Right. This illustrates my point. The reviewer of the article seems to visualize cycling as this great multi-faceted thing, but the subset of it called "road-riding" is not allowed to have a 31-pound bike. That's where I disagree. Doug's fully satisfying ride (described below) should be called a "road ride."
The reviewer doesn't say, "for me, road-riding performance means lighter weight..." He says, "the notion of a 31-pound 'performance' road bike is ridiculous." Given his position as reviewer, that assertion is presumptuous, trying to tell me, the reader, what road bike performance really means. He even says that it is worthy of ridicule to attempt to define road-riding differently with an over-30-pound bike. I'm guessing that this presumption and the commonality of it is at least part of what lead to "Just Ride." -Jim W. -----Original Message----- >From: dougP <dougpn...@cox.net> >Sent: Jun 28, 2012 9:04 AM >To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> >Subject: [RBW] Re: Review of "Just Ride." > >"Performance" is in the mind of rider. For me, my way-over-30 lb >Atlantis (I'd weigh it but I'm too lazy to drag the scale downstairs) >performs just fine for what I'm doing. > >Funny story: did a "tour" recently (totally cush affair: lodging, >luggage transported, etc) where riders on typical MCRBs complained >about poor road surfaces, steep hills, sore hands, stiff necks, etc. >Most of the group was "of a certain age (or older)" with the >disposable income to buy whatever bike they desire. My trusty >Atlantis with 40 mm tires dealt nicely with the conditions, and I even >bagged a few bonus hills that stumped the compact double crew. They >teased me about my rack but were looking at my reflector disappear up >the hill. > >Never forget: The older you get, the faster you were... > >dougP > >On Jun 28, 8:18 am, RJM <crccpadu...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Ah, performance, such a weird thing to call a bicycle, especially when any >> performance is directly attributed to the person and not the equipment. >> >> I know when I ride my bike I have a fun time and come away without needing >> to take the next couple of days off due to back, neck, wrist ache, that is >> about all the performance I can handle. >> >> >> >> On Thursday, June 28, 2012 10:07:23 AM UTC-5, James Warren wrote: >> > Grant writes a book to promote something to counteract a prevailing >> > mentality. The reviewer's review itself has one sentence that shows how >> > pervasive that mentality is. The reviewer generally responds positively to >> > Grant's book and offers the following as constructive criticism: mentioning >> > a couple of Grant's points with which he disagrees, the reviewer writes, "I >> > also think the notion of a 31-pound “performance” road bike (that’s how >> > much his personal bike weighs) is ridiculous." >> >> > This tells me that the reviewer has not really gotten the point. I know >> > the word "performance" is in quotes, so I'm not sure how he is defining >> > performance. But the phrase "road bike" is not in quotes. The reviewer >> > adheres to the idea that one's road ride can be only be high-performance >> > when lightness and acceleration are the highest goals. Elsewhere in the >> > article, the reviewer says that cycling should be much more. But he himself >> > can't allow the thing called "road riding" to incorporate cycling's other >> > joys. That's a bummer. >> >> > -Jim W. >> >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: Steven Frederick >> > Sent: Jun 28, 2012 4:38 AM >> > To: "rbw-owners-bun." >> > Subject: [RBW] Review of "Just Ride." >> >> > From none other than BIKE magazine, one of the best mtb mags. out there... >> >> >http://www.bikemag.com/news/reviewed-just-ride/ >> >> > Steve >> >> > -- >> > 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.- Hide quoted text - >> >> - Show quoted text - > >-- >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. > -- 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.