Jan. 18, 2017, 6:46 p.m. -  Pete Roggeman

#!markdown It's not prudent to try to convince someone they should change their opinion about what is humorous, and I can see how you could be offended by this piece especially if context or mood or perspective aren't the same as the author's or the editors'. But I do want to address a few things. First, if you find yourself in that latter group and are offended, I apologize. The intent of the piece was to explore the humorous side of a serious issue, and we at NSMB all are big supporters of women who ride bikes, women in general, and the brands who have undertaken the massive challenge of making our sport more welcoming and accessible. Liv, Yeti, Juliana, and other brands not mentioned in this article all have our respect. The last thing we want to portray is that we don't think their efforts are worthwhile. Second, it's interesting to note how the dissenting opinions are split. One woman (from within the industry) emailed to say this was the funniest thing they'd read in 2017. Other women loved it, too, but a few certainly did not. We heard from one man who used blue language - repetitively - to convey their disgust. Many others enjoyed it. There is a really fine line between satire and venom. For some of you, the article landed in the way it was intended, and you had a few laughs. For others, its bitter taste was too much. It's unfortunate, but I guess it's also the risk we take with a piece like this. A recent satirical piece I heard about was so convincing that everyone believed Stanford had decided to admit no students to next year's incoming undergraduate class because the pool of applicants was too weak. It's an insane premise. But some smart and well- informed people I know fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Sometimes satire is hard to discern. Sometimes it misses its mark. We can cop to not being perfect. In fact, if being perfect meant never publishing something controversial, we'd just take our place beside the other sanitized content out there and ride off into the boring sunset. But this article generated more views than every release we've ever posted about women's bikes in a big way, not to mention more discussion - and it is through discussion that we hear each other and learn. Fair trade off? I'll let you judge but I know where I stand. And for the record, no, this wasn't an attempt to throw gas on a fire and watch it burn. We will have a good think about this one, and learn a thing or two. I want to thank those who took the time to share their opinions whether you liked the piece or not.