I have experienced a similar frustration with some of my bike-curious friends who are shy and cite all the normal ailments of getting into utilitarian cycling (riding in traffic is dangerous, i am not coordinated, bikes are expensive, etcetc whatever).
I always explain Rivendell's all-arounder/utility bike sort of philosophy and then try to explain that the same style of bike that suits those commuter/grocery getter/ light trails needs can be made much cheaper with, for example, an early 90's specialized rockhopper full rigid frame and fork clad with sensible components and racks/basket/fenders, and that this kind of bike is much better than what $300-500 gets you in the new big-box bike world. more often than not, my friends walk into a store like REI or other big box bike store and drop $500 on a complete disc-braked, narrow-tired, compact geometry hybrid sort of thing made of aluminum and carbon. I think, in their eyes, lighter, more sleek, more modern looking, and disc brakes = better. But when something goes wrong (derailer comes out of alignment, discs begin to rub and squeal) they get frustrated that the "large" sum of money they spent didn't yield perfection. I don't know what can be done to deter this sort of thing from happening. I feel like if it needs to happen, it needs to happen. If a friend (or coworker) like this comes along, definitely give them the hard sell on Rivendell's philosophy, but do not be hurt if they veer off course and buy the modern bike that excites them. If they are interested enough in cycling, they'll find a niche of bikes that works for them. Some of my non-cyclist friends who refer to me as "the bike guy" or whatever and seem to think I'm very knowledgeable on bikes, are the first ones to avoid my opinion altogether. what can ya do? On Thursday, November 1, 2018 at 12:10:38 PM UTC-7, Ash wrote: > > A new coworker who's also new to bikes, was going to get one for his > commute. I commute to work on bike sometimes and may have talked about > bikes/biking in happy hours. Maybe because of that he came to me one day > to consult what bike to buy. I gave my *opinion* about what would make a > good commute bike: wider tires, rim brakes, cromo frame/fork, upright > riding, ability to carry some stuff, etc. I gave him an intro to > Rivendell as well. Offered to lend my Joe A for a fews days if he wanted > to get a better idea what I was talking about. > > Like most folks who are new to the world bikes would be, he wasn't sold > the need to spend $1.6k (a Clem) on a bicycle for his short 2 mile > commute. He ended up buying a bike that cost him 1/3rd of that. It came > with disc brakes. > > Quite sadly, he had a bizarre crash couple of weeks ago. Needed a surgery > to fix his wrist, get stitches on his face and so forth. He now has a > steel rod in his forearm. Here's what happened apparently: he was > peddling back from an event in his neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon. > He encountered a patch of potholes along the bike lane. He's not sure > what exactly occurred next, but all of the sudden he went over the > handlebars and landed on his chin :( > > I've been wondering how in the world a bike can simply flip at slow > speeds. That too, on a flat road. I'm beginning to think the combo of > disc brake and short wheelbase might have something to do. In my limited > experience with discs, my impression is that they can be much sharper > relative to rim brakes. They are perhaps less forgiving on someone not > experienced in biking. Someone who does not have a feel for how much to > sqeeze the front brake vs the rear. Once the front wheel is locked, an SWB > is more likely to flip over than, let's say, an Appa or Clem, I'm thinking. > > In 2016, a cousine of mine had similar accident while riding with his > friends on a flat trail. Both his wrists were shattered. It took him > nearly 5 months to recover and return to work. (majority of the time he was > dependent on his wife to shower, wear cloths, etc etc.) > > I’ve always appreciated LWB of my Appa and MIT Atlantis from comfort > standpoint. Now on I’m also be thanking them for being safer by design. > > In future if I hear about someone shopping for a bike, I'll be sure to > insert myself firmly into the process (even if it will annoy them) and try > harder make them get a Riv. Sometimes it is a delicate task. I have to > make sure I don't make them think bikes are unsafe except Rivendells. *A* > bike is better than no bike. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
