I agree that it would be absurd to call the LHT a copy of the Atlantis. If people do that again and again, then they are being absurd every time. Maybe I just tune out know-nothing claims like that. I also agree that a lot of people on this list do not find Surly's sense of humor funny. You, Jim, certainly are not imagining that. I think Surly's sense of humor is hysterical. I especially like the "bongs, farts and chainsaws" sticker you described. Mail it to me if you aren't going to use it. :-) I also like this quote from the Steamroller page:
"You can get fancier bikes, but what are you, some kind of dick?" I know there's plenty of room in this little corner of the bike business for both of them. For every handwringer that gets all annoyed at a "racing sucks" patch, there's a techno-grouch grouching that Grant is a retro-grouch. If somebody wants to go and get offended at something, nobody is going to stop them. On Wednesday, December 11, 2013 11:04:11 AM UTC-8, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > I was just logging on to make an argument similar to Jeremy's about the > similarity of the LHT to the Atlantis/All-Rounder not being an indication > that Surly somehow plagiarized RBW's designs when they made the LHT. That > claim has been repeated again and again, but it simply doesn't hold water > when you compare the large number of differences between the two models. > The idea of touring bikes having relaxed geometry, sturdy tubing, lowish > BBs, and long chainstays/wheelbase was not invented by either RBW or by > Surly. I like to imagine that both companies thought that the touring bike > market was in for a resurgence, after lying mostly dormant for 20 years. > Both designs used classic touring bike angles and dimensions for the most > part, but were tweaked to accommodate the larger tires that were becoming > available. On the other hand, I feel that the Atlantis was a revolutionary > bike and that its relative success may have encouraged some other companies > to jump on the touring bandwagon. I also feel that a lot of people buy a > LHT as a "poor (wo)man's Atlantis". > > As for the perceived Surly/RBW rivalry vibe I mentioned, I guess I was > just referring to the sense that a lot of people here feel that Surly is > unwelcoming and hostile, while Riv is warm and fuzzy and inclusive. Maybe > just my imagination. > > >>>> -- 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. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
