I'm pretty pleased with my fixed gear steel bike. It's cheap and easy to maintain, and it's held up well over the years.
I just don't talk to bicycle enthusiasts (except the worker at the shop I frequent) because they'll compare it to bicycles that are way beyond my means or needs. Most people don't need carbon or even aluminum, if you're just looking for reliable transportation.
Mostly just like comments ranging from "You should buy a [$5000 bike]" to "You're riding a death trap!" And I'd say I'm basing this primarily on my experience trying to ask for help or advice on reddit, so maybe not a really fair cross-section of enthusiasts in general lol
Yeah Reddit enthusiasts are the nutjobs. Your local shop is where the real enthusiasts are. My local coop is just happy people are riding and fixing up their bikes
I'd argue for aluminum only for the resistance to corrosion. I rode through snow and salt all winter in NYC; while I'd rinse the bike off right after, there's still holes and nooks in the frame.
I work in a bike shop and my colleagues like to poke fun at my 13" kids mountain bike that I use to commute. But you know what, over 3 years, even after riding over glass bottles and thorny branches and who knows what, no puncture so far. All I've had to do is change my brake cable, just did a chain and freewheel replacement last week (probably cos I don't wash it as often as I should) and a brake pad replacement cos the ones it came with on the v brake was the cheap sort that screamed.
They keep telling me to upgrade to a aluminium frame hybrid, I'm like, why?
I've just had to change brake pads and tires so far, just because of how much I ride it, but I have it in the shop every year, and so far no major problems.
Before that, I had a cast-off bike from Walmart that my ex-boss gave me when he left, and I rode that into the ground. I still have it and could fix it, but I decided to put the money into something newer instead back in 2020.