How long will you let your self get ripped off?

How long will the riding community allow the bmx companies to sell shit parts that don't last that cost more money than the parts we had 5 years ago that did actually last....

heres some interesting things to think about:

raw material is a nice chunk of the cost.... lighter bikes use less raw material.... but yet when things got lighter, the price went up?

Some kmart bikes that only cost a few hundred dollars will take just as good of a beating as what your paying $2000 for.... the only thing on them I can say for certain really sucks is the wheels... puts some good wheels on a kmart bike, and it will take quite a bit of flatland beating.... and it wont cost you the price of a used car.... and when you break it, you can replace the whole bike for the cost of replacing 1 or 2 parts of pro quality stuff that doesn't even last as long....

How many times in the past year or so has your riding suffered because of faulty parts? waiting for a warrantied part to come in the mail.... waiting to have money to replace a part you got screwed out of the warranty on...... had people from out of town come hundreds of miles to ride with you, only for a session ruining part to break and ruin your entire weekend(marty, that ones for you).....

seriously people.... the flatland community has to have shown itself to be the most gullable group of people I've ever met.... How many of you idiots bought plastic pegs and expected them to work? what next balsa wood? If aaron frost told the masses that they would ride better if you sawed one of your legs off to save weight, half the flat community would be hobblin around on crutches with a wooden leg.....

Shit like this is not good for the image of flatland, or the sport as a whole.... draining the life blood of the sport(the regular joe smoe riders who spend their hard earned money to buy parts and travel to events), is the worst possible thing the industry could do to its customers..... especially in economic hard times like this.....

the economy is going to be a wearing factor on the youth of our sport since they have to rely on their parents to provide the parts for them.... if the parts don't last, and their parents wont keep buying shitty parts that don't last, your essentially throwing the future of this sport in the trash..... I don't know about you or what your motivation for riding is.... but thats the last thing I want to see happen.... I know at least 5 people who've straight up had to quit riding because they couldn't afford to replace the parts they broke.... and im sure some kid down the block from you or some friend you've been riding with for years may very well be in the same boat....

so, if you are anyone you know has broken some shitty ass parts and felt totally ripped off and dumb for even buying the stuff.... don't sit there quiet as fuck about it.... do something about it.... sure a lot of companies warranty stuff.... but warranty's are for the most part worthless... once something breaks, you lost all confidence in that product... you don't want a replacement, you want your money back to buy something else.... a replacement for a shitty part that broke does you no fucking good what so ever when you put it back on your bike knowing its just going to suck as much as the one you broke n sent back... call the retailer you bought the shitty parts from and demand better parts.... its the only thing that will get you what you want.... sitting there quiet accepting the proverbial dick in your ass is only going to make things worse for you and your fellow rider... a replacement is not good enough for the kind of money you guys spend on parts.... I know between my brother and I, we've spent over $9k on bike parts since 2000..... if you think about the long run costs of what your doin.... you'll realize how bad your getting screwed...

you the consumer are the ones with purchasing power to control what you get.... if you allow yourself to be a doormat, your going to get stepped on....