Please reread the following "Anything not already in place that prevented low ranked characters from coveting, getting, or using high levelled gear"

If a +5 damage bracer is only going to give me +0.5 damage because of my level, I'm going to covet it less. Given your solution, I believe you'd see less high level gear being sought after by lowbies. If you see less high level gear being used by lowbies. Since heros die less often I believe it will start concentrating into the hands of a few at the hero level and be unavailable for large amounts of the playerbase. I believe that to be detrimental to CF.