humanpowered profile

I'm really interested in this fork.  I'm currently running a Lyrik at 170mm with the Luftkappe and Push's HC97 damper (really great).  I like my fork a lot, but the Mezzer might just be the thing to replace it.

9 - Don't limit yourself to cycling related giving. Like most things in life giving back takes practice. Lift those around you regardless of the relationship to cycling. As you build your service muscles you will find many opportunities to serve within the cycling community.

When I read Amanda's comments I was a bit bothered. There was an implicit assumption that a certain portion of the marketing budget exists to support pro-athletes. That is not the case, the marketing budget exists to sell more product. If those funds are being diverted that strongly suggests that there are doubts about the returns obtained from professional sponsorship. I'm not saying brand ambassadors are the right thing to do (honestly it strikes me as cheap and lazy), but if Amanda and other pro-athletes aren't able to demonstrate their ROMI (return on marketing investment) they should expect the marketing budget to go to investments that can.

Wouldn't it be 7.5mm? Half of the 15mm is on each side.

No offense taken. I did look up the album, and you won't like this, but my first thought was, man they sure didn't plan to sell a lot of these! :). Jokes aside I did want to emphasis that people are smart. There are marketers that try to manipulate consumers. Typically out of desperation because what they're selling isn't good enough. I was the guy that told them don't. Those tactics always backfire. I would tell them to treat your customers like you want to be treated. You cannot lie and manipulate, not just because it's wrong, but because it doesn't work. People will figure it out real fast and your reputation for deceit will outlast your inferior product.

Your frustrated Physics student got my attention. You might find this article interesting, although the title is a bit misleading (no math was broken).

It's interesting to see that there is still a lot we don't know about what makes a bike stand up at all, let alone all the suspension related stuff.

Neither. I use machine learning and AI to develop sophisticated market simulations and prediction engines that can be used to test the effects of marketing tactics, micro and macro-economic impacts etc.

You've made some pretty cynical assumptions about marketers (which I'm not) and consumers. You assume people are ill equipped to make good informed decisions and that marketers are manipulating them into making bad decisions. The progression of quality in virtually every product on the market says otherwise, bad products don't sell as well as good ones. Advertising isn't the only source of information consumers use, in fact it's one of the least important. Look at General Motors as an example, their advertising budgets and marketing sophistication was magnitudes greater than Japanese imports in the 70s, 80s and even 90s. By your logic GM should have been able to push them out of the market with psychological manipulation, however they continued to lose market share to the imports not because their marketing failed but their product failed. You can also look to the movie industry now. When a big budget film hits it has one day in market to prove itself or it flops. Consumers figure it out really fast. I've worked with marketers across several industries and in almost every instance they are good people with strong morals. They are interested in understanding what consumers want and how best to show them that they deliver on that.

Still unsure if sarcasm or sincere, but thanks anyway.

I've worked in Data and Marketing Sciences for over a decade across several industries including 5yrs at one of the most influential ad agencies in the US. Being a techie guy myself it took me a long time to come to grips with just how little technical information the general consumer wants. Everything has to be distilled to the most simple and memorable description because it actually sells stuff. I don't like it, but it's true.

One other thing to note, engineers have nothing to do with naming or marketing copy. Engineers tend to have a combative relationship with the marketing folks if they ever cross paths.

And a 71 degree head tube angle.