My shop deals in steel bikes almost exclusively. At any given time we have on display a selection of Rivendells, Surlies, ANTs, various fancy customs, and even a few truly "vintage" machines (going back to the 1950s and 60s). We like any number of modern bicycle technologies, and don't consider ourselves to be "retro-grouches", but when somebody walks in, they will see, among other things, steel frames (some with lugs), leather saddles, cloth tape, cloth/leather bags, etc, not to mention fenders and racks and metal water bottles, and nothing on the sales floor made of carbon fiber.
So a couple years ago, this stereotypical group of "roadies" walked in (casual roadies, not the team kit types). One of them had a broken seatpost clamp. I inspected the broken clamp, which was stamped with a size, and measured the diameter at the top of the seat tube, where the clamp should fit snugly. The clamp was a size bigger than required, and to compensate for the loosey-goosey mismatch and keep the seatpost from slipping, the bolt had been overtightened to the point of causing the entire clamp to snap. While I was searching my seatpost clamp bin, the group walked around the small shop pawing every item within reach, and making a number of disdainful comments, without regard to the shop's owner (me) being in the same room in easy earshot. The comment that sticks in my mind: "look at all the old crap they have in here!" I was tempted to channel the Soup Nazi (no soup for you!) but decided to take the rude behavior in stride and get some money out of them. Despite our small size, we have a deeper and broader parts inventory than most shops, and it turns out that I had the right size clamp. They went gaga over the Salsa brand name, which they apparently recognized as being of sufficient quality (i.e. they'd heard of it). I fixed the bike and away they went. I had some notion that maybe I earned some new customers, but I'm afraid that the (then) $1500 Atlantis and Rambouillet frames on the wall were just "old crap" to their untrained eyes. It's possible that they would have registered some vague recognition at a mention of the name "Rivendell", or that a prominently displayed price tag would have impressed them, but the frames/bikes themselves, beautiful as I think they are, didn't seem to interest them in the slightest. They were into brand name recognition, and none of the Rivendell models are likely to be on their Bicycling Magazine-calibrated radar. On Jan 18, 2:27 pm, Brad Gantt <brdg...@gmail.com> wrote: > I have a story similar to Grant's that always makes me smile. Prior to > getting my first Riv., most of my road riding was done on a Ritchey > Road Logic w/Roll-y Poll-ys, Brooks, Nitto bar & H2O cages, Grip Kings > and a Baggins Banana Bag. Not a Riv but very Rivved-out. Anyway, I was > riding with a friend on his lovely steel I.F. in the hills above > Malibu. The penultimate climb on this day was up Stunt Road. No matter > my level of fitness, it is always a tough climb. My friend and I were > about 3/4 of the way up when we were passed by a group/team all in > matching kits on carbon bikes, etc. They were not going much faster > than we were and in fact, once they passed we easily stayed right off > the last riders wheel. > > Once we crested the climb and took a breather, a couple of the guys > were having a look at our "antique" bikes (their words). They > wistfully recalled when they used to ride steel but left it behind > when they got "serious". Apparently it was lost on them that we rode > the same hill at the same pace as they did on our antiques. Now, I'm > not out to set any land speed records but the perception that I am > being held back by my choice to ride a more versatile bicycle is > simply based on ignorance and the belief of media hype. > > Yesterday, during my second ride on my fancy new Riv custom, nearly > the exact thing happened. I was passed by a team on a climb and easily > hung with them 'til the top. There was one notable exception. Despite > being on a much fancier bicycle, nobody said a word. It was as though > I was invisible. > > Ride it and enjoy it!
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