Monday, August 1, 2011

Beating the Sense Into You: Experience is Overrated

If you've been cycling for a long time, you may have noticed that with each passing year you understand it less and less. I know this is the case for me. Just when I think I've finally learned something, I check in with the "experts" and realize that I've actually got it all wrong. This is because experience is no substitute for "facts," at least when it comes to bicycles. I was reminded of this recently when reading the following article in Bicycling, in which a novice cyclist chronicles his attempts to purchase a road bicycle and encounters some good old-fashioned bike industry "expertise" :


Unsurprisingly, as a middle-aged gentleman with negligible road bike experience, he is profoundly uncomfortable on a crabon TrekCialized S-Wanks Whatever SL:

I waited while he rolled out a speedy-looking carbon-fiber model from a major brand, left over from last year. I don't know much about bikes, but I know a few things about shopping. I test-drove the great deal around the neighborhood and felt completely miserable. This was the first time I'd ever sat on such a bike before, and I was unaccustomed to the slender seat. When I put my hands in the drops, they were so low and far away that the position threatened to put me in traction. The shifters were Martian technology. Mostly, though, I was freaked out by how fast the bike wanted to go and how vaporously light it felt. I've owned kites that weighed more.

At this point in the article, you may have been thinking exactly what I was, which is: This guy is total Grant Petersen bait. He's befuddled by STI shifters, he's profoundly uncomfortable in the drops, and his soft posterior is being savaged by that plastic "ass hatchet" of a saddle. In fact, I almost stopped reading at this point, since I couldn't imagine any way this guy wasn't going to wind up on a Rivendell with a Brooks saddle, bar end shifters, mustache bars, and roughly 19 feet of quill stem.

Amazingly, though, I was wrong, for I underestimated the seductive powers of the crabon--and, more importantly, the marketing forces behind it:

Still, carbon interested me. At Central Wheel in West Hartford, I asked Al the Shop Guy about it.

"One thing carbon does is smooth out the jolt from a bump," he said. "On an aluminum frame, the bump might feel more like the equivalent of this."

And then he punched me…in my damaged shoulder. I knew cycling can be a risky sport, but it hadn't occurred to me that I might get hurt just talking about bikes. "On the carbon frame, it would feel like this." Al whacked me more gently.


If someone not only gave me a line like that but then had the audacity to punch me after delivering it I can't imagine I wouldn't reply with a swift kick to the "pants yabbies." But then I'd be forgetting that when people repeat some marketing "wisdom" over and over again--like the one about how somehow it's better to ride into a pothole on a crabon bike than on a metal one--it eventually hardens into a little wart of "truth" that no amount of real world experience can ever dissipate. I have an aluminum bike I ride fairly often. Sometimes I even catch myself thinking it's at least as comfortable as any crabon or steel bicycle I've ever owned, but then I remind myself that it's beating the crap out of me. If only a bike shop employee would sock me every once in awhile to drive the point home then maybe I'd be cured of these lapses of sense once and for all.

Anyway, after the bike industry literally beats some "sense" into this guy, he eventually finds a crabon road bike he likes:

I tried another bike brand, just because they had one. Then I took a day to "think it over," but who was kidding whom? It turns out that Jim Felt was destined to build a bike ideally suited to a middle-aged left-handed Irish-American writer with a penicillin allergy. When I went back for a fitting, Dave's colleague Jeff put the bike on the trainer and watched me pedal for a while. "This doesn't happen very often," he said, "but I wouldn't change anything."

In other words, after test riding a bunch of bikes and not liking them because they don't fit well, he finally gets on one that does and--surprise!--he likes it. And thus another Fred is born.

None of this is to say there's anything wrong with crabon, or that he doesn't love his Felt. I just find it frightening that cycling is now so invested in crabon that salespeople will actually beat you if you question its superiority. But I suppose they have to, because when it comes to cycling experience is often the worst teacher, and fortunately the author of the above article was spared before he might actually have any that led him astray from the Crabon Mistress. So, lest we all fall victim to the delusion that comes with experience, let us all repeat the Frame Material Mantra:

Crabon is Comfy
Steel is Real (But Only If It's Handmade)
Titanium is Forever
Aluminum Will Beat You Up On Long Rides

That should keep us all on track.


By the way, in case you don't believe me about the danger of experience, consider this video which was forwarded to me by a reader:



Basically, it's about a guy who rides obsessively, and when I saw the following warning I just assumed it was more mainstream media anti-bike propaganda:

The bike industry wants us to believe that crabon is a miracle material that will turn the pain of cycling into the handjob that never ends, and the mainstream media wants us to believe that riding bicycles of any material is something dangerous and risky in nature that viewers should not attempt. However, in this case, it turns out the warning is totally accurate, because the guy they feature does in fact have a serious problem:

No, the problem isn't that he wears a tank top tucked into half-shorts, or that his stem angle is identical to his seat post angle, or that he uses aerobars to replicate the upright fit of a Rivendell. The problem is that he's so compulsive he even rides a stationary bike while he's working:


As cyclists, we're all compulsive. We also tend to argue about who among us is too compulsive, or not compulsive enough, or what constitutes someone who doesn't ride enough, or what constitutes someone who rides too much. We will probably never reach a consensus as far as these eternal debates are concerned, but I do think most of us would agree that you're riding way too much when you're going pee-pee in a tennis ball can instead of using the bathroom:

By the way, this image raises two questions for me, and those are:

1) The presence of a wedding ring on his left hand indicates that he has a spouse. How is this possible?

and

2) How many times has he accidentally drunk the contents of that tennis ball can?

This second question in turn reminds me of the time when I was shopping for a new road bicycle. I was checking out a jaunty crabon number, but suddenly a more modestly price aluminum bike caught my eye. I'd never really owned or ridden a road bike before, so I didn't understand the reason for the price difference. So I asked the salesperson about it, and he produced an empty tennis ball can.

"Urinate in this," he said.

"Wait...what?," I replied.

He then punched me in my bad shoulder, grabbed me by my polo shirt collar, pushed me up against the pegboard where they hang the gel gloves, and growled, "Piss in the fucking can."

So I did, and handed it back to him.

"Now drink it," he commanded, holding the warm can of urine just beneath my nose as I cowered next to the Oakley display. "Because that's what riding aluminum is like."

I could smell last night's asparagus, and it began to rise up my throat. I was going to vomit.

"No, no, I get it now. I'll take the crabon," I sobbed.

"That's right, you will take the crabon. You will," snarled the salesman. Then he pulled off a latex mask, revealing himself to be Specialized chairman Mike Sinyard, and he licked his own eyeball with his reptilian forked tongue.

The bike, I'm too afraid for my own safety not to report, is fantastic, and my only regret is that I didn't fork over $15,000 for one of these.

Speaking of lavish purchases, I received an email from a reader with the following subject line:

I would like your views on this

As well as a link to this limited edition €1700 (or roughly US$126,000) Rapha espresso machine:


Well, it should go without saying that I would totally buy this if it was made out of crabon. In the meantime, though, I'll stick with my Nashbar version:


Not only can the Nashbar Microshift Hot Brown Beverage Maker make up to four (4) cups of hot brown beverage, but it also features a timer that's accurate to within six hours, as well as an integrated shift lever with Shimano-esque ergonomics that serves no purpose whatsoever. For best results, visit sister company Performance and buy their new Scattante beans, as well as that Spin Doctor Clean Machine combination chain cleaner/coffee grinder that looks exactly like a penis:


It takes the mystery out of drivetrain maintenance, thanks to the handy indicator that lets you know when you're doing it right:

So how long does it take to clean a chain with the Spin Doctor Clean Machine? Well, it varies, but trust me--when it's finished you'll know.

121 comments:

Anonymous said...

First FRYE

Anonymous said...

EPIC LEADOUT

CYC said...

Third!!

GhostOfTyrone said...

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- GhostOfTyrone

Anonymous said...

suck it, wishiwasmerckx!

Anonymous said...

Frye the Fred, cat 6 bro

Anonymous said...

top ten

Chazu said...

Bang

streepo said...

My ass hurts. I knew I should've bought the Crabon frame.

Anonymous said...

I got done with my chain cleaning. I'm not sure clean is how I'd describe it.

Anonymous said...

ta-da!

cycle

Fingerbang Assistant said...

Ahh, now that's what the chain condom goes on...

Anonymous said...

12thf! huggy

Anonymous said...

Is your chain clean, or are you just glad to see me?

ant1 said...

snobby - "Specialized chairmen" unless he has a multiple personality disorder i'm unaware of.

crosspalms said...

I've got one of those chain cleaners. I think the motto should be "a clean chain is a happy chain."

Anonymous said...

I fucking railed it!

le Correcteur said...

Top Twenty; just going through the motions.

Esteemed Commenter DaddoOne said...

How come any time one if forced to drink their own urine it is on the day after eating asparagus?

Grump said...

"When I went back for a fitting, Dave's colleague Jeff put the bike on the trainer and watched me pedal for a while. "This doesn't happen very often," he said, "but I wouldn't change anything."
.
.
.
He must have had 5 minutes left in his shift.

ken e. said...

i can hardly wait. holiday monday funnies!

Anonymous said...

IS forced, dammit, 'cause IF forced makes no sense

Esteemed Commenter DaddoOne said...

and the bike shop was paid $150 for that fitting

mikeweb said...

My big surprise about the tennis can urinator is when his son appeared on screen. How was there time for THAT to happen???

Or maybe....? Nah, there's a definite resemblance.

shu-sin said...

i came, i read, i came... and i finished.

BIKE CZAR said...

"Specialized chairmen"

Mike Sinyard is greater than one?

Holy smokes!

Anonymous said...

Felt

I am not an old engine said...

When I read the articles in bicycling I always think of the future old guy, screaming "hey you kids get off my lawn".

The carbon bike is too fast, shifters are too hard for your brain to operate, and the bike is designed to put you in a a normal racing position.

Old codgers who can not keep their mounts shut need not apply.

Amy said...

I'm not really sure why Bicycling bothers with having articles written by admitted newbies. Is it to make the other newbie Freds feel better? I didn't really learn anything about how to shop for a bicycle, or why he chose what he did (like you I suspected that the reason the first bikes felt so uncomfortable was the size/fit). Even bike reviews by Bicycling's actual editors have very little in the way of useful content, though, so I guess I shouldn't have expected that much.
Next Month: Fred gets a flat and it takes him 6 weeks to finally get around to taking the bike to the shop to get it fixed.

Twob Rake said...

Time on an exercycle counts as real riding? Hmmm

Anonymous said...

I was in Berlin last week and was shocked to come across a copy of your epic tome in a boutique bookstore. It was only 13 euro so I purchased a copy of it, only to later realize my exchange rate math was off, so instead of the $1.19 I thought I paid it was more like 18 friggin dollars! After I finished sobbing and retching over this horrible mistake, I opened up the book and gave it a read. Not bad, notwithstanding the unfortunate untimely reference to the late Amy Winehouse. I laughed, I cried, I nodded off. Well done.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Tom's got a blonde friend Trina and a wedding band and still rides 40 hours a week. ??? I don't get it.

Paul Bowen said...

This is a terrifically funny post, I was laughing just about start to finish - thanks!

ant1 said...

Amy - the only thing i can think of is that the article is directed at bike shop owners/employees.

Anonymous said...

Duder!

Martin Erzinger said...

" It turns out that Jim Felt was destined to build a bike ideally suited to a middle-aged left-handed Irish-American writer with a penicillin allergy. "

No doubt that is exactly who felt is targeting, and perhaps his gold american express card with no limit, and very little common sense.

Paul Bowen said...

@Amy: yes I thought that - what the first time buyer needs is advice from someone who knows what they're talking about rather than the experiences of another newbie, I would have thought?

Excitatory Neurotransmitter Addict said...

Tom the Eight Million Mile Man ...

WHY DO YOU THINK THEY CALL IT DOPE ... amine?

DUDE!

ervgopwr said...

Potholes hurt no matter what bike you run them over with.

But the writer still did deserve to be punched for being such a twat as to say shifters are "martian" technology. How do these people operate their cars, alarms, computers, fuck, even a wine opener/corkscrew is more complicated than bicycle brake levers.

CORK SCRW

Bobbki 'California' Roll said...

The Bicycling article picture/illustration. Isn't that David Bowie of 'Fame' fame on the left and Coach Phil Jackson on the right?

Must be some kinda UPscale bike shop there.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Tom must be a hyper intelligent space lizard. Witness his slow typing and lethargic cadence in the video. Creepy.

Marcel Da Chump said...

Afraid of a fast bike?

Woo hoo hoophobic.

Anonymous said...

Got my cycling girlfriend one of those chain cleaner things for her birthday.
Never saw her again.
Heard her and the "device" were living happily in Vermont.

meh

Urine Drinker said...

Snob,
I used to think that your blog was funny, but now that you are lampooning me i think you are very mean-spirited, generally.

Etherhuffer said...

Madison Avenue can still make people want what they don't need and can't use. Meh.

I cringe every time I go into a bike store and hear someone getting a pitch for a crabon bike with tires so skinny that you might as well just have little hard rubber tires. You know the buyer is DOA when they ask "What other colors does it come in" or "Do you have a helment to match that pretty crabon?"

Velocodger said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Who are these sentient reptilian beings and what is their purpose? Why masquerade as a human fred?

Now I won't be able to sleep tonight.

Velocodger said...

Posts like today's smooth out the potholes of life. Without crabon or punches to the shoulder. Who'da thunk?

Amy said...

Finally got around to watching the video. I'm pretty sure you have to ride faster than that to release endorphins/dopamine.

Comment deleted said...

This post has been removed by the author.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't everyone know that a hot brown is turkey breast on toast, smothered in Mornay sauce, topped with a couple of slices of bacon, and browned under the oven broiler. (http://www.brownhotel.com/dining-hot-brown.htm) Truly heaven on earth. However, there is no required beverage to go with it, so I can't understand why anyone would need a hot-brown beverage maker.

there is iron in your words of life said...

But then I'd be forgetting that when people repeat some marketing "wisdom" over and over again--it eventually hardens into a little wart of "truth" that no amount of real world experience can ever dissipate.

real world experience can't be replicated in a proper scientific experiment and thus therefore does not exist.

or our "scientific method" leaves much to be desired.

or you design the experiment to return the result desired by marketing.

pick one.

wp

happy bday to me!

Anonymous said...

I just finished cleaning my chain too. Now it's covered with white lightning.

Professor Fredd Douche' Cat 6 racer said...

CLEANING THE CHAIN 101


In my experience Chain cleaning devices are cumbersome and extremely inefficient. I have owned several and thay are a major PITA. Tempermental and difficult to use.

The best and easiest chain cleaning and lube procedure goes like this;

Get a master link chain like a Sram. This type of chain is easily removed and replaced doing away with the need to use a chain breaking tool. With the chain on the smallest chainring and highest (smallest) gear remove chain. Use an old stiff tooth brush or like appliance to remove large chunks of dirt and grease.

Put the chain in an old wide mouth water bottle. Add degreaser. Shake vigorously. Remove chain from plastic bottle and dry with a non linty rag.

Lube chain generously. You want to lube the moving parts. Wipe chain with clean rag. Put the chain back on bike. DONE

bikesgonewild said...

...quote from 'million mile' tom's son...

"...yes, it is unusual that my dad spends so much time on a bike & i think perhaps there needs to be a better balance.........that being said, his 'girlfriend' is like the perfect milf, in my eyes...she's blonde, got a great body...hell, i'm 18, i pop a viagra for a 4 hour hard-on & trina & i have our own 'strange addiction'...my dad still hasn't caught on..."...

ringcycles said...

"He then punched me in my bad shoulder, grabbed me by my polo shirt collar, pushed me up against the pegboard where they hang the gel gloves, and growled,...."

I always wonder how so many tri-dorks end up with Shivs or P3's as their only bike. Now I know, Thanks Wildcat Rock Machine!

Hungry Panda said...

"Crabon is Comfy
Steel is Real (But Only If It's Handmade)

Titanium is Forever

Aluminum Will Beat You Up On Long Rides"

I think bicycle journalist will not be riding on too many cobblestones in Connecticut.

He can still buy a preposterously expensive aluminum bike frame and not worry about it cracking in two.

What about Bamboo? shouldn't that be included, with the caveat that he is not hip enough to have one.

Now I know where not to buy a bike in West Hartford.

Thank you Bicycling magazine.

cwcushman said...

In a related note there was a guy on a bamboo bike in my race last weekend (Foothill Crit., cat. 4, Los Altos, CA). I have tried to find pics but we are so unexciting I don't think there are any.

Self-obsessed and Sexee said...

If only hand jobs were socially acceptable public displays of affection...

JDH said...

do you people have jobs? Are you required to do anything while at your job? I can't podium on my day off, sitting on my Exercycle and adhering to bgw's advice! I guess I need a white lunch bag, and a crabon 'puter.

crosspalms said...

"Put the chain in an old wide mouth water bottle. Add degreaser. Shake vigorously. Remove chain from plastic bottle and dry with a non linty rag. "

addendum to above: Put top on water bottle before shaking vigorously.

For cocktail purposes, put chain in martini shaker, add ice and vodka, shake vigorously, and pour. Strain clumps out in non-linty rag if a smoother drink is desired.

Jason Fleischer said...

Apropos nothing: Solving the problem of cars parked in the bike lane is different in Lithuania. The mayor of Vilnius will crush bike-lane hogging Mercedes douches. Using an armored personnel carrier.

http://jalopnik.com/5826496/mayor-crushes-misparked-luxury-car-with-troop-carrier

Stupid Name said...

So the chain martini, is the original dirty martini?

bikesgonewild said...

...@jdh....hey, hey...i DID NOT MENTION white lunch bags...

...should any frederal prosecuting attorneys read this, i will categorically deny having ever made mention, at ANY time, of 'white lunch bags' whilst advising any or all commentators on higher podium finishes as regards bsnyc/rtms/wcrm...

...for any further comment as regards this subject, please speak with the firm of my attorneys, 'shuckem, jivem & hyde'...

Xak said...

Mr Snob, I worried I'd outgrown your blog when I left New York. I'm relieved to inform you that 99.99% of it remains more funny than a punch in the arm, and 98% of it goes down easier than hand-crafted asparagus juice.

Is carbon actually better? Its one of the few questions in life I can't afford to answer for myself.

There is a nice pretty blue aluminum road bike out there on the website of a major manufacturer that actually says "this bike is good for charity rides" to the tune of a measly $700. I might buy it, so charity recipiants everywhere can reap the rewards of my aversion to going into debt while.

Padded bike-underpants are like 20 bucks at Nashbar, though - its like carbon, only you can be discrete about it. Until you run out of tennis ball cans.

Fleetwood Mac said...

we will never break the chain

crosspalms said...

@ stupid name
+1

Self-obsessed and Sexee said...

That Clean Machine looks to be in need

of a hand job.

Bike lane vigilante said...

Lithuanian mayor clears a bike lane of an illegally parked luxury vehicle!!!

http://jalopnik.com/5826496/mayor-crushes-misparked-luxury-car-with-troop-carrier

Anonymous said...

Nashbar version. Duh.

Poppa Wheelie said...

BIKE LUST

PawnShop said...

I think we know who's lobbying for the next 'Best City For Cycling' designation from Bicycling magazine.

Take a bow, Mayor of Vilnius.

PawnShop said...

JDH:
Having relatively little podium experience myself, it still seems safe to say that at 5:07PM, you ain't gonna do it - no matter whose instructions you followed.

MRC said...

HELP
Bikesnob. I used to race in the 80's but then I got married, kids etc etc. In my late 30's I decided to get back into cycling, 1st I started with Ebay and brought an old 80's steel frame bike with Shim 600 gear. Something I could identify with, but then I wanted upgrades but components had changed and headsets and gear shifters were all different and nothing made any sense. I headed off to the local BS (That's 'bike shop' but the other meaning works also). I walked out with a beautiful Crabon 9 spd last year’s super deal!! Then I discovered randonneuring and Grant Peterson and Chris Kulczycki and brooks saddles and steel and and .... I was again confused. I sold the crabon and went back to ebay to find an old touring bike and back to the sole of cycling. Then I feel deeper into the spiral of bespoke custom and soon I was in the queue for my handmade steel is real. The magician who made these amazing machines talked about the craft and whispered names as Sachs, Weigle and Dario to mention a few. I was sucked in, 2 years and 5 figures later I have my stead with my name on the top tube and the best shim components, racks, fenders and bags, but I still feel hollow. My friend the magician has moved on to other 40 year old exec's paying too much for his little window of friendship. It is only now upon reading your blog that I am starting to see the errors of my ways but it is too late. Today your blog really drove it home for me as I have one of those coffee machines with matching grinder (No one factors in the price of the grinder or the freshly roasted beans that cost more per kilo then certain illicit drugs). It is too late for me but let this be a warning for others – money and things can’t buy happiness or total comfort. In the meantime I will ride my bike and tell myself that the pain I feel is actually a new type of comfort never experienced before because there can be no pain on a custom?

Anonymous said...

I can think of a few nabes in Queens where this type of sales pitch would not end well. The insanity of the 'cycling industry' seems to offer an endless supply of material.
Why anyone, who is not a club rider, feels the need to blow an absurd amount of cash on a crabon or alum 'lightweight', if all he's looking for is a commuter, or something to help him stay fit, I will never understand. Go to Goodwill, check garage sales/Craigslist, find any number of bikes 'never riden', 20-30 yrs old, clean it up, replace what's worn, and you are set.

Anonymous said...

@MRC-Thanks for explaining today's post to me,,,

Anonymous said...

This guy WOULD be Grant Petersen bait if Rivendell bikes or that general deal was found in your average bike shop, but somehow bikes for non-racers is an 'alternative' bicycling philosophy and so only internet dorks even know it exists.

And I'm not talking about custom NAHBS fodder, just a factory-made bike with room for 32mm tires and fenders and a non-slammed geometry but isn't a 35 pound "dutch" bike or a titanium commuter. Dude writing the article cannot go to a LBS and buy a bike like that, or thinks it's "retrogrouch" if he even knows it exists, because the margin on a stamped-out-in-China-for-$30 $3500 carbon racing bike looks much better on a Trek marketing executive's quarterly spreadsheet.

leroy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DillonBikes said...

Good post, the chain cleaning ad was very funny!

Red Star Cycles said...

This is so insightful. After 43 years riding a bike I know so little that i still think that the deliberately flexible parts of a bike like the saddle and the tyres with infinitely (though apparently uselessly) adjustable pressure mad a much bigger difference then the frame bit that's supposed to be stiff.

Once I even haboured a view that if I lost 2 kilos (4.4lbs) that wouls be easier healthier and stratospherically cheaper than finding a bike that was two kilos lighter.

JDH said...

@pawnshop and bgw: I got nothin'.

leroy said...

I'm beginning to think my dog wasn't addressing bicycle maintenance when he told me to go clean my chain.

the bike dork said...

I just got a carbon bike it's nice. It's a bike. I like bikes. I like spagetti. I like puppies. Ripe red cherries are good and cookies. Um... Nothing created can complete you...

Amy said...

Oh, but he *is* an aspiring club rider. http://www.bicycling.com/beginners/motivation/free-falling
Still, I can't have been the only one who rolled their eyes at "Man got himself a Felt." I'm sure any bike feels like the fastest bike on earth after riding a commuter or hybrid for a few months.

DiscoDave said...

Microshift. Nice!

Benny Kanya. said...

ant3rd

Carbon Rider said...

I've never seen Mike Sinyard lick his eyeball...

RANTWICK said...

I'll take the crabon!

I don't Laugh Out Loud, ever. That made me snort and smile though. Great stuff, snob.

Anonymous said...

Next time I see a bike shop employee threatening to make a crabon-questioning customer drink his own urine, I'm going to whack him upside the head with a wet Nitto Noodle bar and then cram a Brooks saddle so far into his crotch that he will have to sit on it for the rest of his life. Don't worry about the leather crotch saddle you shop ogre. It'll break in... someday... Bwahahaha!

bsPHL said...

Nashbar chain codpiece / coffee machine HILARIOUS. You be killin' em, snob.

Yeah I ripped off your brand; imitation, flattery blah blah brah.

Anonymous said...

check out this CL post --- http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/bik/2487062601.html

Anonymous said...

one of your best posts ever. hysterical!

NONE said...

A couple years ago I went into a bike shop in the retirement community of Palm Desert, CA. I think they were selling Giant bikes or something. Nice folks, but they had a huge sign sponsored by Giant on the front of the store that implored the customer to "Take The Carbon Challenge."

The Carbon Challenge was like the Pepsi Challenge for bikes in which a customer was supposed to try an alloy frame and a carbon frame and feel the difference in comfort. The word "harshness" was used somewhere on the sign to describe alloy frames.

I keep kicking myself for not taking the time to actually take the challenge as I am sure I would have found the alloy frame with tires pumped to 140psi and crap wheels.

radpaperboy said...

Bicycle Eagle Scouts- BEAGLESCOUTS! ARF!

dickey said...

I saw that article in Bicycling, I knew it felt amiss, so glad that you addressed it. Also, I've been going through a hardcore Grant Peterson worshipping phase; I'm about to go shellac my cloth tape at the moment, but thank Jesus in heaven you tore into him, and made me realize what a schmoozer he is. You had me at 19" stems, I just don't want to be that kind of person.

Eden Gold said...

"When My spouse and i returned to get a appropriate, Dave's coworker Shaun place the cycle around the coach and also viewed us your pedal for some time. "This does not take place frequently,Inches he said, "but My partner and i might not adjust anything at all."
.

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http://handsomeboysclub.com/
http://style-shows.com/

Fixie Bikes said...

What you did to the spin master made me laugh.

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