Quote Originally Posted by sammydog View Post
I wish I still had the magazine, but one of the Australian mags raced a Toys R Us bike and a Kmart bike at the Mont 24 about 10 years ago.

The bikes had to be assembled at the start line and could only be repaired during the race with things found in he average garage.

From memory, they were still putting out decent lap times on them and putting people on expensive bikes to shame.
Group sets have really come a long way in the last ten years or so as well. I get a good laugh out of these clowns who upgrade to a new version of the same group or put top of the line or near enough to Campy or Shimano gear on bikes with shit frames/forks/bars/wheels. It just doesn't make any sense. I've snapped an XTR crank in half and I have split the pedal boss on an XT crank as well - so you certainly don't get added durability for your money.