Jim, you're making me eager to read it. The thought just occurred to me, reading the responses. Jitensha Studio opens in 1982. Grant works at REI, rides competitively... hangs out at Hiroshi's shop. Lots of other people around, I'm sure - influences. Bridgestone happens. Hiroshi's daughter Natsumi names Robert "Pineapple Bob." Riding was fun and equipment sensible. Riding changes, equipment changes - but sensibility stays the same. Riv starts. Racing takes over. Grant persists. Then finally the industry begins to respond - only I'd say in the last 5 years - with sensible steel. Just ride - makes sense more now than ever.
Esteban San Diego, Calif. On Wednesday, May 9, 2012 11:15:32 PM UTC-7, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > Maybe there should be a spoiler alert here - be advised that I will be > discussing various aspects of the new book, so navigate away from this page > if you prefer the content of the book to be a complete surprise. > > I finished reading the book tonight, which if I can summarize in a line, > is about all the good things about bikes that appear only when you toss > racer prejudices and attitudes out the window and Just Ride. After the > first few chapters, I thought that maybe the editors really sanitized GP's > historically familiar against-the-grain opinions to be more blandly > vanilla, hopefully to be appealing to a broader audience. The general > content wasn't unpredictable to me, having read the Readers and Catalogs > and most everything else Riv going back to 2004 when I wanted a touring > bike and couldn't find any to buy except the Atlantis (that's how I first > found Riv in the internet universe). But I was somewhat surprised that > there was little to no discernible lug evangelism or quill stem absolutism > or singing the praises of friction shifters, and the Retro-Grouchiness was > held to a dull roar. > > But as I got further along in the book, I started to think that maybe Mr > Petersen has simply mellowed about the trivial details over the years (I > know I have!). Or maybe more accurately, there's less to be peeved about in > the bike industry now than there was 10 years ago or even 5 years ago. > After all, smart, sturdy bikes with ample tire clearance and useful > braze-ons and some attention to classic, non-billboard aesthetics have > become, dare I say, normal. If racing bikes and gear are the status quo in > the world, then I must live in a lucky bubble in South Minneapolis where I > ride and fix bikes every day, as I see lots of reincarnated 1980s > sport-tourers, old steel MTBs, and new(ish) Surly Cross-checks and LHTs on > a daily basis, but feel like I see relatively few "road bikes" being ridden > by obvious faux-racers. To the extent that bike trends have steered toward > the benefit of the "Unracer" over the past decade or so, my opinion is that > Grant and Rivendell played a large part in it. This is not to say that all > smart bike designs and product offerings are shameless Riv-ripoffs, but > that Grant gave voice to a backlash movement and opened a long-neglected > market to a lot of smart, creative people who maybe couldn't or wouldn't > have done it without some pioneering coattails to ride on. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/T3jGR5ngV0oJ. 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.
