good answer Tony, there's really no use in trying to educate people who have no reason to listen. In any single-person gear-intensive activity there *can* be a snob factor about the gear. Doesn't have to be and it's always a test of personalities. It's rich in fly fishing. In both sport/entertainment groups, there are industry marketing factors that promote it. I fish with vintage (and a couple of new) cane rods, because I like the way they fish (like we ride steel bikes, because we like the way they ride). I also have a hobby business repairing antique fly reels. Often on the river, I run across people defensively expecting me to be a snob because of my choice. 1932 FE Thomas Special rod matched with a c. 1940 Young pattern 15a reel, which was also imported and sold as the Thomas Special reel (this rig fished on tv, for an episode of Trout Unlimited On the Rise).
<http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/bulldog1935/decoy/on%20the%20rise/cPC120035.jpg> No question, you pass and get passed by at least a few people who smirk and look down their noses at their pigeonhole of your upright bike. This doesn't seem to happen when I'm on my drop-bar Moser. I pass many casual riders on road bikes and of course get passed by many serious riders. I few bright individuals recognize the set-up and make honest comments/compliments. Then there is also a hollow, not quite condescending, "nice bike" that seems to automatically come from passing club riders - and it's not offensive, it's intended to be encouraging. And don't get me wrong, I've had many great conversations with the guy on the left. There are more nice folks on bikes than otherwise. If you do go the Jitensa/Map/Mary route, there are three width choices (listed narrow to wide). That's the first choice to make. The width of my 615 mm Map bar is an important part of my joy. I'm also a pretty big guy, 46-inch chest, and these are my correct size. Regards On Monday, November 16, 2015 at 9:14:49 PM UTC-6, Tony DeFilippo wrote: > > My albatross bars garner similar comments. Invariably the conversation > goes like this; > > Co-worker/aquatence - Oh, you ride your bike to work, what kind of bike do > you have? > Me - It's a steel bike made by Rivendell, kind of a fat tired road bike > with swept back handlebars... > C-W/A - So it's a hybrid? > Me - (pause)... yeah pretty much. > > I do really like the looks of those Jitensha-like upright bars though... > might have to give that a try sometime. > -- 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.
