Jim, While in more "enlightened" bike markets this may be true; here in Indianapolis, we're just now starting to catch up. I've been swimming against the current for 4 years now. It's just this year that customers don't give me the "you've got 2 heads" look when I suggest something like a LHT. The industry has conditioned consumers to think they need all the gizmos. It's going to take as many of the smaller companies as we can get to provide a counter balance.
Ride on! Chris Wiggins Owner A1 Cyclery On Friday, April 19, 2013 5:15:03 PM UTC-4, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > In the recent thread about SunTour's comeback, this quote was presented: > > "Junzo feels the time is right to re-enter the bicycle component > business. As he puts it “the market is too race-centric; carbon fiber, > electric shifting, full suspension, 11 speed, doesn’t really enhance the > enjoyment of cycling. In the 1970’s and 80’s we cycled to be closer to > nature, for the environment, for our health, for the simple beauty of > cycling.” For these reasons SunXCD will focus on touring and randonneuring > components which were the focus of SunTour during its heyday." > > Of course, most of us Riv fans will note that this echoes Grant's > published opinions over the years, as well as the sales pitches of a few > brands who've tried, with varying success, to get into the Riv-ish segment > of the market. I "discovered" Riv almost 10 years ago because I wanted a > certain type of bike that didn't seem to exist at local shops. What I > wanted was a touring bike, and the Atlantis I bought filled that desire. > Had I been able to find a Trek 520 locally, or if the LHT existed back > then, my story may have taken some different turns. But it was certainly > true back then that any readily available higher quality bike was going to > be some kind of impractical skinny tire road bike. Not my style. > > But things have changed drastically. Sure, many of us are baffled by > electronic shifting and seemingly delicate CF and 11-sp cassettes that have > become available. But at the same time, a HUGE variety of touring and > "adventure" bikes, parts, and accessories have become not only available, > but mainstream. So while I wish Junzo and SunTour success, I thought his > rationale seemed hollow, or at least 5-10 years too late. > -- 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 rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
