You get what you pay for. As an example I ride race bikes for fitness and a hoby. I have just bought a Trek 5.2 Madone,2009 model. The carbon fibre is high modulas carbon but boy oh boy the ride quality is light years ahead of any bike under £2000.00. Why the high cost for the bike? Its down to ROD costs,It took over 3 years to develop the bike and cost a fortune. I for one know I ride one of the best bikes ever made because of ROD and I have been riding bikes for over 40 years.
I been wfp for 4 years now and the choice and quality in poles is far better then 4 years ago, 4 years ago Ionics bought out their Ergo-light pole it cost for their 35' model £795.95 + VAT,6x6' sections,weight 3.8 kg, Ergo- Lite glass Fibre 35' 7x6' sections, weight 3.8 kg £498.95. Universal Glass fibre 34' 6x6' 7.65kg £312.95.
Now in cycling the golden rule is the lighter the bike or parts for the bike the more you pay and to get the very lightest costs you far more percentage wise then heavier parts or heavier bikes.
Now Compare the prices for the 35' pole from 4 years ago to the Slx 35'pole:- £490.00,7 sections, 1995g. Thats £300.00 cheaper BUt half the weight plus its shorter in length and is also smaller in the handle diamater.Its a bargin in real money terms,
if it was a racing bike youwould be paying a small fortune. Now back to the Trek bike the 2009 model is the same as the 2008 model other then its colour but the price went up £200.00. the 2010 bike is exactly the same other then colour the price as incresed another £500.00.So in 2 yeras its gone up £700.00.Now compare the slx in comparision its a steal for the money and the wear and tear it will save on your body is worth the cost.I for one appreciate the efforts people like Alex put into the industry and the benefical effects we get as a result.
You get what you pay for.
Neil
I don't think the racing bike analogy fits Neil - not for your (non professional racing) usage anyway. You say you ride for fitness and as a hobby and frankly the weight saving of a £500/£600 Specialized Allez (double) over a Halfords hack will save you several kg and make a big difference in speed/performance.
But the difference between that Allez and a £2000 racer will save what? A kg? And as you get up to £5000 you might get another kg? You might as well lose the weight off of yourself and clothing before worrying about the incremental differences of campag versus shimano, carbon fibre vs ali or titanium.
Any improvement in your performance will likely be psychological and due to feeling good about your choice of bike IMO. It ain't about the bike, it's about the rider!
(If you're trying to beat 30 miles in an hour then I agree that every gram counts - but at 20/25 mph not so much...)
Back to poles - the law of diminishing returns applies and the SL-X say, is a good all rounder at it's price but any less weight and retaining robustness (for a higher price) will not IMO make much difference to the average user.