well said jim. i think a rational skeptic's eye put to either side shows that a lot of the gear and the clothes and the style is more about taste than black and white better or worse. i definitely wont wear lycra for a host of reasons, but i also sometimes roll my eyes at seersucker knickers or whatever. i think to deny that there is chest puffery, machismo and judgement used to make people buy things they don't really need in the mainstream bike world is silly. i feel it whenever i go into a bike shop. i imagine that the guy in a lesser spandex suit feels it when the guy on a lighter bike and better spandex is next to him. i feel it on bikeforums. sometimes, though rarely, i feel it in rivendell related stuff.
the reason i bought a rivendell is because it felt like opting out of the system. getting quality, longevity, attractiveness in the process. i think rivendell, and the numerous companies that it has paved the way for, are really hitting that niche of people who have been turned off by being talked down to, peer pressured into getting something ridiculous (i bought a track bike once marketed as a commuter) and people who now avoid group rides. the fact that you see so many crappy linus bikes around tells me that the major brands have sort of lost touch with the normal bike rider, and people are feeling more and more ok about rejecting that paradigm. i dont need a fast bike, because im not a fast rider. that being said, i like some of them. i'd like to be able to understand some of the newer components and how they work. if i understood them, maybe i would buy one... probably not, but i dont know. i cant learn that information in a comfortable/equal footing sort of way. most bike people i come in contact with have a chip on their shoulder about one thing or another. grant and the rivendell people/website and people on this group have a super appealing, easy going way of explaining things, explaining their motive, explaining the pros and cons, and being transparent about other options out there. ive learned a lot. ive never felt like i was bothering anyone. and hell, if you don't like those explanations, every other bike shop in america sells the other explanation. its not like lycra and carbon are being phased out because of rivendell. On Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at 1:08:44 PM UTC-8, Jon in the foothills of Central Colorado wrote: > > In the new Adventure Cyclist Mag > > PETERSEN RESPONDS TO READER > > LETTER ‘UNRACING? UNCOOL’ > > Racing attitudes, bikes, clothing, > > and diets have become the norm and > > normal, and are so pervasive that many > > adult cyclists, maybe even some you > > know, accept the racing standards as > > the only legitimate way to be a serious > > adult cyclist. What I tried to do in the > > book *Just Ride *— and what we do here > > at Rivendell Bicycle Works — is offer > > an alternative, a model to other adult > > cyclists that there is another way. This > > letter is not an ad for either. I’m simply > > saying where I come from and what I > > do. > > We are the mice trying to squeak > > above the roar at the base of the > > waterfall. It is no time to be wishywashy, > > but I try hard to not offend. > > Inevitably, a declarative position on > > any matter is bound to raise a few > > hackles with those who have a different > > position, but it still hurts to be judged > > by a stranger who would probably like > > me, and whom I’d surely like, in person. > > A good number of our customers are > > middle-aged and older folks trying to > > fit in some activity as they age. They > > often have the means, and they’re > > influenced by what they read and see > > that promotes racers as a good model — > > and that’s something I don’t agree with. > > They shop as innocents and come > > out of it dressed like racers and riding > > bikes that are not only inappropriate > > for the kind of riding they do, but are, > > on top of that and more egregiously, not > > comfortable. We undo that. You may > > see ego or evil behind it, but I don’t > > feel either of those. I see racing and > > racers as fringe and am simply trying > > to legitimize an alternative point of > > view, one that I feel strongly about. I’m > > trying — certainly not singlehandedly — > > to make people feel good about riding > > without dressing in pro-team gear and > > copying so many other affectations of > > the racer, and that is what Unracing and > > *Just Ride *and Rivendell Bicycle Works is > > all about. We’re nobody’s enemy. Some > > of my best friends pedal cliplessly and > > in spandex. It’s cool. > > Grant Petersen > > Walnut Creek, California > -- 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.
