On Tuesday, August 12, 2025 at 9:14:44 PM UTC-5 maxcr wrote: I enjoyed the article, it made me wonder if n+1 makes sense or is it just the result of the progression of bike marketing.
I also enjoyed it, thanks for sharing. Interesting that one of the beginning points of his thinking is a comment from the product manager at Ritchey. Of course, Tom Ritchey was a long-time participant in the Jobst Rides, so it's interesting that the author didn't refer to that. I don't think it's fair to take that discussion and summarize it with the question, "Has Marketing Ruined Bikes?" The author concludes, correctly IMO, that bikes and bike components broadly are much better today than they've ever been, especially as it relates to riding off road. I think the more appropriate question is, "Has Marketing Made It Less Fun to Just Ride?" The example ride the author describes includes a technical trail that his friend "was navigating with ease on his full suspension bike". So, the author has swallowed the marketing pill that it's important for him to be able to navigate a technical trail with ease? What if you think part of the fun of going for a ride like that is the challenge of navigating a technical trail with difficulty? This all reminds me that in the last two months I've had two similar-age now-retired casual biker friends tell me that they've been told they need a gravel bike. One of them lives in Vermont (I've told that story elsewhere here) and he, for a variety of reasons, definitely needed (and got himself) a bike better suited to where he wants to ride. The other lives less than a mile from me, rides the same roads I do but has yet to join me on either of the 2 short stretches of gravel that we have within 50 miles of us. He rides a nice Jamis 653 framed bike on 28mm tires and it would do just fine on them. (I desperately want him to put some supple 32mm tires on there, but the LBS just sold him some Conti 5000s.) It's worth noting, though, he's a nervous rider, and would probably not feel confident on the gravel at any kind of speed, even on 32s. Anyway, for both of them the term gravel bike came loaded with it assumptions like disc brakes, tubeless tires, 1x drivetrain, shallow-drop wide-flared handlebars, etc., each of which may or may not be appropriate for the range of their intended uses. Ted Durant Milwaukee, WI USA -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2a30744b-0975-45fc-a9fe-fdc38d62773dn%40googlegroups.com.
