Hmm, "crotchal safety" and "unimportant differentiators" in the same sentence...
Ryan On Apr 5, 5:39 pm, William <tapebu...@gmail.com> wrote: > I don't believe anybody is handwringing over whatever their front end > format is. Both threaded and threadless work and work well. bfd's > assertion was that more Soma San Marcos framesets would be sold if it > were spec'd with a 1" threadless fork, because threadless is > mainstream even though 1" threadless is not mainstream. I don't think > there are many potential buyers who would tell you that 1" threadless > is their first choice. The point that bfd didn't make was that from a > business standpoint, if I was Merry Sales, and if I wanted to keep the > price as low as possible, I'd seriously consider offering only one > fork for all sizes and drop the price of the frameset. That, I think, > would generate more sales, and could only be done with...wait for > it...threadless. There's already a precedent for one fork rake across > lots of sizes for the budget Rivendell frames. If Soma wanted to > offer the San Marcos at a lower price, and wanted to get there with a > threadless fork, then I could definitely believe that might yield more > sales. I doubt there are a lot of buyers who say "this frameset right > here is perfect for me, but I don't like the headset type so I won't > buy it". They'll disqualify on price, weight, fit, even color, but > headset? I don't think so. I could be wrong. > > FWIW, I've had all the headset formats and all of them worked fine, > including 1-1/4" threaded and 1" threadless. When it comes down to > looks and how nervous you are about crotchal safety, I'd say we're > into the unimportant differentiators. > > On Apr 5, 3:34 pm, cyclotourist <cyclotour...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > I've come to appreciate threadless. The ease of setting them is > > fantastic. If I were going to get a new bike, I would prefer it. I > > don't know of any downside to them, other than they don't look good > > with high bars on a too-small frame. I think they look nicer than the > > big "7" of a quill stem sticking way up there though. Plus I don't > > like a big hung of pointy steel aimed at my genitals when I'm trail > > riding. As bfd mentioned, once you have the position set, presuming > > you don't cut the steerer you have lots of adjustability. You have to > > get a new stem to adjust for reach, but you have to do that with a > > quill stem as well. And the open face plate for bar changes is > > wonderful, although used rarely. > > > My $.02 > > > On 4/5/11, bfd <bfd...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > On Apr 5, 2:09 pm, William <tapebu...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >> 1.125" threadless is certainly the MOST mainstream, but I don't think > > >> I'd advise Riv or even Soma to grow their business by becoming more > > >> mainstream. > > > > Why not? If you offer things familiar to what people want, it will > > > sell. Further, Riv does offer or once offered a threadless version on > > > at least a couple of its bikes: > > > > Roadeo: > > >http://assets.rivbike.com/images/products/full/0000/3108/mark_s_roade... > > > > Legolas (currently not offered): > > >http://tandemhearts.com/coppermine/albums/legolas/legolas_03.jpg > > > > And I'm sure there are more than one Riv Custom frameset that use > > > threadless. > > > > I'm not the only one who likes threadless. One of the original > > > "retrogrouches" himself, Jobst Brandt (hope he recovers from his > > > accident soon!) believes they are an *improvement* over threaded > > > headsets and quill stems: > > > >http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/threadless-headset.html > > > >>1" threaded is flat out better for reasons that Riv > > >> thinks are important. 1.125" threadless is flat out better for > > >> reasons that Riv thinks are entirely unimportant. > > > > I didn't just suggest 1.125" threadless, as I did state that 1" > > > threadless with a shim could be an option. Further, how many people > > > really adjust their stems up and down once they've been set? Moreover, > > > unless you cut the steerer tube too short, spacers can be added or > > > removed. Finally, there are stems that rise. > > > > Again, these are just suggestion to *attract* people to this new > > > frameset. 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-bunch@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. > > > -- > > Cheers, > > David > > Redlands, CA > > > *...in terms of recreational cycling there are many riders who would > > probably benefit more from > > improving their taste than from improving their performance.* - RTMS > > -- 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-bunch@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.
