Geeking out on bikes is a lot like geeking out on our cars. You got everything from weight-weenies to all original classics purists. I love it all, even owned a couple of shops. These days I commute (great bike lanes here) on a fendered Raleigh. I road and gravel ride on a crazy mutt that's a mash-up of a '91 SlingShot frame set up with 650b wheels and mostly Sram and Paul's components (great forrest service roads out here, too). I MTB on a full rigid Jones 29er+ (the mountain biking out here is over the top!). I'm spoiled rotten.
Here's a shot from the early 2000's of me (15 pounds ago in the red jersey) passing someone near the top of Mt Washington at the annual auto road time trail. That's a carbon Look frame with Campy record. The crankset was made with modified Suntour MTB crank arms on the Campy BB. I ran a 12-27 cog with a 22 chainring. There were times when 55 rpm was all I could do. The physically hardest 1:17:04 in my life. The winners of the tandem category were on my wheel for the first half of the climb. I gapped them because if I had to listen to the creaking BB on their Cannondale for another minute I was gonna punch someone. I credit them with motivating me to a sub 1:20 time.
