It is true, however, that until somewhat recently if you wanted to "upgrade" yourself (from the entry-level hybrid, etc) as a "serious" cyclist, your typical LBS would have pushed you toward a race-style bike, complete with the performance-oriented fit, team kit, clipless pedals, and all the rest. To a large extent, that's still true, but it is improving! Rivendell led the way in showing the rest of the bike industry that there was demand for an upscale version of a practical, comfort-oriented bike that had nothing to do with racing. Surly wasn't far behind, and now numerous smaller companies offer a wide variety of flavors in this genre. Even the bigger companies are starting to respond. Cycling clothing comes in better variety now, too. And the biggest growth in QBP's catalog in the pedal section is a new kind of "clipless" in the numerous brands and models of wide, grippy platform pedals that work well with normal shoes.
IMO, we are several years into a golden age of non-racing cycling. On Monday, September 10, 2012 10:22:48 AM UTC-5, Peter Pesce wrote: > > I was just thinking about a similar thing. I seriously doubt Trek keeps > the lights on at Trek world HQ selling Madones. For all the angst over the > race-centric bike industry I'd guess 99.9% of the 15.7 million bikes sold > in the US in 2011 were comfort, hybrid or MTB. Heck, 4.7 million of those > were in the "under 20" wheel" category, which I assume is mostly kids > bikes, not Moultons! > > Pete in CT > > On Saturday, September 8, 2012 10:22:08 PM UTC-4, Jim Thill - Hiawatha > Cyclery wrote: >> >> Just this year, Surly removed any restrictions on steerer tube length >> from their warranty language. The old warranty was invalidated, supposedly, >> if the steerer protruded more than 100 mm (4") above the headtube/headset. >> We at HC have been ignoring that for years, but this year Surly gave their >> blessing to long steerer tubes with the phrase, IIRC, "go nuts". LHT >> steerer length for 700C wheels is 320 mm (about 13") and for 26" wheels and >> 56cm+ frames, it's 380 mm (just over 15"). For most people, the full-length >> steerer is plenty to get the bars high enough. Even when we cut some off, I >> always leave an extra 10-15 mm, just in case the rider wants to go a little >> higher someday without a new up-angle stem. Anyway, this is a case where >> the conventional wisdom about threadless steerers being universally too >> short is wrong. Incidentally, I don't believe this is a case of "the >> industry" seeing the light as much as a case of saving money by not >> pre-cutting the steerers. >> >> It's really nothing new that bike shops are selling non-racer bikes. >> Everyday Mongo and I fix up old bikes made in the past 1-50 years. Most are >> hybrids or comfort bikes or mountain bikes or 1970s and 80s 10-speeds or >> English 3-speeds and the like. The fraction of older racing-inspired bikes >> that come through for service is tiny. I suspect this means that people >> have mostly been buying non-racing bikes for the past 50 years. Of course, >> the shops like to push the sexier stuff. When I worked at Freewheel, which >> is a big Trek shop (and former BStone dealer) in Minneapolis, we had lots >> of racy bikes on display to greet customers when they walked in, but I sold >> probably 2-3 Trek 520 touring bikes for every racing-style bike, and >> probably 20 $400 hybrids for every race bike. I don't recall selling even >> one $5,000-10,000 Madone, even though we had them to sell. >> >> On Saturday, September 8, 2012 2:53:49 PM UTC-5, Tony Lockhart wrote: >>> >>> It's nice to hear LBS folks saying that their sales are coming primarily >>> from regular people. Kinda makes me wonder if more and more people are >>> realizing the enjoyment that comes with cycling. Surlys are great bikes and >>> it makes sense that they're increasing in popularity. >>> >>> I have a conjecture about the high steer tubes. I speculate that the >>> bikes at your LBS are built up with uncut steer tubes so customers have the >>> option of fine tuning their handlebar height. Perhaps potential buyers get >>> the opportunity to mix and match washers to find the ideal height when >>> going in for a fitting. >>> >>> On Saturday, September 8, 2012 11:10:22 AM UTC-7, lungimsam wrote: >>>> >>>> Sorry for the typos. I wonder if quill stems will be coming back >>>>> anytime soon. >>>>> >>>> -- 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/-/Ff8JeUG6jP0J. 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.
