I also think that embedded in all the talk is a very admirable ethic of health, human and environmental rights. It just depends on whether you're willing to write off all the manufacturers in a whole country or if you believe that you can find a balance between cost and those three aforementioned things.
I am a poor-as-funk grad student so I shop at VO more than I do RBW lately. I also like supporting competition in any arena. I think that VO's rise in popularity has stimulated RBW to do certain things and that's a Good Thing(tm). I trust Tom and Chris's judgement on the factories they get their stuff from. I don't think that all mass-manufacturing is bad - only when done in an irresponsible manner. In the end, they are two different companies. Thank god for that. Also, make sure you check out Leslie Larson's fantastic blog http://archivalclothing.blogspot.com Archival Clothing for some retro, traditional clothing and other fare. -Justin On Sep 13, 9:40 pm, beth h <[email protected]> wrote: > Esteban wrote: > > "I'm not a huge V/O fan myself. Some of their nifty items fill a nice > niche/need (and I've bought such things), but many of their products > are just more-cheaply-made- versions of fine products from storied > companies that I'd much rather support (Nitto, Brooks, Honjo, etc.). > At RBW, a lot of thought goes into not just the design, utility, cost > (with lots of handwringing while Trying To Do the Right Thing), and > quality of the product, but also where it comes from - who makes it, > what kind of business model it supports (small, craft-producers; or > race-to-the-bottom logics). I'd rather go with that philosophy." > > ********************** > As a Rivendell owner, I agree that Riv designs beautiful things -- and > has all of them made by Someone Else, Somewhere Else. Rivendell is > essentially a design house for bicycle lovers of a certain stripe. The > same can be said of Velo Orange. > > VO is answering a growing desire -- I won't call it a need just yet -- > for beautiful designs that are similar to what you can find from Riv, > Berthoud, Ebisu, Carradice and a host of other small companies that > sell bicycles-as-functional-art. > > What VO has done -- and rather brilliantly so -- is to anticipate the > growth in popularity (of a style) that so often comes along AFTER a > series of desirable designs has been on the market for some time. The > best designs have grown a noticable following among those with tighter > budgets. We see this happen all the time in fashion -- and in fact, I > liken VO to the smart designers who stopped focusing on Fashion Week > in New York and instead focus on designing directly for shoppers at > Target. Their more affordable [but still fresh] designs are getting to > the marketplace very quickly, garnering attention for the designer and > loyalty from appreciative shoppers. > > While I don't think the nice folks at Brooks have anything to worry > about just yet, I do notice more and more "Rivendell-styled" bikes > coming into the shop with more affordable copies of original designs; > a Surly LHT, for example, kitted out with VO pre-drilled fenders, > Cardiff leather saddle and Cyclone leather handlebar tape, and Rubena > street tires (a nice copy of the Schwalbe Marathon). Is that bad? I > don't think so. If this "copying" brings good design ideas to more > bicyclists then somebody is doing something right, and there's still > plenty of pie for everyone -- at least for now. > > Beth --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
