For me it was “buy high quality pillow” because you sleep for one thrid of a day etc. I needed a new pillow anyway so I came to the store and bought the best they had. And it was … ok. Like it’s a fine pillow but my sleeping haven’t improved really, it’s basically the same. So I was disapointed :(
So, which life pro tip disappointed you?
I think when people say to but high quality items, they mean to spend what they’re worth. Getting the most expensive thing doesn’t really guarantee a quality item, but cheaping out makes it much more likely that you’ll end up with something lackluster. Plus, something like sleep can be fairly complicated and is connected to your habits, what you’ve eaten, or schedule, etc., so expecting a single change (pillow) to make a huge difference may not be realistic.
You’re usually fine using a cheap item. If you use it enough to break it, then you need a quality item.
You also get diminishing returns.
If you spend £400 on a bike instead of £200, it might actually be nearly twice as good, but spending £2000 doesn’t mean it will be ten times as good, when you’re in to bikes that cost £10k+ you’re talking about fractions of a percent better than the one that costs many percent less.
The top of the range items are good for enthusiasts, but almost always not worth it for casual consumers.
For a $200 bike, it’s never going to work the way it’s intended to work. ANY bike you buy at a department store–and many that you buy at general sporting goods stores–will be garbage. In 1995, the rule of thumb was to spend at least $500 on a bike to get something that you could realistically ride every single day; that’s about $1000 today.
I’m saying this as someone that worked at bike stores as a mechanic off and one over about 15 years; the cheap dept. store bikes someply can’t be fixed and adjusted to work the way that their owners expect.
(PS - yes, fixies are cheap and light. No, you should not under any circumstances ride them on public streets or trails. If you do, sooner or later you will have a serious accident that will involve stitches, broken bones, possibly surgery, and probably rehab.)
I concur with you, but I’d phrase it in a different way: if your budget is $200 for a bike, you should be shopping for a used bike-shop/reputable-brand bike on Craigslist or whatever.
Also, agreed about fixies, except that switching the flip-flop hub to single-speed mode and adding brakes makes it fine.
Well, that’s why I specified fixie rather than single speed. 🙂 I’m not a fan of single speeds since they’re inefficient, but they’re not inherently unsafe, and I’m not going to tell people that they’re suicidally stupid if they ride one.
Very true for bikes in my experience. Guitars as well.
£500 - £1000 is the sweet spot for electric guitars. Anything much higher than that is the exact same guitar, just with extra bling.
Acoustic/classical guitars are a bit different and even though they still suffer diminishing returns, a higher price can be more easily justified.