The issue is "line extension," and some are for it, some against it. Bstone---Panasonic----two bike companies with extreme line-extension--- electronics, car tires, building pylons, rubber polution control products, cameras, home appliances. I think we all like Bstones some, but it was NOT easy to present them as a groovy bike back in 1985-1990. Then, the name meant "car tires that aren't Michelin or Goodyear or B.F. Goodrich." It was always, "they make bikes, too?" That was when Bstone was the 6th biggest bike maker in the world, and had 23 percent of the Japanese market (1985).
It's a smaller thing for Rivendell to call all of our bikes "Rivendell," then put the model name in small letters on the top tube---bikes is bikes and all.....but I like the idea of independent identities. I don't think of a Sam Hillborne as a "lesser" Rivendell just because it's less expensive than A. Homer or something else. I think the Sam is the best value, hugest bang-for buck superstar in its own category....and not A. Homer lite, or something. My not liking line extension is why we have MUSA clothes, and why we have Sackville AND Brand V bags. I'm not saying I'm navigating a minefield of potentially dumb moves by avoiding line extension. Smarter people than me like it......but I know their arguments and don't buy any of 'em. They're smarter in other ways... In the early 2000s I never said anything but it bothered me when somebody would refer to their Atlantis or Rambo as "a Rivendell," because to me "Rivendell" meant it was a custom and said RIvendell on the downtube. I think that was dumb. I LIKE it now. You can probably google "line extension" and get a better explanation. It usually happens when some decision-maker wants to suck up to a boss by pretending to believe that ANYTHING the Firm puts its name on will have instant credibility---like, "Well...General Electric makes a good kitchen widget...it probably knows its way around a non-kitchen widget, too." On Aug 3, 9:48 pm, Rex Kerr <[email protected]> wrote: > While riding home today I had somebody catch up with me and comment on my > bike, asking if it was a Riv. Interestingly, he's been the first to not ask > what an AHH was. > > Most bike companies put their brand on the downtube and the model on the > top-tube, but Riv seems to go against the grain (something they NEVER do in > any other aspect!!) and put the model name in big letters, but leave the > company name relatively obscure. > > I'm curious... it seems that there'd be some value to Riv to have their name > quite prominently displayed, and I know I wouldn't object to it. Anybody > know why their bikes deviate from the normal practice? -- 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.
