Friday open thread: upgrades

I’m a cyclist. But I am not one of those obsessive cyclists that owns 20 bikes - partly out of economic necessity, partly out of having no space, but also because I value utility in my bikes more than I value specialty. I don’t need a racing bike, because I don’t race; I don’t need a mountain bike any more, because I don’t really trail ride.

So, these days, I have one bike that does it all. I ride it to work every day, but it’s also perfectly capable of doing the longer rides that I do every year. It can ride on pavement and on the road just as easily. It’s a very durable, kinda heavy but rock-solid bike - it’s kind of a Swiss army knife-type thing, it can do pretty much anything.

So of course, I’m thinking about upgrading it.

Thing is, I like my bike but don’t love it. It doesn’t quite fit me right - I wanted a particular bike, and it was a rare enough brand that I bought one that’s a bit smaller than I normally ride because I wanted this bike enough that I figured I could make it work. So, one extra-long seatpost and a few other tweaks later, I’m five years into this bike and thinking I could do better.

I may or may not actually do this - there’s nothing actually wrong with my bike, it’s just not perfect. Which is the firstest of first world complaints, I realize, so I need to really think about if I have to do this. Gotta save some money first and then probably sell the current one, but at least in my mind, I’m on a path to upgrading.

So that’s my question to you. What are your hobbies, and how invested (financially or emotionally, or both) are you in it? Do you find things in your hobby that you stick with no matter what, or are you constantly on the hunt for upgrades and changes?

Also: anything fun going on this weekend? This is your open thread, let’s talk about whatever is on your mind!