I wonder sometimes if the basic image of people getting railroaded into buying a race bike for general riding is still true, if it ever was. Grant compares his bikes to MCFRBs, but a more apt comparison is probably a... hybrid. Big clearances, upright positioning, fenders, racks, etc. And that's mostly what I see people riding when I ride through the local metro park. Yes, the group riders on Saturday morning are all clad in lycra on carbon bikes, but that's just one small group of riders. Yes, those are the bikes they show in Bicycling, but how often can you compare $400 hybrids?
I bet if you compared Trek's or Specialized's sales numbers, they would sell many more hybrid bikes than road machines (though they may sell more dollars of road bikes). The Unracer seems like the normal thing, now. Eric Daume Dublin, OH On Tue, Feb 24, 2015 at 7:57 PM, Jim Bronson <jim.bron...@gmail.com> wrote: > Why? Why, over and over again? Because the racing philosophy has the > mainstream and the LBS. And it's not what serves most causal riders best, > and I applaud Grant for calling them out for it. > > We all have seen at the LBS the times when some racerish young LBS > employee is trying to fit an older person onto a racerish bike, that will > not be well served by said bike. Why is this what's in the mainstream? > > On Tue, Feb 24, 2015 at 6:40 PM, 'pb' via RBW Owners Bunch < > rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> wrote: > >> On Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at 3:25:08 PM UTC-8, Deacon Patrick wrote: >>> >>> Is that the best rhetoric (argument, in the technical sense) the racing >>> crowd could produce? That rather says it all. Sardonic grin. >>> >> >> Huh? To what are you referring? What racing crowd? Which argument? >> Norma Steinberg's comments? If so, what makes you think she represents >> "the racing crowd"? Are you being snarky? I would not have expected that >> from you. "Snarky"? (Sharply critical; cutting; snide? Was that really >> your intention, Deacon?) >> >> I notice that Grant's letter is much more compromising and middle-ground >> than he has been in the past, and I commend him for that. "What I tried to >> do ... is offer an alternative." "It hurts to be judged." Well, perhaps >> there would be less judgment from others if there had been less judgment >> from him along the way (see Norma's last paragraph again). In the past, >> his language has been rather less soft than in his recent letter, for >> instance, "it's a big fat lie." I don't know about you, but I find that >> phrase off-putting. Well, that was a long time ago, so I'm not going to >> dwell. I'm just mentioning that as a contrast. >> >> I've said these things before, but here it is again. I'm a big tent >> cyclist. I was a licensed road racer for almost twenty years, and I've >> ridden with lots of folks whose names are well known. I *love* old >> English three-speeds. I really miss the Schwinn New World I used to bomb >> around the University of Colorado campus on. I've done a good bit of >> loaded touring and will again. I have owned lots of steel, lots of carbon, >> and lots of titanium, and I enjoy my Rambouillet as much as I enjoy >> my Hampsten ti custom and my Merlin Agilis, although I'm currently really >> smitten by my ti Serotta - Schwinn Paramount. I read the Reader for a >> number of years, until I stopped, because in each edition, I found some >> comment from Grant which was openly, unmistakably insulting to "the racing >> crowd". Why? Why, over and over again? Why not just do what he does >> well, no apology, and let it speak for itself? It suddenly occurs to me >> that Ritchey and Fisher and Charlie Kelly didn't need to talk about how >> stupid road riding was when they started mountain biking, and they managed >> to create a movement that took over the world. They didn't need buttons >> that said "unroadie". They were too busy building and riding and enjoying >> bikes to be snarky. It's not necessary to say the other guy is stupid to >> look good. It's much better to just do the do. >> >> I've expressed this to Grant, and he has heard it, and he has said all >> the right things to me, and thank you very much, Grant, you and I are >> good. I like Grant, and I do appreciate his intentions, but I think that >> he doesn't always communicate effectively, and I understand why sometimes >> other folks' hackles get up. You know how humor doesn't always read well >> on the internet? Kind'a like that. So, let me encourage the Riv listers >> not to take up the sword, when Grant may have put it down. >> A self-congratulatory sense of superiority is not charming. >> >> And now I'm going to go pull on a pair of lycra shorts, and a cotton polo >> shirt, and go for a dirt road ride on my Rambouillet. >> >> Peter Bridge >> San Diego >> >> -- >> 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. >> > > > > -- > Keep the metal side up and the rubber side down! > > -- > 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. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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