"... I am in no way affiliated with the bicycle industry other than as a reformed racer and someone who now rides for fun and utility and who works on Bike Trains and Ride to School programs, but since I'm seen on a bike often, there's a pre-supposition that I "know".... "
This made me recall an interview with Fred Couples, years ago, where he mentioned that his wife was taking golf lessons from a local club pro. The interviewer asked why Fred didn't giver her lessons himself and he said something like, 'yeah, you know, I don't really know that much about the golf swing'. On May 17, 8:30 am, Frank <pguil...@gmail.com> wrote: > Jim, > > Nice to hear your perspective as a shop owner. Your name and Hiawatha came > up in a conversation last night at a ball field here in Seattle during a > discussion with one of the fathers of a boy on my son's team, who asked me > about "getting a good road bike". I am in no way affiliated with the > bicycle industry other than as a reformed racer and someone who now rides > for fun and utility and who works on Bike Trains and Ride to School > programs, but since I'm seen on a bike often, there's a pre-supposition > that I "know". > > I ordered 6 copies of Just Ride to hand out precisely because I don't > "know", and they arrived yesterday afternoon, so I was fortunate enough to > have one on hand at the ball yard. I listened for a bit, and then simply > handed the book over and said "Keep it and pass it on if you find it > useful, but most of what you need to think about is in here". > > I admit that I was thrilled to have a way to shorten the typical discussion > I end up having, and to matador the whole thing off to Grant via the book; > there's something validating when someone take the time to really make a > thing, and in book format, Grant's advice carries more weight than if I > were to say many of the same things. He was intrigued by the book, and I'm > confident that while it might dovetail with his notions, it will certainly > reduce the probability of him ending up on a Madone, and that's a good > thing. > > And back to Hiawatha. The gentlemen with whom I was speaking went to > college in Minneapolis, and told me in passing that where he came from "you > couldn't ride at all in the winter or you'd die". I told him about your > shop, your blog, and suggested that in the ensuing 20 years the industry > had evolved and now offered sensible alternatives to "Death by Bike in > Minneapolis". > > One last thing. Grant was very complimentary of the Surly LHT in his talk > in Seattle, holding it up as an example of a sound, sensible, and useful > bicycle. I know you're a dealer, and thought I'd mention that I bought a 42 > cm complete for my then 8-year old (bit of a stretch then), which he rides > to school every day with a Burley Cargo trailer hauling a trumpet case, > messenger bag, rain gear, and whatever else need to go to school each day. > The bike has been phenomenal, and he's now nearly 12 and still on the same > frame with no trouble. Amortized over the life of the bike, and guessing > that he'll get another 2 years out of it with a stem change, it was a great > deal. It's been knocked over, banged around, dropped in just about every > way possible, and it's still going strong. That thing is a tank, and an > excellent option for any mature kid who likes to ride and does. > > On Thursday, May 17, 2012 6:09:55 AM UTC-7, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery > wrote: > > > > > > > Just Ride was on my mind yesterday when I tried to help a woman decide on > > her first nice bike. She wants a sporty-ish bike for Burley-pulling and it > > would be nice if it had a rack. Easy enough. But she's also athletic and > > aspires to the racer archetype. I should add that she's the type of woman > > that most men would notice in any crowd, which means that various bike > > dudes have tried to "help" her with all sorts of advice. All the usual > > suspects were present: the necessity and efficiency of clipless pedals, the > > magical properties of carbon, and the (baffling-to-me) popularity of > > time-trial bikes, none of which are necessary, or even desirable, in a bike > > for daily errands and family rides. Anyway, she was clearly struggling with > > the perceived compromises between making a bike useful and making a bike > > fast (or at least light/expensive enough to impress the racer wannabe > > crowd). I thought to myself: this would be a lot easier if she could drop > > the racer notions and stop hanging out with guys who read Bicycling > > Magazine as a comprehensive source of cycling wisdom. > > > On Thursday, May 10, 2012 1:15:32 AM UTC-5, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery > > wrote: > > >> Maybe there should be a spoiler alert here - be advised that I will be > >> discussing various aspects of the new book, so navigate away from this page > >> if you prefer the content of the book to be a complete surprise. > > >> I finished reading the book tonight, which if I can summarize in a line, > >> is about all the good things about bikes that appear only when you toss > >> racer prejudices and attitudes out the window and Just Ride. After the > >> first few chapters, I thought that maybe the editors really sanitized GP's > >> historically familiar against-the-grain opinions to be more blandly > >> vanilla, hopefully to be appealing to a broader audience. The general > >> content wasn't unpredictable to me, having read the Readers and Catalogs > >> and most everything else Riv going back to 2004 when I wanted a touring > >> bike and couldn't find any to buy except the Atlantis (that's how I first > >> found Riv in the internet universe). But I was somewhat surprised that > >> there was little to no discernible lug evangelism or quill stem absolutism > >> or singing the praises of friction shifters, and the Retro-Grouchiness was > >> held to a dull roar. > > >> But as I got further along in the book, I started to think that maybe Mr > >> Petersen has simply mellowed about the trivial details over the years (I > >> know I have!). Or maybe more accurately, there's less to be peeved about in > >> the bike industry now than there was 10 years ago or even 5 years ago. > >> After all, smart, sturdy bikes with ample tire clearance and useful > >> braze-ons and some attention to classic, non-billboard aesthetics have > >> become, dare I say, normal. If racing bikes and gear are the status quo in > >> the world, then I must live in a lucky bubble in South Minneapolis where I > >> ride and fix bikes every day, as I see lots of reincarnated 1980s > >> sport-tourers, old steel MTBs, and new(ish) Surly Cross-checks and LHTs on > >> a daily basis, but feel like I see relatively few "road bikes" being ridden > >> by obvious faux-racers. To the extent that bike trends have steered toward > >> the benefit of the "Unracer" over the past decade or so, my opinion is that > >> Grant and Rivendell played a large part in it. This is not to say that all > >> smart bike designs and product offerings are shameless Riv-ripoffs, but > >> that Grant gave voice to a backlash movement and opened a long-neglected > >> market to a lot of smart, creative people who maybe couldn't or wouldn't > >> have done it without some pioneering coattails to ride on.- Hide quoted > >> text - > > - Show quoted text - -- 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.
