I recently left the bike industry after managing a shop for several years. For those who have not built or serviced a fully-integrated, race ready carbon bike should tread lightly before they criticize shops that don't want to work on them. First, to properly assemble that type of bike the level of knowledge is way beyond many shops; we have on numerous occasions fixed customer's bikes that incorrectly assembled or serviced. Furthermore nothing is standard, each brand has erected a proprietary wall and you can only order replacement parts for the bike if you're a dealer. Second, disc brakes have there place, but not on everything and certainly not on comfort hybrids - seriously, hydraulic disc brakes on a Trek Verve? Cheap linear pull brakes are more that adequate for that category. I've had three bikes with disc brakes, but they had either Paul Klampers or Growtac mechanical brakes -- they were outstanding -- no need for hydraulic. But, for my style of riding and needs they're unnecessary.
Now on to e-bikes: we only serviced brands we sold. The majority e-bikes are white label atrocities sold through Amazon or a direct-to-consumer website. There is not tech support, diagnostics, or parts. Many of these bikes slip into the country under a trade exemption called de Minimus, which allows products under certain value ($700 wholesale bikes) to enter the country without meeting CPSC or UL certification standards. Not a bright idea when applied to a poorly built lithium ion (bombs). Servicing this garbage is bad business. If I wanted to work on mopeds, I would be in the scooter business. Rivendell, Crust, Velo Oranges et al., are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise boring and cluttered landscape over-engineered, poorly conceived bikes. I'm eternally grateful to Peterson for staying true to his values and building beautiful, durable bikes that will be desirable 30 years from now. I personally loathe planned obsolescence and marketing trends. If the customer wants a big brand bike go for it, but I won't be the one selling or servicing it. "Just Ride" Dave On Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 9:59:43 PM UTC-4 velomann wrote: > Every week, BikePortland publishes a "Monday Roundup" of bike and > transportation items in the news, and this week the New Yorker article on > Grant and Rivendell was featured, and received the following response (Bold > print is the poster's, not mine). For your entertainment: > > "The mean-spirited regresso-grouchery (regressive retro-grouchery) of > Grant Petersen and his supporters helped delay the wide-spread adoption > of widely used technologies (e.g. disc brakes, carbon forks, e-bikes) that > make transportation cycling* a more pleasant experience. It’s one thing > to prefer a certain type of bike and a different thing altogether to > constantly slam those who do not prefer your particular flavor of bike. For > example, Petersen derisively referred to disc brakes as “motorcycle parts” > and often described e-bikes as mopeds or motorcycles. > > A real world example of how Petersen’s ideology has been harmful is that > many local “steel is real” bike shops have historically refused to work on > bikes with disc brakes, internal cable routing, carbon components, or > e-bikes despite their popularity (and some still do). > > *not racing bikes but every day transportation bikes" > > > I responded, of course, including a comment that I thought "Grant > Suppressed Disc Brakes" would make a great bumper sticker, and that I > thought they were exaggerating the influence Grant had/has on the bike > industry. > > the poster had more to say: > > > "I think the formerly wide-spread attitude of people who think like Grant > Petersen delayed wide-spread adoption of disc brakes. > > You must be confusing Grant with someone who actually has some kind of > influence > > The guy who put ****ing Bridgestone bikes on the map, has a blog that > millions have read, has published widely-read books reviewed in the NYT, is > a major foil of the Bike Snob, has created an enormous cult-like fanbase, > and is de facto leader of a slow cycling movement has absolutely influenced > the bike industry — and, more importantly, has influenced cycling fans who > work in or own bike shops. > > Grant Petersen has done an awful lot of amazing things that I respect but > that does not mean he should get a pass for being a jerk about the bikes > that many of us now ride." > > > Sheesh > > > Mike M > > > > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/aff515f6-3a86-4836-aa1e-641acbdf4b0en%40googlegroups.com.
