This is an embarrassing conversation, especially for those of you who claim to be socialists. Once upon a time a workingman saved up several weeks' wages to pay for his bike. And I think it was Jobst who referred us to historical pieces about how poor Italians and Frenchman would take cocaine to keep riding the banked circle in those 24-hour races (somewhat similar to modern Japanese keirin) that were popular between the wars, or to excel in road races, because it was their only way out of appalling poverty.
Now you guys are arguing whether a thousand dollar bike is "cheap"!
Andre Jute
No, St Peter, I don't know any of these limousine liberals. To the flames with them.
On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 2:15:57 AM UTC+1, jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, June 29, 2020 at 3:38:34 PM UTC-7, sms wrote:
On 6/29/2020 1:12 PM, wrote:
snip
I am in the middle of Iowa. I know the owner of the Trek bike shop in town but have never talked to him about where his shop earns its revenue. Expensive or cheap bikes, accessories, clothing, mechanical service, etc. That would probably be a fun talk. I ride with a group of adult bicyclists. Avid bicyclists I guess since we ride once or twice a week in the good weather months. They all have multiple bikes each. And NONE of them have $500 and under bikes. $1000 is the very cheapest bike anyone rides. Of course I realize the adult bicyclists I ride with may not represent adult bicyclists very well. We are all probably money hungry grubbing elitists with college degrees. The horror!!!!
You and your friends might be the typical customers at a Trek shop, but
you're not the typical customer at a bike shop not catering to pro
wannabees.
Pro wannabees? A f****** Homer Hillbilly frame goes for $1,500. https://www.rivbike.com/collections/...products/homer A Jan Heine approved handlebar bag goes for $300. https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop...-side-pockets/ You don't have to be a pro wannabe to dump a ton of money on a bike. A Schwalbe Marathon is more than a nice dinner out with drinks. You can dump $2K on a Marin belt-drive commuter over at JoeBike. https://www.joe-bike.com/product/mar...dio-4-4668.htm
And the Trek shop is full of non-pro-wannabe bikes, at least the Trek shop(s) in my town. https://www.bikegallery.com/product-list/bikes-1000/
Is it full of cheap bikes? Nooooo. Oddly, all the people I know who want a cheap bike (admittedly, a small number of people) will not buy off the interweb. I had that conversation with a client just today. So they will find a shop with something cheap, which probably means REI or some place like NoPo Bikeworks. http://www.northportlandbikeworks.com/jamis-bikes.html Still looking at $600-700.
The "family bike shops" around here, not the Specialized or Trek tied
shops, as well as the sporting goods stores with real bicycle
departments (REI and Sports Basement) sell a lot of bicycles in the
sub-$1000 range. And of course you have the big box stores like Walmart
selling BSOs in the $100-200 range, and the sporting goods stores like
Dick's that are selling stuff in the $300-500 range. You also have
online sales like from Linus, and bikesdirect.com.
Family bike shop around he https://www.splendidcycles.com/splen...ty3ab0ylkarcf7 The dreaded motorized Momcycles. The bicycle version of a speeding truck with a triple-trailer.
-- Jay Beattie.