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| Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles |
The Cycling Industry Is Not Out To "Get You".
With the advent of the 32" wheel diameter the oft heard cries of "foul" aimed at marketers and the cycling industry at large are being brought back to the fore.
I read comments, (I know......you aren't supposed to read the comments!), on threads concerning the new 32" wheels and I see the same old complaints I've seen over the years. Complaints concerning internal cable routing, disc brakes, 27.5"ers, "Plus sized tires". and 29"ers, not to mention bottom brackets, head sets, and more component changes.
"It's just another thing they've done to make us spend more money!"
This one is one of my favorite old saws concerning the bicycle industry. It is as if anything new comes along with a gun held to your head "making you buy it". This is such a ridiculous complaint and it deserves the utmost derision in return. It is just a stupid, knee-jerk, thoughtless comment. No one is making you spend your money. The consumer can vote by NOT spending any money on new tech, and often they do. Quit complaining in this manner and keep your credit card hidden, go out and touch grass. It'll be okay.
I know I could go on because I've seen so much negativity lambasted at products people thought no one needed and were a waste of time over the years. Guess what? More often than not, those things become the hill someone else is going to die on concerning something that shouldn't be changed in the future. See 29"ers vs 26"ers, and now what people say about 29"ers vs 32"ers. I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of those who are against the idea of a 32"er were against the idea of a 29"er twenty years ago. They probably have forgotten all about this though.
And the whole "standards" thing is a farce. There haven't been standards, in a strict sense of the word, EVER in cycling. There is the standard you came into cycling with, and which you think shouldn't ever change, yes. But in reality, cycling is in a state of constant change. Just ask any bicycle mechanic who has to buy hundreds of dollars worth of tools every year just to keep up with those changes.
In one sense, this is the problem with cycling. Not that any company is out to get you by changing things, but that these companies keep inventing "new" things which we don't really need. Once in a while actual innovation to the betterment of all is achieved. (Threadless head sets, cartridge bottom brackets, 29"ers), and at other times it is change for no real benefit to anyone (internally routed cables, various bottom bracket types, XD drivers). So, this foments the idea that cycling is just trying to make it so you have to buy the latest thing. You do not "have to" buy anything.
You just think you do.....
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| Gravel Porn: Ben Witt on the Heywood 390 course |
Doing It Right
Wednesday I saw some Instagram stories from the guys at the Heywood Ride. They were out for a long day of course-checking for their upcoming event on May 16th.
This was for their longest route option. A 390 mile beast of a loop running through the Driftless Area. (IYKYK)
There are shorter distances which, I imagine, most people will rather do, but these ultra-distance gravel routes always tug at my heart. No surprise there, I suppose.
I was most chuffed to know that Marty Larson and Ben Witt "get it". They understand that you just do not simply throw a route out with a GPS track and expect it to work. It will not work. These guys know it won't work that way. This is why they drove the course to check everything out. And they found a problem they had to account for with a re-route.
This level of care and attention to detail is worthy of your attending this event. If you have a hankering for a good time on a bike, I cannot recommend this ride strongly enough. Check it out. There is still time to get onboard at any distance or commitment level you want to.
Completely agree. Nobody forces you to buy anything. Don’t like 27.5? Don’t buy it. Plus tires not your cup of tea? Skip them. Innovation is generally a good thing.
ReplyDeleteMy personal view is that cycling brands focus too much on racing and competition, and not everyone wants to become Miguel Indurain. Most everyday riders probably don’t need such extreme geometries… but who knows, I could be wrong.
I also try to follow the “buy once, use it for life” mindset. And with so many standard changes, sometimes you end up going with more boutique brands (is that the right way to say it?)—which are usually more expensive too.
Here in Spain, cycling is more tied to the competitive side and less to relaxed, comfortable rides. It’s hard to find brands like Jones, Rivendell, Singular, Crust… even Salsa.
Anyway, having options is always a good thing—just pick what works for you. Enjoy the ride!
A few thoughts on the industry out to get you. They are out to make money, so a management style is to offer new ideas/solutions to customer feed back. How they do that is what makes that company different from their competitors. The industry only has so many people to sell a new bike too, and within are cults and sub genres of buyers and types of bikes. Now the competition within the industry of different brands and location. A huge difference occurs in bike marketing from here in Iowa to Western New York. Yes Trek, Spesh, and C-dale exist in both places, but Salsa just entered NY scene in the last few years. Growler bikes no defunct was the fat bike brand in WNY. Point being, companies are trying to maximize profits with the least amount of investment. A new wheel size platform does not come without investment that becomes a sunk cost.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, the industry is out to get my money via taking risks. Yes they are out to get me, but is not as disingenuous as people what you to believe. I do think Salsa will be better off with the Tres-Dos wheel size with the longer wheel base, that is how they are sticking shorter riders on the bike. The longer wheel base helps with the shorter person and may actually help them flick it via tipsier condition. If you look at the bike from the axles to the BB, i think that help explains what I seeing. I will say, I think shorter cranks will be a must.
I wish I could make it up to the Heywood ride this year, but it coincides with my daughter's graduation, so I'll need to push it 'til next year. It's definitely on the list.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if my wife reads this blog or not, so can you revise it to say that you do indeed HAVE TO buy the new thing? lol kidding of course. I'm just happy this 32er stuff is in its early days when I cannot justify another new bike :).
ReplyDeleteThat Heywood website is so simple, straightforward and welcoming. I like it!
ReplyDeleteI just wish there were still quality 4 speed freewheels, so I could continue
ReplyDeleteto ride my existing bikes.
You can make yourself extremely unpopular by asking questions like " what's it for?". I have resisted commenting on 32" wheels because I don't want to sound like the old man screaming at the sky. It's hard to see how a larger,heavier wheel with more rotational inertia and dubious improvement in roll-over is going to make my life better. We don't need another orphan standard. Bicycles are very mature technology. We already know what works. I wish component makers would take some of their innovative energy and re-direct it into build quality. Let's find a way to resist the enshittification that seems to have taken over everything we buy these days. If you want my money make beatifully designed, well machined and nicely finished parts not new standards.
ReplyDelete@Phillip Cowan - Interesting comments. Thank you.
DeleteI was asked by a young bicycle mechanic what my take on 32"ers was just the other day. He wasn't onboard with the idea himself, but he wanted my opinion.
Obviously you probably know my take, but for anyone else here in the comments, I feel 32|ers will have a flash of "popularity" and then quickly fade away.
There will always be 32"ers, at least for the short term, but much like other niche attempts at changing the way we look at wheels, (650B/27.5", fat 26/27.5", Plus sized wheels) the 32"er will not become "The Next Big Thing™"
Besides, bicycle shops, distributors, and big brands will not want to support another wheel size. Sales are already tenuous, companies stressed financially, and the 32"er market is marginal at best.
If you are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on developing new product, you are most likely placing your bets on what will sell by trying to attract the market with the most numbers of potential buyers.
That is not the 32"er segment.