The Best Piece of Gear - Opinion

How often is it that we find a piece of equipment that we truly never want to upgrade or change? I'd wager that, when it comes to our two-wheeled family, it's a pretty rare thing, which makes it all the more remarkable when we do find such a gem... Even if it's not what we expect it to be.

Twenty-two years of my life. I'm terrible with numbers, but from the best I can figure out in my head, that means that I've been riding a mountain bike of some form or another for over sixty percent of my thirty-six years on this earth. That's a pretty good spell, especially for a guy like me who usually loses interest in things in less time than it takes to read this sentence. And that's probably why I've "suffered" from upgrade-itis so much during that time. Like a crow, I've always been attracted to whatever was shiny and new, even if that didn't automatically mean that the fresh part was better than whatever it was replacing.

But I've owned one vital piece of equipment for over fifteen years now, and I just can't bring myself to replace it.

It has been with me through thick and thin, and it has had my ass during that time without a single failure. Keep in mind that I'm the kind of idiot that upgrades his valve stems when he gets a chance, so for me to have, use, and not want to change a piece of gear for so long is akin to an Apple devotee refusing to move on from his iPhone 3. I'm talking about something much more important and personal than a phone, of course, but you get the idea.

I just can't find a single damn reason to "upgrade" to something else. How often can you say that about anything?

The thing is that this item simply doesn't need changing, even if it's missing some of the bells and whistles of the latest and greatest options. It might not have this or that, and it looks a little ragged, even by my semi-hobo standards, but it just won't die on me. Not only that, it has never let me down; not once. No sudden failures that have left me on my ass, despite its relatively low weight that's still way less than other versions that do the same thing, and I've had to perform literally zero maintenance. While dropper posts have almost always failed eventually, my aluminum wheels need truing and love on the regular, and brakes will ultimately require a bleeding and pad replacement... I've done not one iota of upkeep on this particular piece of gear. Hell, I've never even had to tighten or lube anything in fifteen years, and I've heard nary a creak or groan from it.

It's fair to say that this humble product is, short of my bike, one of the single most important items in my cycling arsenal, and it's been a mainstay in all of my travels around North America, from road trips through British Columbia to month-long adventures in a questionable van into the southern reaches of the United States. And when things go south in the less literal sense, it's still there waiting for me. Hell, sometimes, near the end of a particularly nasty outing that isn't going well, I'll even admit to others that I can't wait to use it.




And the best part? Not only is it super comfortable, but it also folds up flat when I'm not sitting in it. Who would've thought that an old aluminum lawn chair could ever be so important, especially for a guy like me who's lucky enough to get to test out the newest of new bikes and equipment? Funny how that works.

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Stories Mike Levy