Thursday, January 21, 2010

Can I Have Your Autograph? What You're Really Paying For

(Cruelly denied Copenhagen-style footrests, New York City cyclists must stay upright manually.)

Further to yesterday's post, a number of people confirmed that the hawk I saw was in fact a so-called Red-tailed hawk. One of those people was the proprietor of the Urban Hawks blog, which I discovered when a reader posted it in the comments, and he tells me there are about 30 pairs of them living in the city. Also, another commenter recently posted a link to this item, which proves that on the spectrum of urban hawk encounters mine was actually quite mild.

In any case, while I love nature I have no intention of turning this into a naturalist blog, and so even though I witnessed a cheetah felling a gazelle on 6th Avenue this morning I will spare you the tedious details and vividly bloody photographs. Instead, I will share with you a photo of something that is even more common in New York City than hawk-maulings, which is graffiti:

People have widely-ranging feelings about graffiti: some feel it's a legitimate art form, and others feel it's an act of vandalism. I veer towards the latter, and I generally consider it an irritating form of visual spam. This particular piece of graffiti vexed me because it is the logo of the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, a band who had their heyday back in the mid-1980s, and I couldn't help wondering who applied it and why. If it's someone who is a diehard DRI fan from "back in the day," then they've got to be pushing 40 by now and as such are way too old to be running around spray-painting band logos on trucks. Otherwise, it could be a young person who's recently discovered the rebellious music of the 80s, which is equally disappointing since it means the new generation of anti-establishment malcontents are not forming their own bands and creating their own logos and are living in the past instead of tearing it down. Really, the only two theories I could come up with that didn't bother me were: 1) the guy who owns the truck just really likes DRI; or 2) the truck is actually the DRI tour bus.

Speaking of pushing 40 and spray-painting stuff, frequent readers of this blog may know that I'm less than impressed with the work of "artist" Mike Giant, who tends to either copy the album art of bands from the DRI era, or appropriate the styles of Latin gangsters, or else paint things like this:

While I find most graffiti irritating, I don't find it all equally irritating, and I also believe it has at times been genuinely daring, subversive, and exciting. (Like 30 years ago in New York City, for example.) However, like any style-driven movement, much of its impact depends on its historical context and your perspective, and as we enter 2010 the act of writing your own name in big colorful bubble letters just seems a bit silly to me. As an act of personal expression, "writing your name really cool" is the sort of thing you engage in just after you outgrow drawing space cars with crayons and just before you start sprouting your first pubic hairs.

Of course, this is only my opinion, and it's only worth what you're paying to read this post. The truth is, if enough people out there like to see people writing their names really cool then that's what matters. And there's no doubt that they do. In fact, many people buy products simply based on who wrote their name on it and how, which is also called "branding." On Tuesday, I mentioned how bicycle companies try to use "branding" to create "icons." One example like this is the Specialized Langster City Editions, which are supposed to be special because of their decals. Here's one for sale on Craigslist:


Specialized Langster LONDON as new. Super sweet transportation - $700 (Tribeca Manhattan)
Date: 2010-01-20, 5:49PM EST
Reply to: [deleted]

As new size large. Simple sexy serious bike. Modified handlebar and brakes added. Carbon fiber fork and carbon fiber seat post. Free tune ups for 6 months.

FREE DELIVERY IN MANHATTAN
Keep in mind this is brand new and $1100+ in the store with the current options. Also this version was only made in 2008-2009 and now is a collectors item.

Balistic speeds are possible.

Asking $700 cash. See more bikes at our site http://www.spcarbon.com


An ad with a slogan as catchy as "Balistic speeds are possible" is clearly not the work of your average independent amateur Craigslist seller. No, this is clearly the product of a professional free classifieds retailer. By the way, you may think "balistic" is misspelled, but I'm guessing the seller wisely engineered it to be knuckle-tattoo compatible:

BALISTIC Get your own knuckles at the knuckle tattoo gun.

(speeds are)

POSSIBLE Get your own knuckles at the knuckle tattoo gun.

Intrigued by the seller's savvy, I followed the URL contained in the post, which led me to the home of an operation called "SP Carbon Bicycles." I guess the "SP" stands for "spaceship," because it said "Tell them your riding a Spaceship™" at the bottom of the page. Here's what a Spaceship looks like:

If you're as impressed as I am, here's how you too can start a Craigslist bicycle company. First, get some of those unbranded crabon frames from Taiwan on eBay for a few hundred bucks:

Then, get a bunch of Specialized decals:


And lop off the "ecialized:"


Next, apply your decal, supplement with a smattering of mail-order components, and voila, your Spaceship is ready to launch:

(We have ripoff liftoff!)

Of course, when you buy a "real" Specialized you're getting a lot more, since you're paying a bunch of people to "write a name really cool" and integrate it much more neatly with the rest of the bike. Essentially, though, both companies are doing the same thing--branding. One's just much better at it than the other. You're paying a little for the smoothness of the ride, and a lot for the smoothness of the logo.

118 comments:

Adam Fajardo said...

first?

Unknown said...

hmmm

Anonymous said...

Top ten? Slow to type on an iPhone

Unknown said...

words to think about,... '14 pounds and well equipped'

Jefe said...

Top Ten

Disgruntl Ed. said...

Top ten oh boy.

Astroluc (Find me on Tumblr and Instagram @Astroluc) said...

in the confusion of a smokebomb...

Anonymous said...

Last of the top 10?

Anonymous said...

It's more like a Keith Herring version of the D.R.I. logo.

JTK said...

first eleventh

Ralphy said...

Speaking of people doing things past their prime, maybe those decals should say

CIALIZ

instead of SP. I leave the additional jokes as an exercise for the reader

Cav Not said...

I need a lead out train.

3G said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mikeweb said...

I went ball-istic this a.m.

Anonymous said...

If you visit Greece, one of the shocking realizations is that the Greek government has had to barricade all the famous sites to prevent, "tagging" which is everywhere! Urban, rural, islands, an ancient country famous for it's natural glories, d-e-f-a-c-e-d.

3G said...

AYHTMTYL

All You Haters Take Me To Your Leader!

dmg said...

Mike Giant seems to actually be a much better graffiti artist than he is an art artist... or maybe the standards for originality are a bit lower in the graffiti world.

Jefe said...

After watching their "Pedaling" video series, I'm not all that offended that Internet entrepreuers are ripping off the Specialized brand name by using redacted decals. Check out Lucho's latest posting at http://cyclinginquisition.blogspot.com to see how Specialized vandalized Fabian Cancellara's bike.

Disgruntl Ed. said...

1:18: Sounds fishy. I had the same thought, but mentally spelled it Haring.

ant1 said...

"Further to yesterdays post"

yesterday's?

JTK said...

"Tell them you're spelling is awesome"

Test Tickle said...

I don't need society!

balls.

mr.g said...

hmph. DRI spells dry. I'd much rather see more recent renderings of MDC and their 'blue by day white by night' imagery.

but that's just puking on loose leaf. What's more punk is the political landmine of dis'n korporate krabon.

Take it a step further: find out and show everybody how that ebay crabon is coming from the same dirty chinese factory as specialized, giant, colnago et al.

Astroluc (Find me on Tumblr and Instagram @Astroluc) said...

Snobby... TYPO

One's just much better at it as the other.

OBA said...

"In fact, many people buy products simply based on who wrote their name on it and how, which is also called "branding."

YES, YES, YES...A THOUSAND TIMES YES!

kale said...

What was it Nietzsche said about bad artists being better humans than great scholars?

Disgruntl Ed. said...

"Balistic" should perhaps be "Balinese," which, having no obvious reference to speed, would indicate that you can possibly go as slow or as fast as you care to, given the limits of your ability, road conditions, weather and so on.

hillbilly said...

I had that DRI guy on my leather jacket when I was 16, a long, long, long, long time ago.

All you huge corporations reading this, congrats on getting the green light to bankroll your candidate.

fuck

Sprocketboy said...

Well, this explains why my crabon frame is from Ecialized, which I thought meant something in Italian initials, like Wilier.

Anonymous said...

D.R.I is on tour now. I saw them a few months ago.
Kurt and Spike are the original members. The songs were fast and tight. A great high energy show.

sufferist said...

Some of us peaked at writing our names kinda cool and are thus stuck in our own personal artistic apex, never to venture any further.

Anonymous said...

My suspicions about the cycling industries decision to use carbon fiber has always been not so much that it's it's light and (possibly) stronger than other materials, because it's cheaper to produce.
I guess I was right Once the company adds its logos you can charge $3,000 or so for the frame, this based on the perceived value of "high end carbon." Much more than you'd get for a steel or aluminum frame.
It reminds me of how compact discs sold for $18 or so, back when vinyl albums sold for $7 despite the fact that C.D.s were far cheaper to produce. While the sound quality of early C.D.s was inferior to vinyl, the high tech aspect of the product made people willing to pay the ridiculous price.

Stupid Name said...

SP has balls.
If the can build a bike out of components and make a buck more power to him.

Specialized does it, Schwinn did it, most bike builders do it, and use bigger words, to create bs.

The probem is when did a old Langster become a collectors item.

They made them only for two years because they sucked.

Oops.

hillbilly said...

he's right, and they did play here on the 17th, so maybe....

Anonymous said...

That is the D.R.I. tour bus.

R8 and Lil Wayne are weak.

D.R.I. will crush them, if not with their words, then with the power of their sound!!!

Anonymous said...

Crabon is king.

Ok Crabon is not king, but good hand layed up Crabon is a joy to ride.

Cheap Crabon is cheap. Most people can not tell the difference. Le t the masses be parted from their money.

Servais Napkin said...

somewhere out there, there are a bunch of overpriced Pinarellos missing their forks.

Stupid Name said...

Somewhere out there, there are a bunch of overpriced forks missing their Pinarellos.

Anonymous said...

that graffiti artist's name is quite relevant, pacer is the writer.

race2pace?

Anonymous said...

Those SP bikes are surplus Cippos. They should update their branding.

Boiler Room dude said...

It is January 21, 2010. Imagine how much a Langster built in 2009 will be worth in the next 30 days. We need a Langster-dex to keep track of the phenomenal investment opportunities.

Anonymous said...

probably an endurance athlete

Chris W said...

Check out the weight claims in SP's bikes. When was the last time a stock Langster weighed 14lbs?

Anonymous said...

this post was weak

kfg said...

". . .a cheetah felling a gazelle . . . I will spare you the tedious details and vividly bloody photographs."

Bummer.

"Balistic speeds are possible"

So, like, he's saying you can get going fast enough to ride off a curb?

". . .you outgrow drawing space cars with crayons. . ."

You do? Well, later dude. Guess I gotta run along then and see a man about a therapist or something.

Or maybe just jump off a building onto a pigeon.

Strayhorn said...

I'm guessing that the mention of "balistic speeds" means the effect of ambient conditions on the bike - such as a good tailwind, or latching on to the door handle of a passing auto.

Or perhaps he means the speed it will attain when dropped out of an airplane, which is the only way I can see it going faster than a neighborhood kid on a Razor scooter.

RAZR BOYZ

will come to take your fancy things away . .

Odile Lee said...

Lookling at that pic of NYC, I dont know how you stand it.
No air, no sky, no trees, no fields, no animals.
Yuck.
Come immigrate to Austrlia Snobby, you can come make fun of us( and get some fresh air!)

George Not Hincapie said...

Snob- you may dig "reverse graffiti."
L00K http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lX-2sP0JFw

grog said...

so, after lopping off "Sp", what is to be done with "ecialized"?

Max said...

neuvation wheels too - fancy!

g said...

Turns out I am 'ecialized". How disappointing.

Fierce Panties said...

Snob,
I have felt for a long time that your blog is naturalist. A Canadian goose is waving the banner, a baby seal is wearing a cycling cap, alpacas have lips, and lobsters are gods. Or at least one lobster is god. I've forgotten what cute little creature is jumping the Great White. Who is that cute little guy?

And I swear to Lobster that I saw Vito in giant bubble letters spray painted on my local Performance Bicycle. Is Vito on tour too?

Fierce Panties said...

Once the SP Spaceship gets converted to a fixed gear it will need to be rebranded as the Zed.

Find Zen on the Zed, yo.

H. Dean said...

The Massachusettes Democratic loss was a secret message from the voters that they want more progressive policies and faster.

Fuck, I hate those right-wing bastards.

Udder said...

I dig the Klingon fork on the Spaceship bike.

CommieCanuck said...

It reminds me of how compact discs sold for $18 or so, back when vinyl albums sold for $7 despite the fact that C.D.s were far cheaper to produce.

What's a "CD"? Sounds seedy.
The made music discs out of saddle material?

I'm still hanging onto my $3 wax cylinders, oh, they'll come back.

Anonymous said...

____
___/ \___
/ _ _ |
|_/ \____/ \_|
\_/ \_/

VROOM!

CommieCanuck said...

"SP" is hella cool.

Remember, Cervelo started off as Cervelonskysteinson.

7sp said...

...

Oh, naturalist. Never mind.

Spice Ship said...

I smoked some Bali Stick once, and trust me, it didn't make me speedy.
It took a me over an hour to get out of my chair. Never again.

Anonymous said...

Ballistic affa-a-air
Ballistic affa-a-a-a-ir

Lian Han said...

Wow wtf is with the graff hate?
Are you kidding me? Are you pushing 70 or did a gang of taggers accidentally bump into you and you had a clinging scent of aerosol for the next 5 hours and spew this nonsense.

Pontius Pilate said...

HAIL CSZR

-P.P.

Salty Seattle said...

OMG! Blogtacular true story!

Just as I got to, "the sort of thing you engage in just after you outgrow drawing space cars with crayons and just before you start sprouting your first pubic hairs,"

... I was introduced to the term, "merkin".

Thank you. I'll say it again. Thank you.

Carry on.

Anonymous said...

____
___/ \___
/ _ _ |
|_/ \____/ \_|
\_/ \_/

VROOM!


Argh! My Space Car!

Fierce Panties said...

x
yo dont be hate-n.
you have it pretty good as a graff-er. Your tag is one letter.

R.Matthew Simmons said...

Not speaking about DRI graffiti, rumor has it Banksy is hobnobbing with the Sundance Film Festival crowd here in Utard. Although not 100% confirmed, there was a piece removed from a historical building in Park City, UT depicting Brad Pitt being felled by a red-tailed hawk. However, Park City's policy is to remove all graffiti within 24 hours.
You can get all the juicy details here: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705359886/Could-popular-street-artist-Banksy-be-in-Park-City.html

BikeSnobNYC said...

x,

No, I just thin the act of writing your name publicly is generally silly and uninteresting. As far as my age, well, let's just say I'm old enough to recognize the DRI logo but younger than certain respected graffiti (ahem) "writers."

--BSNYC

Salty Seattle said...

In fact, many people quote statements simply based on who wrote their name on it and how, which is also called "douche-y".

San Antonio Employment Lawyers said...

Might be time to get complete builds chop off some letters and sale them as more expensive versions.

Luck E. Seven said...

That's funny Snob. When you write your tagger name publicly, Buycycling mag's readership goes up.

A

Coastiedouche said...

I agree graffitti is just slightly more artistic than tagging. Its still an eyesore and a menace to society. I believe in the theory of the mayor of Las vegas said that taggers should be punished by amputating their hands. I live in L.A and these little anchor babies grow up to be tagging gang members that contribute NOTHING to society.I do think the D.R.I graffitti might be The "skanking guy" tag originating from the Ska movement.Im not sure They could've just done the two tone Character from the Specials.

Roman Candles said...

I've seen the DRI mosh man logo guy on trucks all over the city. None of the drivers looked like any of the guys on the 4 of a Kind album cover so I can only assume the worst.

mistervague said...

My first thought when I learned about those cheap carbon frames from Taiwain was: "What recourse do I have if the frame is defectively designed or manufactured and it causes an injury?" I would never buy one of those things, and would certainly never buy a pre-assembled bike from some probably under-capitalized and probably under-insured fly-by-night company like the outfit described here. Guess I's risk-averse.

R.Matthew Simmons said...

The world needs more DRI logo's about as much as we need to revisit Reaganomics.

Reaganomics killing me. Reaganomics killing me.
Reaganomics killing me.
Reaganomics killing you...

Sometimes age has it's privilege. At least when it comes to washed up '80's hardcore bands.

Can't wait for the photos of Massachusettes milk trucks tagged with the Dead Kennedy's logo.

kfg said...

Vote Jello Biafra for Mass dead Kennedy.

kfg said...

Vote Jello Biafra for Mass dead Kennedy.

Smith Sane said...

Graffiti is about as cutting edge as Pepsi (or a Bianchi Pista to keep it about the bike). It's simply a brand building tool for up and coming advertising industry and art gallery workers.

Gordon said...

Interesting that he chose the term "Balistic", assuming that he means ballistic. It is probably completely accurate. From Wikipedia: A ballistic missile is a missile only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the laws of classical mechanics.

In the case if the Langster, if it had a Campy Gruppo, then the classic mechanic would be named Tony, and you would not get your bike back for three weeks. However, in this case, its a London edition, so I think you can only depend on the classic mechanic to make it constantly drip oil.

Or perhaps he means that after the initial application of power, the brakes will fail, the chain will fail, and the flight will continue until the bike collides with either the earth or some other object.

Anonymous said...

The Lone Woplf - Not alone? http://pictureisunrelated.com/2010/01/21/wtf-photos-videos-the-terminator-retro-series-looks-great/

Anonymous said...

Turns out Banksy may well have been up to his usual trick at Sundance:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jan/21/banksy-film-sundance-festival

Fancy turning some of your finest vitriol on his art, Snobby, once you're done cutting Mike Giant down to size?

Billy Reid said...

that SP 14-lber looks eerily similar to a quality item from bustedcarbon.blogspot.com

Billy Reid said...

http://www.bustedcarbon.com/2009/11/descending-guaramiranga.html

there it is!

Salty Seattle said...

I'll second the vote for Jello Biafra.

Maybe we can restart the East Coast/West Coast music rivalry with aging punk stars.

Anonymous said...

@ x (3:11)
Tagging is so old, and even in it's infancy it always seemed it was a bunch of ex-suburban art school geeks that were doing it to be "urban."
I still remember some pudnik had tagged one of the sad trees in the Fillmore, that was the end of my tolerance for it.

Stupid Name. said...

If a male hipster is a fred, what is a female hipster?

Next thing Angelina Jolie will be wearing a Krass t-shirt.

Anonymous said...

street cred = marketing

Anonymous said...

@ stupid name

wilma, obviously

Stupid Name said...

Other than wilma. Wilma's are old hipsters.
Betty?

Butch said...

Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.

kfg said...

Salty: I voted twice because I have a dead relative from Chicago.

Anonymous said...

I'd rather forgo the footrest than have one officially tagged with sayings curated by pompous self-congratulating chic douchebags.

Coastiedouche said...

I think The mass milk truck would have an S.S.D painted on it although I get the D.K reference.The next closest would be Underdog with authentic tagging font.The rivalry was New york/Boston Hardcore but it never got too ugly.It was a friendly rivalry.No one could surpass Cro Mags for sheer Ballisticallity.

Anonymous said...

No birds today?
BIRD SUCK

Anonymous said...

Fingers

LANG STER

Toes

SPEC IALIZ

Unknown said...

let's forget about Banksy. It's all about neckface

pomocomo said...

graffiti removal as read by auteur miranda july - http://www.rodeofilmco.com/2001/the-subconscious-art-of-graffiti-removal/

Anonymous said...

those NYC Hawks like to grab a
drink when they are done scarfin your lunch...

Commie Cannuck said...

Somewhere out there, there are a bunch of overpriced forks missing their Pinarellos.

What the fuck, you goddamn right-wing bastards.

Anonymous said...

given any thought to the possibility that mike giant is indeed yet to grow some pubs?

Anonymous said...

I think the SP with neon green tires looks sick. I want one. It sure beats paying $9000 for a Dura-aced bike at some overprice shop. $$$

agent detroit said...

i lost my vans in the pit at a d.r.i. show at the uncooperative in '84. what's an original 7" dirty rotten ep worth these days?
coastiedouche @ 4:06
www.flickr.com/photos/agentdetroit/3396463709
www.flickr.com/photos/agentdetroit/3347085150

Anonymous said...

107th !! B$tches!

Nogocyclist said...

That Hawk was living up to its name here in the south. Here we call them Chicken Hawks.

Traditional Bike Club Curmudgeon said...

There really are few gazelles still at large in the five boroughs. It's much more likely that you observed an Eland or an Impala becoming a meal.

Anonymous said...

I bought one of those HASA ebay frames back in early 2008. It has lasted me so far, and it is a pretty comfortable bike. 6.9kg for $2000 (sram rival, ritchey wcs, flit wheels) I like it. No stickers, no decals. All black. Its like a ninja bike!

Odile Lee said...

There dont seem to as many 'Bettys' as Freds.
Don't they mate or is it that chicks lack the required testosterone to be hammerheads?

Canberra is a cycling mecca( Aus Instsitute of Sport is here) yet I have yet to see more than 3 women on road bikes, during my entire 2 year stint as roadie( after 27 year gap, from age 14 riding 30 miles on a weekend jaunts for ice cream)
I may be guilty however, as all the road guys on crabon bikes nod at me.

kfg said...

TBCC: If you saw it on the the Great Hipster Silk Route it was probably a Queen of Sheba Gazelle. Impalas are much bigger.

Kerry: Women do not sweat, they perspire; what's more they do not perspire.

While nature is certainly at play here, I think it's primarily nurture you're dealing with.

Of course the hammerhead isn't the only species of Fred, there is also the fashion insensitive Dorkapus. Betty is expected to be a hot dresser.

Although they should have done a show with her in lycra. I'd tape that.

CommieCanuck said...

I'll second the vote for Jello Biafra.

There's always room for Jello.

T Rav said...

I love how the "SP" bike shown is clearly a knock off of the Pinarello... Wiggins better hope Team Sky didnt get their rides from this guy.

Ultegra beats Force man said...

Actually if you price it out the bikes are a really good deal. I emailed them and they seemed like they knew what the were talking about. Said they have built 10 so far. Frames were not bought on Ebay and this was funny... Also said they were working on new graphics.

ps guys posting... please learn to spell Carbon. Its Carbon not crabon...

KingofallFreds said...

ps guys posting... please learn to spell Carbon. Its Carbon not crabon...

UBFM = Fred

Anonymous said...

and he doesnt even notice that the bottle cage is turned upside down :>

Apres Velo said...

Nice blog..for your cycling clothing and cycling gear to keep you secured on the road.

Anonymous said...

But do you know what "Langster" means? Specialized has named their fixed gear bikes after a Master's track racer named Don Langley, who's been tearing up the Hellyer Park Velodrome for... a long time

Anonymous said...

Man those bikes look sick. I love the single speeds they build too. I want that London one so bad.

joseph said...

nice bike mann.....

Unknown said...

Mike art is attractive. It's fabulous to use this products. I enjoyed!
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Pre-engineering buildings