legrandefromage":87i0w6ub said:
gradeAfailure":87i0w6ub said:
Wow, you really have got a chip on your shoulder about people who ride modern, don't you?
No, not at all, its what it has become that gets me upset - I refer to an earlier post:
Work as a mechanic in a bike shop - just 6 months should do it, then you may change your outlook.
Its not really a 'hate' of modern bikes, I suspect its more to do with the faceless business practices of what is now a dwindling side of the industry. The companies exist for no other reason than to make money, that is all.
Very very few companies may have other motives but its these bland megacorps that have kind of taken the innocence out of cycling. Its not even rose tinted, why do you feel that you 'need' suspension? Its because its everywhere and the magazines tell you that you 'need' XYZ for this season. Bikes look great to the casual rider and to keep up with Johnny, they must have that XYZ or at least some similar. Its just basic marketing.
Cycling as a whole can be very very simple. Simple doesnt sell, 'tech' sells, the latest trumped up must have sells. Just look at Apple products as a prime example. A fairly stale market suddenly shaken to its core by one product and now everyone has to have that product or something similar whether its needed or not.
Its great to have the newest, sure, there will always be those that want it (and perhaps have fallen under the spell) but there are those that visited that country, enjoyed its hospitality and have now gone 'home'.
RetriBIKE is to many that 'home'. Simple bikes, easy to maintain, fun to use with any headaches easy to repair or replace.
But it was always thus, we just remember the past differently.
Big companies have always been about making money and small companies do it for the love of it. As true today as it was 20 years ago.
YT Industries are a smallish German company making garishly-liveried hydroformed FS bikes produced in the far east, yet they make a point of supporting young riders (YT: Young Talent), to the extent that they help them continue schooling and ensure that they have career options open once they leave professional cycling.
In fact, simple
does sell - massive increase in SS in the past few years, and rigid is properly making a comeback (albeit in 29er format as they supposedly roll better). Personally I'd love one of those Genesis Fortitudes. Not to mention the massive upsurge of late in CX bikes - no suspension, cable discs or cantis, not much different from 20 years ago.
If you don't like the look of modern FS bikes, and they don't suit the riding you do, they don't buy one! But I've had a couple, and love them for a significant amount of the riding I do. Sure, they might be overkill occasionally, but that doesn't diminish the amount of fun I have on them. They also take a beating far better than retro stuff! I'm also yet to have a mechanical on either, so I don't understand this feeling that they're unreliable (or at least any more so than retro).
As for newcomers feeling like they have to have FS to ride offroad, I can kind of see where that might come from in regard to magazines, etc; however, every forum post from someone new to the sport asking for advice on a first bike has always been met with people telling them to buy a decent HT as opposed to a cheap FS, and I'm sure any LBS worth its salt would do the same.
So what if someone who can afford it has a £6k bike on a £35k car but doesn't need it? What business of yours how they spend their money - or should people have to pass a riding test before they're deemed of sufficient ability to make full use of they bike they purchase? If they get enjoyment from riding it, then that's the most important thing!
At the end of the day, it's all bikes, it's all good
Never forget that there have been some gopping retrobikes too!
