I wasn't at Interbike, so I must cull my impressions from the various reports and images that are available online. And while these impressions may be spotty, I think it's safe to say there was a lot of stuff there that I wouldn't have liked. Fortunately though, I didn't have to put "Casino" on the DVD player, get drunk, and go riffling through my parts bin in an attempt to replicate the experience of being there. Instead, the guys at VelocityNation sent me a bunch of pictures, and since the NYC road racing season is pretty much over they even deigned to publish my reactions. If you're curious to see what my words look like on an actual website with flickering ads, go check it out.
45 comments:
Dressing a bike up like a Bratz doll....man, that's priceless!
Great "guest appearance" over at Velocity Nation.
2nd
i have to say...i was there, and i feel you. it was just too much crap.
Great review, as always.
Haha, I saw the Vision "boat hull" a couple of days ago and thought, "Man, I wish I could hear BSNYC make fun of this thing, because I'm just speechless."
Do they let you mix and match with the Sugino's?
Withering sarcasm delivered with perfect pitch and deadly aim. I salute you.
I found your site by chance last month and have been hooked ever since. Is there anyway to access your archive prior to last June? BTW, I ride upstate NY and NYC since I have homes in both. I keep 2 road bikes upstate and 2 fixed gear bikes in the city. Thru luck and common sense I've avoided powdercoated deep V's, TT covers and the other silly trends you point out in your unmatched style. Please keep blogging since you are providing an invaluable service to the biking community.
Rob,
Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated. Actually, there are no archives prior to June, so you're fully up to speed. For anything else you'd have to plug directly into my brain, which you don't want to do.
No MTB upstate...?
--BSNYC
Oh man, I say the tri-bars water thing and though, what, so they're riding their bikes through the swimming leg now?
Oh, I forgot about the MTB. It's collecting dust in my basement for now. I do training rides in Dutchess county and the Bear Mountain Bridge/NYC loop. Working my way up to being a weekend roadie poser in Central Park.
crotch candy
I liked that 8.7 lb road bike made from the hollowed out bones of baby dwarf hummingbirds
Yeah, so is anyone gonna answer that random 'cross question or do we just let him smash his face and call it a day?
nü-BMX made me giggle little a little girl with a talking top tube pad that says "sikdz r hard!" when you squeeze it.
giggle LIKE a little girl.
enligh r hard 2.
I actually like the argyle Felt fixie with the top tube pad and tipped saddle... Tullio Campagnolo's ghost will probably strangle me in my sleep with a brake cable just for thinking that, but I find it attractive kind of like an insane drunk stripper at 3:30 AM in South Buffalo. It's aggressively and sickeningly over the top, badly dressed, poorly thought out, and basically an insult to all that is good and decent in this world that a reputable company like Felt would make something like that. I wonder if Felt is going to run ads stating, "this bike runs *really* fast," and "a friend of ours in Taiwan put this together in his 'apartment' (which is Cantonese for 'factory'). It's a huge F.U. to aesthetes everywhere. Make no mistake - while I admire it, I wouldn't own it unless you could first guarantee me a half hour in a paint booth with a knife to cut off the top tube pad, a multi tool to adjust the seat and a quart of Ditzler flat black... That doesn't mean I disrespect Felt's achievement in debasing themselves. It's an impressive feat of degeneracy, and I'm always respectful of bigtime degeneracy.
And as for those aerobars... I have it on good authority those tubes sticking up are actually the chanters on a bagpipe, which is powered by excess energy from your PowerTap, and your breathing. You can see the pigskin just under the bars themselves. I am told that if you hold your wattage right at FTP during a TT, and you get your breathing and pedal stroke to their most efficient points, it plays a rousing rendition of Scotland the Brave. Screw it up, however, and you get some Bay City Rollers song. It should be a lot of fun to ride (inappropriately) on big group rides, what the hell, having your pie hole stuck to some pipe inches off the front wheel can't make a TT bike handle any worse, right?
...a 'felt' fix w/ a plaid pad...another 'no foreplay' industry put-together bike...as in "i'm so busy shopping for girls jeans & deciding over checkerboard vans or chucks, that i don't have time to think about my 'ride'"...
...to all the idiots who seem to think it's so cool to be first blogger, show some huevos & be the first to ride the argyle wonder in your town...dare ya...
"If you’ve found yourself spending a lot of time at work toggling between browser windows containing convertible sports cars with automatic transmissions and naked women half your age, chances are you’re also in the market for a BMC. But there’s a price for riding three laps in Central Park on a Sunday afternoon and looking like a clueless dilettante with more money than sense—and that price is apparently $17,995.
Damn, that was scathing! Half the mid-life crises afflicted men in PDX just fainted.
...i applaud your riding the yellow fixed road to TOTO town...i have to ham it to you, "we're not in kansas anymore"...signed, dottie...
I noticed that the uber-hip Felt comes equipped with front AND rear brakes.
Will Felt take this trixter one step closer to big-bike BMXdom by installing a brake cable Gyro when this proto goes to production?
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/reports/interbike2007/day1/28x1000.jpg
The Felt comes with a bottle opener!
Jim-
Bay City Rollers! Ha! love it.
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/reports/interbike2007/day1/28x1000.jpg
use this one.
day1/28x1000.jpg
and then add that.
Sorry!
here's the link as a
clicky thingy.
What is this world coming to? First Sean doesn't get any props for the NYC Taxi bike, and now Ben doesn't get any props for his idea!
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2007/sept/2/BenSingleton.htm
I guess Felt's is a little different, you can open you beer before you take the wheel off with theirs...
I'm sure this is old news but I think you're destined to write a movie script. Your choice of phrasing is excellent and would make for great dialogue. It'd be like 'Quicksilver' meets 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure'
only more clever...
If you were to show up to a race mounted atop your new $18-thousand dollar BMC; I can guarantee your competition will crank out their personal-best time trail. Motivated only by knowing the sweet satisfaction that kicking your ass will afford them.
...reality check regarding the felt fix...
...the saddle & tt pad are predominantly blue w/ orange accents...then there are orange grips & some orange anodizing...while the orange doesn't really match between metal & soft goods, it's still acceptable...it's "conceptual"...
...however, a better photo (than provided here) shows that the frameset is distinctly jade / mist or almost celeste color...i am amazed at how poorly the jade & blue go together...north america's big industry showcase & THIS is the best some genius could color co-ordinate this effort...there's a contract that could be cut...
...jeez, while i'm rippin' here, lets mention those new graphics on the 'velocity deep v's'...stickers, that's right, stickers...i can actually appreciate the colorful rim selection, but woodgrain & spermatozoa stickers...
...???...
my co worker rides into work every day on his BMC. I will never look at him the same way again....
re: the BMC
Hilarious, and spot-on... But don't forget - there are people in the bike industry with hungry kids waiting home at the dinner table...
If some second-year rider with a 7-figure Christmas bonus decides he definitely needs a PowerTap, well, are they gonna snicker at him or take his platinum card?
TMc/NYC
The permanently installed bottle opener on that bike on FGG sums up the annoying essence of the hipster faction of fixed riders: you eschew all the clunky and "unnecessary" components, including the front brake, with the exception of something that will needlessly draw attention to you. Rather than just having an opener readily at hand on a key chain, you have to involve your primped and powdered Narcissus of a bike to open a beer.
-Russ
Spot on the piss pot, as always. But you're outsourcing your blog now? Jeez. Lets keep our angst pure. Lets do that.
Bikesgonewild and Russ,
Good points. Also, another reason they need to ship it with that proprietary socket wrench/bottle opener is that those track ends probably won't allow you to use a regular wrench. Look how deep they are.
--BSNYC
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