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those infomercials



 
 
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  #21  
Old June 26th 05, 02:52 AM
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On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 03:44:46 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote:


wrote: So what's the problem if those folks go out
an buy one of these bikes? At least they're out riding and enjoying life.
A few may even upgrade from the Land Rider to a better bike. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's ONE possible scenario. Or, they might go out and discover that
riding is more than just shifting, and get disgusted with the whole mess.
The bike goes into a dark corner, and they go back on the couch in front of
the TV. Next time someone mentions biking, their reaction is: "Oh, I tried
that. It was no fun."


Also, those bikes cost about 700 bucks- that's quite a bit for a
product you don't even get to try out, it's not fitted for you and you
have no idea what it's like until you get it.

A friend of mine told me that she visited a friend in the country and
they were all going to go out biking. She's not really much of a
cyclist but can use a mountain bike. The guy has several bikes (he's
pretty wealthy) and he gave a mountain bike to one guest, and gave her
another bike. Some kind of road bike, I guess. She said she got so
frustrated she just threw it at him and said it was too confusing. I
said it's really not that confusing. "But you have a lot of
experience" she said. I said yes, but I had to start somewhere at the
beginning! It's not like I came out of the womb on a GT! It's like
chopsticks, some people never learn how to use them, they try once and
drop the food and give up. But even asians have to learn how to use
them when they're little kids and they drop food on themselves. I
guess this is a dopey comparison, but hopefully someone will get my
drift... LOL.
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  #22  
Old June 26th 05, 02:58 AM
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On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 16:34:35 -0400, Peter Cole
wrote:

wrote:

wrote:

Have they started running those infomercials for "landriders" yet? I
haven' t seen them. Maybe they don't exist anymore since most people
discovered they're useless crap!



The commercials have been running regularly in North Florida for some
time. Like most infommercials, they exaggerate the difficulty of
whatever the product is supposed improve upon. And while I personally
don't find shifting all that tricky, some people are intimidated by the
thought of it. So what's the problem if those folks go out an buy one
of these bikes?


They can get a much better "easy to operate" bike from a bike shop,
including fitting and post-sales support.

I rescued one of these from the curb on trash day. It was a complete
piece of junk. I thought perhaps I could salvage some components, but in
the end, threw out everything but the frame. That, while poorly made,
with globby welds, heavy tubing and POS headset, was interesting in that
it was a 26" wheel frame with slack angles, rigid fork, canti studs and
rack braze-ons -- a very utilitarian configuration that's kind of hard
to come by (at my price point). I threw some MTB components on it,
fenders and racks, and my wife loves it as a commuter, although it's
kind of heavy. The frame and fork (minus headset & BB) were all I could
use, even on a beater.


I've heard of people finding them in the trash and scavenging them for
nuts and bolts.

I know this woman in her late middle years who wanted to get a bike,
but wanted to get something that's not too complicated. She's one of
those women who teaches women's studies and worships the goddess and
regards technology of any sort as some sort of insult...anyways she
ordred one of those old fashioned swedish bikes that weigh like a
ton. BUt they're so EASY... oy. ANd of course, you brake by pedaling
backward. I had this image of myself on one of those bikes careening
down one of the local hills and screaming."Where's the braaaaakes?" I
bet she rides it maybe twice a year anyways.
  #23  
Old June 26th 05, 03:15 PM
Mike Kruger
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"Leo Lichtman" wrote in

Having seen the recent infestation of the Sunday morning

airwaves with
these commercials, I can't help but be amused by the fact

that they're
advertising to people who won't even get out of the house to

go to church,
or to beat the Baptists before they exhaust the local Golden

Corral ...

Funny you should mention church, because I got asked about
these bikes by a woman after church about 3 weeks ago. I told
her they were overpriced junk and that she should look for a
bike with a grip shift, explained how grip shifts work, and
gave her the name of the bike shop I use and suggested she
poke around the Giant Sedona or Cypress.

Whether this advice worked or not, I don't know. People often
ask for advice like this AFTER they have already bought
something, so...


  #24  
Old June 30th 05, 12:46 AM
LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m
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BLanshay wrote:

those bikes cost about 700 bucks


Not even:

http://www.lrbikes.com

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)
  #25  
Old June 30th 05, 12:49 AM
LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m
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BLanshay wrote:

I haven't seen the infomercials yet this year.


I saw their infomercial late one sleepless night last year, but none since.

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)
  #26  
Old June 30th 05, 02:02 PM
lowkey
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"LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m" wrote in
message news:QpGwe.7303$8o.2690@fed1read03...
BLanshay wrote:

those bikes cost about 700 bucks


Not even:

http://www.lrbikes.com


Exchange rate and taxes would make it close to C$700.

--
'What we've got hee-yuh,
is a fail-yuh, to communicate' -captain


  #27  
Old June 30th 05, 06:46 PM
Fritz M
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LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m wrote:

http://www.lrbikes.com


I was looking into some of the endorsements they list:

"Carrie Sisk, Professional Trainer and Cyclist." Carrie is a marathon
runner in the bay area and I think she's taught some classes at a city
recreational facility. I haven't found any contact information to ask
her directly about the endorsement. It looks like a paid endorsement to
me.

"Liz Williamson, Retail Industry Consultant." That's a ringing
endorsement, I'm sure.

"Brad Hughes, LandRider Development Team." Well, duh. I say good things
about my employer, also.

"Vance Blume, Blume International, Bicycle Service School."
Interesting. Is Blume for sale?

"Bill Fields, Publisher, Bicycle Guide Magazine." I managed to find his
contact information and I asked him about his endorsement via email.
I'll let you know what he says if he responds. His current job is a
bicycle retail consultant. I betcha Landrider hired Fields.

RFM

 




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