You've got them, I've got them, anybody with an interest in bikes and a pulse has them: lottery bikes. The bikes we'd put together (or for some sad people, who would pay to have them put together) if money were no object. They run through our heads constantly, ever changing depending on the weather and the ride we took last.
Today's post was inspired by this post on the Cycle Exif site: http://www.cycleexif.com/speedvagen-fit-tour-sydney#more-19183. There are a few custom builders out there who are so far ahead of everybody else it's a joke. I was going to list them off, but since they're going to be on the following list, let's not waste our time. Below are the bikes I'd order today if money were no object. Sure, we could drill down into the minutiae of component spec, which spokes I'd use, etc, but that's not what this is about. This is about the overall intent of the bike, the feel of it, the soul of it.
Bike 1:
Firefly All Rounder Road Bike
Ti
Clearance for up to 40-45c tires
2x11 compact drivetrain, probably Shimano
Disc brakes
As close to road geo as possible given the above
This is the bike that I want to be able to take EVERYWHERE, and I like my bikes light, stiff, and responsive. Think sports car, not a cool old Caddie.
Bike 2
Speedvagen Road Bike
Steel
Clearance for up to 28s
2x11 drivetrain, Shimano or Campy
Disc brakes
Agressive, road race geometry. This is the bike that, when I show up for the Tuesday night ride, says, "hey, you better strap in because I'm bringing it." Or, it says, "I'm a poser douche but have more money than you." Either way, it's cool with me.
Bike 3
Pegoretti Marcelo
Steel
Campy (duh)
The rest I'd leave up to Dario. That man is a fucking god, and who am I to tell a god what to do?
That's it for the bikes off the top of my head, but other builders who inspire this kind of daydream, in no particular order: Bishop, Richard Sachs (again, duh), Weigle, ENGLISH, Hampsten... The list goes on and on and on...
Friday, August 14, 2015
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
What's Wrong with the Bike Industry
I've been pondering this question for as long as I've been a part of the bike industry, which is to say, for as long as the bike industry has been pissing me off. It was brought back to the forefront of my consciousness recently, when an acquaintance of mine, Bike Shop Girl, wrote this excellent piece: http://bikeshopgirl.com/2015/06/the-bike-industry-is-sick/
Arleigh knows her shit. She's smart and experienced (which begs us ask why she still plays in the cesspool of the bike industry). She lays out better than I can a lot of Big Problems with the industry, and her commenters, contrary to the typical trolls, lay out a few others that are important. But they missed one, and it's particularly important to me.
One of the Big Problems she mentions (along with several of her commenters) is what I'm going to lump together into the category of Not Enough Money. This is an onion problem, with too many layers to count, and plenty of layers I don't know shit about, and I'm sure layers that I don't even know exist, but true to form, I'm going to distill it down anyway. In the U.S, bikes are toys and as such are valued as toys. We want them for as cheap as possible, we want to abuse them, we want to throw them away, and we want to replace them as cheaply as possible. Because of this, the margin on bikes in the U.S. is razor thin and incapable of supporting bike shops (shops in the U.S. would go out of business if all they did was sell bikes; they make their money on parts, accessories, and service). Because there is so little money to be made, budgets are always tight, and since payroll is almost always a shop's biggest category of overhead, employees are paid as little as possible, usually without benefits.
So we start with workers who are paid as little as possible. Most of those employees are bike geeks, and smarter than average when it comes to bikes (this is a generalization based on the anecdotal evidence of the employees with whom I've worked). There is already an intrinsic interest in and motivation to learn about bikes and bike technology, and indeed, that's a big part of the job.
The problem is, the motivation is intrinsic, which by definition means there is no extrinsic motivator at play. Unless it's a sales associate getting paid on commission, there is nothing to be gained by knowing more.
So the knowledge itself becomes the currency.
Victory when knowledge is currency is knowing more than the other person, be that an employee or customer. The knowledge in itself causes no problems, but when your identity is so closely tied to how much you know, it becomes personal, and if your status as "smart" is challenged, you become defensive. My hypothesis is this is the root cause of the condescending sales person and the grumpy mechanic, both of whom are frequently cited as the biggest problem with brick and mortar bike shops (and rightly so).
It is why I started this blog. It is why I so frequently get sucked into the same bullshit, asinine arguments in the comment section on blogs. Admitting this makes me feel pathetic, but I long ago used up all the fucks I had to give, especially when it came to stroking my ego with my knowledge of spoke tension and my ability to overhaul an Ergolever, both skills that have next to zero value in this day and age.
Arleigh knows her shit. She's smart and experienced (which begs us ask why she still plays in the cesspool of the bike industry). She lays out better than I can a lot of Big Problems with the industry, and her commenters, contrary to the typical trolls, lay out a few others that are important. But they missed one, and it's particularly important to me.
One of the Big Problems she mentions (along with several of her commenters) is what I'm going to lump together into the category of Not Enough Money. This is an onion problem, with too many layers to count, and plenty of layers I don't know shit about, and I'm sure layers that I don't even know exist, but true to form, I'm going to distill it down anyway. In the U.S, bikes are toys and as such are valued as toys. We want them for as cheap as possible, we want to abuse them, we want to throw them away, and we want to replace them as cheaply as possible. Because of this, the margin on bikes in the U.S. is razor thin and incapable of supporting bike shops (shops in the U.S. would go out of business if all they did was sell bikes; they make their money on parts, accessories, and service). Because there is so little money to be made, budgets are always tight, and since payroll is almost always a shop's biggest category of overhead, employees are paid as little as possible, usually without benefits.
So we start with workers who are paid as little as possible. Most of those employees are bike geeks, and smarter than average when it comes to bikes (this is a generalization based on the anecdotal evidence of the employees with whom I've worked). There is already an intrinsic interest in and motivation to learn about bikes and bike technology, and indeed, that's a big part of the job.
The problem is, the motivation is intrinsic, which by definition means there is no extrinsic motivator at play. Unless it's a sales associate getting paid on commission, there is nothing to be gained by knowing more.
So the knowledge itself becomes the currency.
Victory when knowledge is currency is knowing more than the other person, be that an employee or customer. The knowledge in itself causes no problems, but when your identity is so closely tied to how much you know, it becomes personal, and if your status as "smart" is challenged, you become defensive. My hypothesis is this is the root cause of the condescending sales person and the grumpy mechanic, both of whom are frequently cited as the biggest problem with brick and mortar bike shops (and rightly so).
It is why I started this blog. It is why I so frequently get sucked into the same bullshit, asinine arguments in the comment section on blogs. Admitting this makes me feel pathetic, but I long ago used up all the fucks I had to give, especially when it came to stroking my ego with my knowledge of spoke tension and my ability to overhaul an Ergolever, both skills that have next to zero value in this day and age.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
The $17K Merckx, Value, and Bikerumor Comments
Well, the interwebs were all abuzz with the release of this special edition Merckx: http://www.eddy70.com/
OF COURSE, a hyper-expensive bike is going to bring out the trolls. I know, I know, I should know better than to crawl under the bridge with them, but right now, in the doldrums of winter, dumbass blog comments are what anger me the most about the bike industry. True to form, Bikerumor was among the first to post about the frame, and agin true to form, their resident trolls responded immediately:
OF COURSE, a hyper-expensive bike is going to bring out the trolls. I know, I know, I should know better than to crawl under the bridge with them, but right now, in the doldrums of winter, dumbass blog comments are what anger me the most about the bike industry. True to form, Bikerumor was among the first to post about the frame, and agin true to form, their resident trolls responded immediately:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
I can buy the collector argument IF the bike would have been ridden by a cycling legend, but in this case its just a hyped bike with pretentious marketing and a totally exaggerated price.
However, you by chance don’t agree with me, I’ve got lots of “collectibles” that I can offer you.
and: