Not strictly fellrunning but there are a lot mountain bikers on here and a lot of folk who are rightly proud of some great British made kit - Walshes and Orange bikes to name but 2. But is there a 'halo' effect to some of this stuff? Clearly I have an angle and it is the rear bearing and freehub on my bike.
Made by a well known and much admired British company it boasts ceramic bearings etc and was neither cheap nor especially light but they are some of the best, arn't they? Yesterday afternoon after a unexceptional ride I was sat by the trail changing a back wheel puncture and as I took the wheel out of the frame the cassette fell off along with most of the freehub. Less than 500 miles of use and I'm 170lbs in riding kit so hardly excessive wear. Never experienced a failure like that with boring old Shimano, even if it is half the price.
So, my question, is there a 'halo' effect to some designer kit that may not be entirely justified?