As the retail bike buyer moves up beyond entry level comfort bikes, s/he is going to be coaxed toward a race bike with 700x23 rubber or a full-on MTB. Nothing wrong with those, but it's too bad that other options aren't readily available in most shops. Surly would seem to be the gateway drug for many of these shops, but if Trek or Specialized has the shop by the short hairs, it may not be feasible to bring in a competing brand, especially one that is antithetical to the marketing strategy of the flagship brands. So of course, the sales guy or gal is going to sell what's on the sales floor. That's his/her job!
I'm one of the 30-something bike salespeople Ron mentioned, and I have no problem whatsoever with modern things like 10-speed or 11-speed cassettes, disc brakes, or threadless headsets. I prefer steel frames and forks, but carbon, Ti, and Al work, too. These details are trivial. The factors that really matter to me are tire clearance and braze-ons. It's possible to have a crummy steel bike that lacks these features, and it's also possible to have a versatile aluminum bike. Anyway, it's always a good idea to occasionally step out of the bubble of rivbike or BQ and see what's out there. It's getting better, believe it or not, but we're still outcasts. -- 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 [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
