Friday News And Views

Titanium, one gear, $8700.00

Used To Be You Could Be Like The Pros:

Back when I got into a bike shop job in the early 90's my old boss, Tom, used to tell me that "Cycling is the only sport where you can use what the Pros do." You could buy the best Tour de France type road racing bike, the best NORBA, World Cup XC bike, just like your favorite cycling heroes rode. You still "can", sort of.......if you're well heeled. 

My old boss would take those words back if he was still alive, I think. Because even though these Pro level, Tour and World Cup bikes exist to be purchased by the unwashed cycling proletariat, the price of entry has risen astronomically. Before I ever worked at a shop, I saved up to buy the very best XC hard tail I could buy. I had to really skrimp to, because my wife at the time wanted the same thing. I ended up buying frames and forks and having custom builds done on two top of the line Klein Attitudes. Bikes that were Pro level XC sleds.

Sure, you have to account for inflation, but let's take a Trek 9.9 Superfly XTR bike as an example.  This bike goes for $7300.00. My custom built Klein, with hand built wheels, went for $5,000.00 in today's dollars. That's handpicked parts folks. An XTR Attitude model straight from Klein would have cost me less. 

Then there are road bikes. Just this week Trek announced the new Emonda, (Apparently deriving from the French, "to prune"), and the top end model goes for $15,000.00 plus. Apparently the Emonda prunes your wallet as well as weight from the frame. Not to be outdone, Specialized only a day later announced a $20,000.00 McLaren S-Works Venge. Yep, you'll see lots of commoners like me riding those.......ha!

Okay, that's it for this edition of News And Views. Happy 4th folks! Have a safe and fun holiday!!!

 

Friday News And Views

Titanium, one gear, $8700.00

Used To Be You Could Be Like The Pros:

Back when I got into a bike shop job in the early 90's my old boss, Tom, used to tell me that "Cycling is the only sport where you can use what the Pros do." You could buy the best Tour de France type road racing bike, the best NORBA, World Cup XC bike, just like your favorite cycling heroes rode. You still "can", sort of.......if you're well heeled. 

My old boss would take those words back if he was still alive, I think. Because even though these Pro level, Tour and World Cup bikes exist to be purchased by the unwashed cycling proletariat, the price of entry has risen astronomically. Before I ever worked at a shop, I saved up to buy the very best XC hard tail I could buy. I had to really skrimp to, because my wife at the time wanted the same thing. I ended up buying frames and forks and having custom builds done on two top of the line Klein Attitudes. Bikes that were Pro level XC sleds.

Sure, you have to account for inflation, but let's take a Trek 9.9 Superfly XTR bike as an example.  This bike goes for $7300.00. My custom built Klein, with hand built wheels, went for $5,000.00 in today's dollars. That's handpicked parts folks. An XTR Attitude model straight from Klein would have cost me less. 

Then there are road bikes. Just this week Trek announced the new Emonda, (Apparently deriving from the French, "to prune"), and the top end model goes for $15,000.00 plus. Apparently the Emonda prunes your wallet as well as weight from the frame. Not to be outdone, Specialized only a day later announced a $20,000.00 McLaren S-Works Venge. Yep, you'll see lots of commoners like me riding those.......ha!

Okay, that's it for this edition of News And Views. Happy 4th folks! Have a safe and fun holiday!!!

 

Remembering The Old School

Back in the day, this was my bike. Really!

I was up at the shop yesterday to bail out a customer that needed a special cassette built up from something he had brought in. While I was assembling that, I noticed a Surly Ogre, (yeah......hard NOT to notice that box!), and it needed assembling. So I stayed and started piecing it together.

I was twiddling wrenches when I looked up and saw a "customer" approaching the counter. Suddenly I recognized the figure as a person I hadn't seen in 18 years! It was an old riding buddy of mine. What an awesome surprise.

Well, it didn't take long before we were deep into the "old daze" when we both did a lot of riding together. Trips, night time rides, and after work jaunts in Geo Wyth. For a brief look at one adventure I wrote up a few years back, see here. Those night rides were actually instigated by this old friend, which is something I just learned yesterday. It was really fun to remember those times when riding was just for fun and adventure and mountain biking was still evolving at a breakneck pace.

It's funny to look back on it all now. In some ways, the whole suspension, free ride, and racing deal back then kind of messed up what was simply a great time. We didn't let it get to us, well......not too much. But as with anything, things change and we all went our different ways. It's all good......

It was great to reconnect after all these years and catch up, and who knows, maybe someday we'll be rolling wheels together again on another adventure.

Remembering The Old School

Back in the day, this was my bike. Really!

I was up at the shop yesterday to bail out a customer that needed a special cassette built up from something he had brought in. While I was assembling that, I noticed a Surly Ogre, (yeah......hard NOT to notice that box!), and it needed assembling. So I stayed and started piecing it together.

I was twiddling wrenches when I looked up and saw a "customer" approaching the counter. Suddenly I recognized the figure as a person I hadn't seen in 18 years! It was an old riding buddy of mine. What an awesome surprise.

Well, it didn't take long before we were deep into the "old daze" when we both did a lot of riding together. Trips, night time rides, and after work jaunts in Geo Wyth. For a brief look at one adventure I wrote up a few years back, see here. Those night rides were actually instigated by this old friend, which is something I just learned yesterday. It was really fun to remember those times when riding was just for fun and adventure and mountain biking was still evolving at a breakneck pace.

It's funny to look back on it all now. In some ways, the whole suspension, free ride, and racing deal back then kind of messed up what was simply a great time. We didn't let it get to us, well......not too much. But as with anything, things change and we all went our different ways. It's all good......

It was great to reconnect after all these years and catch up, and who knows, maybe someday we'll be rolling wheels together again on another adventure.

When Colors Work

Not sure I'm feelin' it...

Color. My old boss at my first bike shop gig said something to the effect that, "Cycling is a colorful sport. Your kit and your gear should reflect that." Well, he certainly lived up to that maxim himself. He had a shop full of visually stimulating frames, jerseys, and gee-gaws.

I don't know about the current "neon revival", or those old Polti jerseys, (remember those?), but I do like color in my cycling too. Tasteful, but not avoiding "in your face" stuff either. But it has to be "right". That's a hard thing to get in balance, seemingly, for some of these outfits pedaling cycling gear these days.

Take the example of the Rubena tires here. The grey stripes certainly should call these out at the trail head as something different. However, for my tastes, the grey stripes are contrived, derivative, and just "not right". Want color on your tires? I would rather see it on the side wall, like Geax's old green sidewalls, or skin wall tires, like the old days. (I know...."Mr. Retro" again!)

We could throw in the oddball graphics here, but that is another element of design, so I will keep this focused on color only.

My first "good" mountain bike was this old '92 Klein Attitude. Love, love, love the Sunset Linear Fade with the hot pink, orange, and yellow. It was brash, in your face, but done so well that it garnered a lot of good and disparaging comments. To me, that's a good thing. Why ride a bike that blends in? (Unless it is something you don't want stolen, or for other good reasons.)

And that old bike fit right in with what my old boss was trying to get across. Don't be shy! Get colorful. Just be careful with the design, and it should work. You don't have to be so brash as my old '92 Attitude though! I just use it as an extreme example.

Certainly, a tasteful, classy use of color is definitely okay as well. I like spartan design, one color schemes that are done well. An offsetting panel, or detail in the right place can make or break a design. 

And then there is your cycling clothes. You shouldn't be shy about good design there either. Just don't try any of those old Cipolini skin suits or a retro-Polti jersey on your next ride!

When Colors Work

Not sure I'm feelin' it...

Color. My old boss at my first bike shop gig said something to the effect that, "Cycling is a colorful sport. Your kit and your gear should reflect that." Well, he certainly lived up to that maxim himself. He had a shop full of visually stimulating frames, jerseys, and gee-gaws.

I don't know about the current "neon revival", or those old Polti jerseys, (remember those?), but I do like color in my cycling too. Tasteful, but not avoiding "in your face" stuff either. But it has to be "right". That's a hard thing to get in balance, seemingly, for some of these outfits pedaling cycling gear these days.

Take the example of the Rubena tires here. The grey stripes certainly should call these out at the trail head as something different. However, for my tastes, the grey stripes are contrived, derivative, and just "not right". Want color on your tires? I would rather see it on the side wall, like Geax's old green sidewalls, or skin wall tires, like the old days. (I know...."Mr. Retro" again!)

We could throw in the oddball graphics here, but that is another element of design, so I will keep this focused on color only.

My first "good" mountain bike was this old '92 Klein Attitude. Love, love, love the Sunset Linear Fade with the hot pink, orange, and yellow. It was brash, in your face, but done so well that it garnered a lot of good and disparaging comments. To me, that's a good thing. Why ride a bike that blends in? (Unless it is something you don't want stolen, or for other good reasons.)

And that old bike fit right in with what my old boss was trying to get across. Don't be shy! Get colorful. Just be careful with the design, and it should work. You don't have to be so brash as my old '92 Attitude though! I just use it as an extreme example.

Certainly, a tasteful, classy use of color is definitely okay as well. I like spartan design, one color schemes that are done well. An offsetting panel, or detail in the right place can make or break a design. 

And then there is your cycling clothes. You shouldn't be shy about good design there either. Just don't try any of those old Cipolini skin suits or a retro-Polti jersey on your next ride!