug Coombs. As the story went, Doug showed up to a resort for a sponsor event. Upon arriving Doug realized that he had forgotten (or the airline had misplaced) his ski poles. A ski pole brand was one of his sponsors, so sourcing a new pair shouldn’t have been an issue. What Doug did was walk over to one of the rental shacks, look over a collection of poles, picked two and asked if he could just borrow them.
The event ended, and Doug ended up keeping the poles. Much later, one of the attendees encountered Doug skiing. He was still using the poles from the rental shack. This was a man who had his pick of the latest gear. Why on earth would he still be using cheap rental poles? His answer was something to the effect of “they work just fine, and I’ve gotten used to them.”.
There is something to be said for the time spent with a bicycle, or a piece of gear. Those old pedals that you’ve used for so long your foot just knows exactly where to sit. The handlebars that just feel right. We sometimes chase the latest shiny thing. But that shiny thing, more often times than not, adds nothing to the overall enjoyment of the activity.