On Aug 19, 3:47 am, bfd <bfd...@yahoo.com> wrote: > On Aug 18, 1:10 pm, Steve Palincsar <palin...@his.com> wrote: > > But, as Patrick stated if it gets someone out on a bike than what's > not to like?!
I am not sure it's all that fabulous getting a person on a bike that cannot serve as functional transportation (functional meaning even when it rains or it's dark or you need to carry stuff), especially if it reinforces the perception (in his/her mind, and in folks watching him/her zip down the road) that a bike is nothing more than an expensive toy for a rich person's sport, who is frivolously taking road space away from people who *need* to go somewhere in their cars. Maybe that road racer will eventually realize that a bike can be used for transportation, and will go out of his/her way (as s/he must today) to find a bike that fulfills those needs. But unfortunately I think it is equally likely that the limitations of the bike they own (and the bikes they see on the road) will lead them to believe that all bikes are toys. Granted, I see little problem with having a few racing bikes on the road. But when that is the vast majority of the road bikes out there, and the vast majority of the road bikes in the shops, then not only is bicycling the poorer for it, but we as a society are. Imagine for a moment that the car industry offered us nothing but trunk- and top-less Formula 1 cars (racing bikes), military spec Hummers (mtn bikes) oh, and a few Yugos (today's standard hybrids) and a few Jeep Wranglers (low-end mountain bikes). A ludicrous proposition (though sensible cars *are* few and far between), yet that is what the mainstream bike industry looks like today. So, thanks, Grant and everyone who is dedicated to showing there is an alternative. Gernot The bad thing is that because racing style bikes are so > prevalent, they dominate the market and make it harder for good, > reliable equipment to be available at a reasonable price. The big > example of that is Mavic removing its MA2 rim from the market. > Arguably one of the best clincher rims ever made. > > Similarly, back in 2008, when I was building up my steel cross/ > commuter bike, Paul Taylor breakaway, I wanted silver parts to match > my black with gold paneled frameset. It may sound funny, but silver > parts were not that easy to find! On my own, I was able to find most > parts used or NOS and my LBS luckily sold Nitto bars and threadless > stem. Of course, this was before VO started carrying more silver > parts. Still, it was harder than sourcing black components which seem > to be abundant in all price ranges. Good Luck! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
