I bought a '92 XO-1 in 1993 and at that point became aware of Bridgestone/Grant/the iconoclasm that became part of Rivendell. I joined the BOB in 1993, got on the early Riv mailing list in 1994 and ordered my first frame at the end of that year. I was pretty aware of what was on the mainstream market -- mountain bikes and steel/aluminum racing bikes plus some decent but wholly uninspired hybrids (the original 4130 Crossroads Cruz wasn't bad for the price; I owned one). There was far less imaginative and creative product development for bikes that weren't mountain bikes where all the energy seemed to be going -- remember the common complaint about the death of the road bike market?
Moreover, people whose principal motive for buying a new bike is that gas is too high don't drive the sort of creativity that we saw in Addison's and others' photos and with Surley, Salsa, and all the others I can't now remember, let alone Rivendell. I really think Grant not only kept the flame alive but sparked new fires among all those in the cycling world who got bored with high travel suspension and lighter than ever racing bikes. On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 12:19 PM, Allan in Portland <allan_f...@aracnet.com> wrote: > > On Wednesday, May 9, 2012 11:15:32 PM UTC-7, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery > wrote: >> >> <snip> >> >> but that Grant gave voice to a backlash movement and opened a >> long-neglected market > > > Hmm. This isn't to take anything away from Grant, but I think Grant was > more a keeper-of-the-flame than prophet or apostle. The distinction, to my > mind, concerns causality. The precise stats get fuzzy for me, but the trends > I remember well -- fuel consumption and miles driven in the US are below > something like 10 years ago and on a per-capita basis it's even worse. > Looking at motor vehicle travel one would think it's the recession of > 1980-82 all over again. > > So, have practical bikes come back into vogue because people have been > converted to that _style of bike_, or has that style of bike come back into > vogue because people are feeling a marked economic pinch (among a few other > macro themes like environmental sustainability and diminishing to the point > of negative returns of sprawl and now urban blow-back) and that _style of > riding_ (ie. transportation) makes the practical bike vogue? I submit it is > the latter. > > In simpler terms -- yes, absolutely Grant was country bike before country > bike was cool. :-) But the country bike became cool not so much because of > Grant (again not diminishing his impressive contributions), but because the > environment had changed to make the country bike superior. Mammals over > dinos if you will. > > Regards, > -Allan > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/eC7EJxGPnvgJ. > > 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. -- ------------------------- Patrick Moore, Albuquerque, NM For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW http://resumespecialties.com/index.html ------------------------- A billion stars go spinning through the night Blazing high above your head; But in you is the Presence that will be When all the stars are dead. Rainer Maria Rilke, Buddha in Glory -- 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.
