If you don't tinker, you don't have taste

Re:If you don't tinker, you don't have taste by heavyset_go on Tuesday October 28, 2025 @08:54PM (#45741305)

This is the way I am with hiking and biking. I genuinely enjoy them, but I have a tendency to really get into the weeds with things I'm interested in and ruining the fun.

I purposely just go for hikes for the sake of it, and refuse to give in and buy anything other than a generic bike, even though a part of me really wants __ hardware. If I buy it, that will be the point of no return for becoming a bike nerd and I'll start caring about stuff I don't want to care about.

Now computers, I've learned a million ways to hate them, and learn new ways to hate them every day. Not with bikes, though :)

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Re:If you don't tinker, you don't have taste by bee_rider on Tuesday October 28, 2025 @10:29PM (#45741933)

Hiking and biking as your “I’ll love the inexpensive options” hobbies. Did you intentionally pick the maximum test of will or something?

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Re:If you don't tinker, you don't have taste by heavyset_go on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @10:21PM (#45755746)

To be honest, when I was younger, I found hardcore cyclists a bit ridiculous and never wanted to be like them. I find spending a lot of money on gear so you can essentially move around unappealing, I guess. It starts becoming about the gear, getting better gear, always wanting something new, etc. At some point it's so far abstracted from simply walking or pedaling and I just can't give a shit.

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Re:If you don't tinker, you don't have taste by bee_rider on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @10:49PM (#45755921)

I think I agree. Although it is funny, everybody’s cut off point is different. I have a… it must be 30 years old by now… old road bike. But, I don’t really like riding bikes without clippy pedals. If I’m not clipped in, it just doesn’t feel right somehow. Like I’m not part of the system, just sitting on the system.

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Re:If you don't tinker, you don't have taste by grugagag on Tuesday October 28, 2025 @09:00PM (#45741348)

Lucky you! You didn’t fall into that trap and just enjoy the best experience you could get without overoptimizing for it. I fell into the musical instruments trap for a bit but luckily I got out of it and play with what I have.

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Re:If you don't tinker, you don't have taste by heavyset_go on Tuesday October 28, 2025 @10:16PM (#45741849)

I messed up in that domain when it comes to music software, it's tweaks all the way down, amazing that it works at all. I make do with cheap MIDI controllers, but spend hours cracking VSTs I already bought so I can run them in Linux.

Typing this out makes me realize its not even about the music anymore, but the tweaks. Let this be a warning

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Re:If you don't tinker, you don't have taste by lettuceconstant on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @01:57AM (#45743149)

I do the same, although my reasoning probably slightly differs. I hate the idea that I'll mangle a pastime as "primitive" as hiking or biking into some technology optimization problem. People did this stuff way back with perfectly simple gear and were entirely happy enough.

Sure, I could probably be a bit faster or go on a bit longer if I had better gear. But I could also achieve that by just getting into a better shape. With this level of commitment the gear is not the limiting factor. If I can't go faster with this bike, then I don't deserve to go faster with a fancier one, god dammit.

My work is very complicated and technical, so I get some satisfaction from keeping my hobbies ascetic.

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