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Howard
ltc
@gdkhgd
Though I wasn't particularly active in extra-curricular activities at uni (of course I was spending every waking hour in the library), I did have a satellite connection to the cycling club which served me well when I saw that a fellow member had also moved to Brussels. With the persistently inclement weather our two-wheeled excursions have been few but said acquaintance has recently revealed that he's in the market for a new bike. Cue technical nerdery on Whatsapp and me having an interested ear to submit to my opinions.
It quickly turned out that this wasn't the typical "have a look here for ex-team stock"/"wheelanddeal.com has 2019 frames for decent prices" as my associate revealed that he's working with a budget around the 10k mark. 'kin 'ell I thought as I realised how wildly our career trajectories had diverged in the few years since doing post-lecture Regents laps. He sheepishly muttered something about the German tax revenue dept. where he works being very generous but was resistant to my "Now if I were you..." approach (in case you're wondering, buy a van would be top of the list, with a trip to Corsica and a vintage Fender Tele somewhere close behind).
Clearly it's a question of different strokes but, knowing that he's set to drop 10 big ones on marketing hype that's unlikely to improve his chances of getting laid, what counsel can I give so that his faith in the industry isn't completely shattered when he's still getting dropped by dudes on sub-1k bikes?