>From my first post in this thread:
> *I understand there are arguments for the existence of these things--hey, > if you have the money and you want the "best" why not? Hey, life is > competition, give the kid an edge. Hey, why not emulate your "heroes. ...* > *It goes without saying that this is strictly my point of view. * > But since you never heard of the company until today I am going to assume you are also not familiar with its original approach to kid's bikes, that may be why you don't understand why at least a couple of us who bought bicycles from them recently might feel betrayed or disappointed by this latest direction of "pro" bicycles for 4-year-olds. From Why Islabikes: *It’s easy to be tempted by the latest technology on adult bikes and the > ideas that often unnecessarily trickle down to kids’ bikes. Isla focuses on > the sort of advantages that make riding easier and more pleasurable....* > > *The reputation of an Islabike helps maintain high resale value. A bike > designed with an emphasis on making the whole ride experience easier and > safer will never have the cheapest price tag, however, the ideal fit, > durability, ease of maintenance, and desirability of an Islabike ensure > retention of value. * > Sound at all like the ethos embodied by another bicycle company you've heard of? (Note that the "retention of value" to this point does not yet include the new pro line, which is still in the pre-order phase.) Sound at all like they will need to change this little blurb with the advent of the "Pro Series"? As I also said earlier, if I had known this was Islabikes take on things, I had several other choices in terms of companies that sell decent kids bikes to choose from and might well have gone another way. So you see, it's partly the context here, which should be clear enough. And by that I mean both the scenario outlined above and the fact that this is a forum that, at least loosely, is based on the idea of celebrating a philosophy of "just ride," of practical bicycles not limited by the parameters of modern day pro level machines. No doubt there are many places on the Internet to celebrate carbon fiber racing bicycles designed for kids 4-12 years old. And by the way, this idea that they are "filling a market" and "giving customers what they want" is also a bit suspect. One reason RBW is such a niche company is that the majority of people shopping for bicycles are at the mercy of the industry, which has a vested interest in pushing certain types of bicycles. And if you don't get that, I am truly puzzled why you are on this list. (Note that none of this means I think people should only ride Rivendells, or that carbon sucks, or that people cannot have fun on pro style racing bicycles. It's not about that per se.) On Friday, May 27, 2016 at 11:40:55 AM UTC-4, RJM wrote: > > There is a lot of negativity towards this company here which made me check > the link so I can understand why, and after I still don't get it. > > I've never heard of this company before but I understand why they are > making this pro line...not a lot of companies cater to the young racer and > offer equipment for that. They are filling a market. If you don't believe > that kids that young are racing then you aren't attending many races. Just > this past weekend I worked a local mountain bike race day and there was a > kid class, and they were competitive and having fun at the same time riding > a smaller portion of the same trail that the adults rode on. Very capable > kids. > > -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
