You seem to have interpreted something that is not there Paul.
The comment was observing the depth of insight to societal issues (i.e. socioeconomic bases for differences in activity choices, as a start, insights to the process of change to follow).
There was no slight to engineering whatsoever, and only a compliment to the writer.
Of course, if you set out in search of ignorance, you will never fail to find it. :)
Masters in Mechanical Engineering? Really?
You articulate the issues like a person with a PhD in Sociology.
Great offering of ideas. Thanks!
I had my weeks-old Easton Haven rear hub strip free at the freehub in the middle of a race. I was choked. This was just sport-class northwest peanuts racing, but I put a lot of training into it.
Contacted OGC (distro) and dropped off the wheel. Within one week, they had cleared it for warranty, and rebuilt my wheel the new hub, in time for my next race. One week for turnaround with a rebuilt wheel out the other side. Took the sting out of the DNF, and that wheel is still humming nicely nearly 10 years later.
Another good warranty experience was the Geomangear lithium-ion batteries. The guy behind Geoman had a small-fry operation with hopes of becoming a new Niterider or something. He put out a bunch of batteries with MagicShine kits that were found to be at risk of exploding. He then issued a recall with an offer to replace all batteries at a nominal fee. This was before the restrictions on battery shipments. I received my batteries a few weeks later. Unfortunately, this warranty campaign probably cost Geoman his business.
Third great experience was the early Crankworks days going into the SRAM booth with all my forks for free service and warranties. Before it became the gong-show it is today, you just needed to come by in the first few days, and you would end up with all your problems solved. Thanks folks!
A few questions.
The extra-wide collars are a deal-breaker for me, until I decide I also need a new bar. I like to ride close to the end of my bars, and can't imaging sliding in from 780 to 760.
I also wonder if anyone has tried Revs AND the Flexx bar AND an Allsop flex stem? Wouldn't that be the more better than you can believe it?
Clearly, the ideal insert would be light as Rimpact, but offer ease of installation and the performance obtained from the Tannus or Cushcore. Do you think there is room in the R&D development curve to achieve these goals? Or, do you think there are inherent limits to the tire-insert concept that will continue to force riders to pick between light and limited performance vs heavy and better performance?
Hey guys - some nice product picks here. Perhaps we could advertise some local vendors and support LBS and other folks rather than making Jeff Bezos richer by promoting Amazon. This year especially. How about some hot sauce from Tantalus Bikes or an LBS t-shirt or something.
Instant edit- haven't even looked at the other pages, and some of you probably do exactly that. Even the socks are a nice plug for the small fry. Just being ranty rant. Blah on Amazon, but yeah still.
Dang, I thought this article was going to tell me how to keep my new bike a secret from my wife.
This stuff is crap. I tried seven times and I absolutely cannot get it to stay on the stanchions.
The decline of MEC is directly reflective of the overly materialistic and gear-oriented appetites of the outdoor recreation community. As a broad (yet diverse) group, we have become obsessed with the latest fanciest shiniest and best of everything. I want one in carbon, titanium, merino, and BPA-free! I need designer cuts to my shell so I look like a ninja, and more choices of colours to flash in my kit! We demanded more and more and more and they gave it to us, and compromised everything we naively thought the co-op was about to buy it buy it buy it. There's no single CEO to blame for MEC's decline. We can't lazily pin this death spiral on Backcountry or Last Hunt, or the ill-timed decision to go big with Intense. Look in the freaking mirror....NO, look in your closet and your gear storage.....look at all the crap we bought that we really don't need to enjoy being outdoors. WE KILLED IT. In the game of big store big selection low price, death is inevitable. Few will survive. The deeper MEC went into the arena of satisfying consumer lust, the more certain their fate became. I love the people trying desperately to save MEC, as if it is some last vestige of nobility in the outdoor gear frontier. Forget that. They're little different from the others apart from smugly being able to recite your member number when you go into the store. I won't miss them terribly. In fact, maybe I'll buy a little bit less now. I guarantee you this - buying less will do NOTHING to diminish my enjoyment and exploration of the outdoors. So long MEC, I enjoyed trying on a hundred garments and stuffing them into the sort bin, loved your awesome warranty, and thanks for employing some friends of mine. I'm sure we'll do fine without you, and just fine without whatever unholy zombie iteration of MEC-ness is resurrected in your place.
I did not interpret that as your point. In the war of hyperbole over what kind of bike people ride, I find the use of metaphors around fascism and Nazis totally inappropriate. I agree the knee-jerk extremism is entirely useless, regardless of which side goes there. However, this "victim" language really seeps into it at points...able bodied ebikers acting like they're defending the rights of the differently-abled (despite never doing any work to actually support trail accessibility)...comparing their situation to that of snowboarders hoping to frame the current issue as some great moral wrong that we will all later regret....this is just a race to victim-status done in place of proper advocacy. This behavior is not specific to people on ebikes though, and certainly not all people on ebikes do this....but it's a sign of the times and an all-to-common tactic for how people try to advance their issues...race to the internet and complain about it and try to align yourself with other social justice issues. Pull on your victim cloak! The other day, one of the big ebike spokespersons wrote a huge butt-hurt monologue about how some sticker of a clown on ebike reminded him of his difficult childhood and all the racism in the world . My thoughts: talk about the issue for what is is, deal in specifics, stick to facts, have a conversation, be a good advocate regardless of what you stick between your legs.
The worst thing about ebikes is not the unproven impact on trails, not the speculative impact on public opinion about bikes, and not the potential complications for trail access.
The worst thing is the self-indulgent persecution complex of some people that push for ebikes...the ones who have the nerve to compare a bit of critique to some sort of ethnic cleansing. I don't care much for the anti-ebike trolling either - they're helping nothing. However, hearing some grown adult boo-hooing about some decal mocking ebikes and trying to compare his experience to that of bullied children or persecuted racist groups is just plain pathetic.
The real difference between eMtbs seeking legitimacy and the original MTB movement is that of the generation in which it occurs. Today, to many social movements are simply some big race to claim victimhood...to prove how you're unfairly treated by others...it's bad enough that you have people actually comparing a bit of critique of their sport to the oppression of human rights.
FFS - a bit of ribbing is not oppression. Being called a motorbike?! Does that really hurt the soul? affect "your people"?
If they really love their eMtbs so much, they better toughen up a bit. Maybe spend less time taking engaging the trolls, less time trying to compare their plight to other things (i.e. MTBs in the 80s, snowboards, paddleboards),......
....and just do some proper trail advocacy.
Regardless of what anyone thinks about COVID-19, and regardless of their attitude towards choice and personal risk, OUR ENTIRE SPORT AND RIDERSHIP will be judged based on how we behave over the next few months. This will endure for years to come, and will directly impact all the work that is done to maintain trail access and preserve the privileges we enjoy. There are also vultures, ready to pounce on the carcass of any bad publicity that is left behind.
Not only do we need to heed the warning, but our recreational leaders need to be fully prepared to take stronger action, even if symbolic, to direct the behavior of the ridership. That may lead to advocating local authorities to close the trail, if the most degenerate among us cannot be brought to heel (and ALL GROUPS, not just bikers) have degenerates. It would be far better for us to call in the measures than to have them imposed upon us.
There is a social license at stake and no way that a selfish few should be permitted to jeopardize that for everyone.
Ruthless!........but so awesome and honest. These are the reviews we need.
This is sooooo awesome. When you hear about "a whole community being behind someone," it's because that person is a gem.
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