As always I can count on Andrew for a great response.
I hear you on what Sram is saying, and I get that human laziness knows no boundaries. But I'm not convinced that this storyline of 'most bikes will be powered eventually' as a realistic or actual reality long term.
I can tell you that in the sports I'm also involved in, that no matter the electrical developments they continue to be human powered. On the sailboat I race (and literally all the others we race against) we all raise and trim sails with nothing but human power and mechanical advantage. Now, electrical winches have existed (and been excellent to use) for a long tim, but that sport has said 'no thanks, we like sailing to be a physically demanding sport, nothing easy here.' Why is the inevitable that our bikes will all be motorcycles? (And yes, I get the insane responses about legal classifications, but being real these are motorized cycles; aka: motorcycle).
I'm here saying that as someone that actually paid for a Beta subscription because I WILL pay for good journalism, you don't have to follow the degradation of our sport to succeed.
June 17, 2023, 6:31 p.m. - BarryW
As always I can count on Andrew for a great response. I hear you on what Sram is saying, and I get that human laziness knows no boundaries. But I'm not convinced that this storyline of 'most bikes will be powered eventually' as a realistic or actual reality long term. I can tell you that in the sports I'm also involved in, that no matter the electrical developments they continue to be human powered. On the sailboat I race (and literally all the others we race against) we all raise and trim sails with nothing but human power and mechanical advantage. Now, electrical winches have existed (and been excellent to use) for a long tim, but that sport has said 'no thanks, we like sailing to be a physically demanding sport, nothing easy here.' Why is the inevitable that our bikes will all be motorcycles? (And yes, I get the insane responses about legal classifications, but being real these are motorized cycles; aka: motorcycle). I'm here saying that as someone that actually paid for a Beta subscription because I WILL pay for good journalism, you don't have to follow the degradation of our sport to succeed.