realize

Very much this! I was convinced that I needed a new frame because the reach numbers of my 2018 bike made it unrideable. I had a 50mm riser, 50mm stem and a bunch of spacers to make it feel bigger. Every ride home from the trails I would be looking down imagining more reach and how much more comfortable I would feel. So I test ride a few new bikes in the "correct" size; can't manual, can't bunny hop, something isn't right. I get back on my old bike and I feel so much better, so I put it down to all the hours I've spent getting the setup exactly right; something you can't do on a demo. In the meantime whilst browsing geo numbers, I learn about the "RAD" measurement and decide to see how stupidly tiny my current bike is so I can totally justify that new frame. Oddly, according to the RAD scale it's 70mm too big? I check and check and re-measure and for a laugh, I drop back to a 30mm stem, flat bar and remove all the spacers to get it close to this (clearly stupid and wrong) RAD measurement. Riding along the paths to the trails I felt like a roadie, but as soon as I started climbing on the trails I was blown away by the difference it had made. I could do everything better and all my back pain had gone away, totally contradicting what I thought I needed.

@als802: That's also the beauty of it! Even if it does get wet, the dirt and grit doesn't stick to the chain so it's perfectly clean when you get home ready to whip off and drop into the wax. Far quicker than removing greasy sand/mud, applying a wet lube and cleaning all the black crap off everything you've touched.

I suffer from the same problem. After I wanted to shoe-goo my last pair of trashed IONs, I noticed the tube had gone hard so I looked in the shed for something else to use. I found a tub of rubber Under-Tile Water Proofing. I was expecting it to come off on the first ride, but weeks later it was still on there and not showing any signs of wear. Unlike Shoe Goo, it was bonded to the rubber and I couldn't pick it off! It was definitely better than the slick/worn through spots on the sole, but nowhere near as good as a fresh sole with the waffle pattern intact. So, I bought a new pair of the same shoes and gave them a coat of the water proofing straight out of the box. The idea being that the water proofing can wear out and be replaced over and over whilst still maintaining the waffle pattern responsible for the grip. This probably wouldn't work for a 5-10 that relies on soft rubber for grip, but trying something similar could be worth a shot if you run a "waffle" type shoe. *Edit, one other thing I've found is the pin type makes a big difference. I had a pair of Straitline pedals that used a razor sharp hexagonal pin. Those did more damage in a few weeks than what I would expect after 6 months on regular grub screw pins.

@evergreenc2s: I did a similar thing! Snapped the ball off after washing out going over a small drop; somehow my foot stayed clipped in whilst my heel got wedge in the rear triangle. It was 3 Months before I was allowed to ride again.