Did it just become February all of a sudden?
On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 7:02 PM, Earl Grey <earlg...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > 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<rbw-owners-bunch%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA "One man's religion is another man's belly laugh." --Robert A. Heinlein -- 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.
