Written in this thread: *But I don't think discs would dilute his product; after all, isn't what most makes Rivendells to be Rivendells the ride and the feel? If not, if it's just rim brakes and retro styling, then they're just pretty consumer objects.*
*Of all the niggling little things that Grant won't do, disc mounts are pretty much the easiest to do as an aftermarket change.* I think it is more than just what makes a Rivendell a Rivendell, or Grant being a "retrogrouch" and simply not doing "niggling little things" for the sake of that label. (Also, I would not call current Rivendells, with OS tubing, upsloping top tubes--and the long head tubes that creates--fat tires, V brakes, super long stems, super long chainstays, etc., particularly retro--certainly not l'eroica. But that's another topic.) After not having visited in a long time, despite being only an hour and change train ride away, I found myself in New York City several times this past month on business. The bicycle infrastructure has certainly grown. But the biggest change I noticed was the proliferation of people riding bicycles that they were not pedaling. And how they interacted with other traffic--particularly other cyclists. In the bike shops, even my local, tiny mom and pop that features mostly Kona commuters (and in a recent Compass email showing a bunch of wheels lying around) I am amazed at the number of discs to be found--a braking system adopted from motorcycles. On a recent group ride, several riders had electronic shifting. I know I read somewhere Grant talking about these emerging--and merging--trends, and what that will mean in 15-20 years. This is a person who's career has been defined by, not retrostyling or retrogrouching, but thinking about bicycles and what defines a good, useful, aesthetically pleasing, joyful one, and at the same time bucking trends that seem to complicate or distract from that. For someone that thinks about these things, maybe it starts to become, not what makes a Rivendell a Rivendell, but what makes a bicycle a bicycle. And where would you come down to draw that line, based on your own feelings and opinions about it, especially as a small-scale designer and seller of bicycles. (I am not implying here that Grant thinks bicycles with disc brakes are not bicycles. In fact, I am not implying anything about what he thinks, just speculatin' on the internets!) Someone once mentioned to my tai chi teacher that they had heard of others who were combining tai chi with music and more dance-like forms, and was that okay. Master Yu replied "Tai chi is tai chi. Shaolin is shaolin. Dance is dance." I know, not a perfect analogy, but perhaps enough to make my point. But then again, there is that Reese's commercial, "Hey, you got chocolate in my peanut butter." <https://youtu.be/DJLDF6qZUX0> Grant has alluded to other staff members having various levels of input on some of the Rosco bikes. Some builds now feature STI, as configured by "staff name here." I would imagine if a disc Riv were ever to emerge, it could be, like a Mark's Rack, a Bob's HunqaDiscar, or what have you. Electronic shifting and seat tube motor optional (the full Reese's!) Quote: *I don't understand the animus against a Riv with discs.* I would not argue that these trends don't have their place. It could be a very good development in many respects, considering some of the problems of the world. But at what point should the vehicles featuring them be called something other than a bicycle? Anyway, as we know, Rivendell, tandem excepted, does not currently make disc brake bikes, for reasons they have explained any number of times. And in actuality, any animus regarding this design choice (too strong a word either way though--frustration?) would appear to be more from the Why *won't* Riv do discs camp. -- 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.
