About the influence thing, with practical bikes, and so on: I'm not dumb enough or falsely humble enough to deny that Rivendell has had influence, but to put it on ME gives me too much credit. As some have pointed out, lots of what we're doing with bikes has been done before in some form--bigger tires, fitting, higher bars, fenders, baskets, bags, steel & lugs. ALL OF IT.
The whole industry got racified (like the word or not) starting in about the early '80s (road) and late '80s (mtn), and that's where everything seems to go. A few ride bikes. More ride bikes. Then somebody says I can beat that guy and another says heythen let's see you prove it, and the races happen, there's suddenly an audience (nobody's a "commute spectator"), and with the audience comes opportunity to ... market. Spectators admire racers and want to be like them to whatever extent their lives allow it, and that changes equipment. So the high-clearance bikes and brakes of the pre-race era stopped being made, and the early RIVs used whatever brakes were available--and they were short-reach, which is limiting. Through some of our efforts Shimano reintroduced a "med reach" sidepull--still in existence--and when we wanted more clearance we went to Tektro for the Silver brake, which is now available also as a 559. That was a huge breakthrough, and you can see it and its cheaper cousins on bikes all over the US and Europe now, but my point is that all we did was push the ball, and it would have stopped without your support. This is neat, because it has proved that NON-racers can drive things, too. The internet helps. Without the emotional support and affirmation that comes from unseen strangers, a lot of people would be timid to go this way, or wouldn't even know it was an option. When people thank us for making a bike, I always thankem back for buying it, and behind the thanks is a long speech they don't have time to hear about how we wouldn't "make" this stuff if people didn't buy it. It's not the same as being "market-driven"--something that I hope we never are. It's more like those of you who are reading this and liking and supporting it with your purchases...are rewarding any effort we make, and that's the fuel for more of it. There are still some areas that need addressing, and we're trying to work on them. It would be so much easier if well-funded companies did it, but the stuff we like --- and, I'd say the stuff YOU like --the same stuff, I think --- is too quirky for big people with money to understand UNTIL it gets out there, which it does thru us but because of you...so, thanks. It's funny to say "thanks," because after a longish explanation like that, adding "thanks" seems like a passive agressive way to reel in more credit as I wind this thing up, but I swear to god I'm not trying to do that. Of COURSE we-all-here-at-RIV appreciate the support, which means jobs and a living and all that--but the main point is that good ideas are easy, and what really makes them work and spread is what happens on your end. G -- 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. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
