REI Transfer - competition?

In article ,
wrote:

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an
upright commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears,
26' tires, v- brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with
a rack, Shimano dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600.
What other models should I be looking at?

Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by
now and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice
of bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting
to class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle
from Goodwill and let him pay for it.

By the time most young men get to high school, they either know
what sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride.
How long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his
mother do so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people
earn their own money for such stuff?

I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee
his wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school
graduation? "Poor" kid!

What was that all about? A guy wants to buy a bike for his kid
who's off to college. Could be that he's going to a school that's
bicycle-friendly and car-hostile. Yes, they do exist. Could be
that he's told his kid they can't afford a car for him, that with
college costing what it does, the deal is that mom & dad pay for
college but no car... he's going to make do with a bike. Whatever
the case, it's a pretty innocent-looking post, certainly nothing
indicative of everything that's wrong with our society.

We get people like this in our shop all the time. They're looking
for something practical and a shop that's going to take care of
things if something goes wrong.

You might get a better understanding from:

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/...12-000010.html

read all 8 parts and I think you'll recognize the behavior.

Just because this syndrome is so prevalent, doesn't make it a good
mode of social conduct.

Just because it is prevalent does not mean it is universal.
Plenty of children are not reared that way.
And of those that are many will survive and flourish.
Funny how well analyzed the whole deal is. I suspect that
it is not all as straightforward as it is presented.

Oh, look:
"Although we're well on our way to
making kids more fragile, no one thinks that kids and
young adults are fundamentally more flawed than in
previous generations. Maybe many will "recover" from
diagnoses too liberally slapped on to them. In his own
studies of 14 skills he has identified as essential for
adulthood in American culture, from love to leadership,
Epstein has found that "although teens don't
necessarily behave in a competent way, they have the
potential to be every bit as competent and as
incompetent as adults."
"

--
Michael Press

In article
,
JG wrote:

Now to go deal with the pool boy. You'd think a Stanford graduate
would know how to keep the 23K plumbing fixtures clean...



--
Michael Press

Michael Press wrote:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an
upright commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears,
26' tires, v- brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with
a rack, Shimano dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600.
What other models should I be looking at?

Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by
now and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice
of bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting
to class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle
from Goodwill and let him pay for it.

By the time most young men get to high school, they either know
what sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride.
How long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his
mother do so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people
earn their own money for such stuff?

I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee
his wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school
graduation? "Poor" kid!

What was that all about? A guy wants to buy a bike for his kid
who's off to college. Could be that he's going to a school that's
bicycle-friendly and car-hostile. Yes, they do exist. Could be
that he's told his kid they can't afford a car for him, that with
college costing what it does, the deal is that mom & dad pay for
college but no car... he's going to make do with a bike. Whatever
the case, it's a pretty innocent-looking post, certainly nothing
indicative of everything that's wrong with our society.

We get people like this in our shop all the time. They're looking
for something practical and a shop that's going to take care of
things if something goes wrong.

You might get a better understanding from:

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/...12-000010.html

read all 8 parts and I think you'll recognize the behavior.

Just because this syndrome is so prevalent, doesn't make it a good
mode of social conduct.

Just because it is prevalent does not mean it is universal. Plenty
of children are not reared that way. And of those that are many
will survive and flourish. Funny how well analyzed the whole deal
is. I suspect that it is not all as straightforward as it is
presented.

Oh, look:

# Although we're well on our way to making kids more fragile, no one
# thinks that kids and young adults are fundamentally more flawed than
# in previous generations. Maybe many will "recover" from diagnoses
# too liberally slapped on to them. In his own studies of 14 skills he
# has identified as essential for adulthood in American culture, from
# love to leadership, Epstein has found that "although teens don't
# necessarily behave in a competent way, they have the potential to be
# every bit as competent and as incompetent as adults.

Wishful thinking doesn't produce result. The qualification of
"previous generation" is important. Protective parenting has been
growing for more than a couple of decades and is increasing. We see
that skills not learned in youth generally don't take hold later.
Psychotherapists have their hands full with the disoriented adults
these days. The article outlines it in certain terms and it parallels
my experience.

"Don't question authority!", parental, local and federal government.
The basis for questioning authority was erased beginning in early
youth.

Jobst Brandt

wrote:
Michael Press wrote:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an
upright commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears,
26' tires, v- brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with
a rack, Shimano dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600.
What other models should I be looking at?

Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by
now and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice
of bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting
to class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle
from Goodwill and let him pay for it.

By the time most young men get to high school, they either know
what sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride.
How long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his
mother do so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people
earn their own money for such stuff?

I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee
his wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school
graduation? "Poor" kid!

What was that all about? A guy wants to buy a bike for his kid
who's off to college. Could be that he's going to a school that's
bicycle-friendly and car-hostile. Yes, they do exist. Could be
that he's told his kid they can't afford a car for him, that with
college costing what it does, the deal is that mom & dad pay for
college but no car... he's going to make do with a bike. Whatever
the case, it's a pretty innocent-looking post, certainly nothing
indicative of everything that's wrong with our society.

We get people like this in our shop all the time. They're looking
for something practical and a shop that's going to take care of
things if something goes wrong.

You might get a better understanding from:

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/...12-000010.html

read all 8 parts and I think you'll recognize the behavior.

Just because this syndrome is so prevalent, doesn't make it a good
mode of social conduct.

Just because it is prevalent does not mean it is universal. Plenty
of children are not reared that way. And of those that are many
will survive and flourish. Funny how well analyzed the whole deal
is. I suspect that it is not all as straightforward as it is
presented.

Oh, look:

# Although we're well on our way to making kids more fragile, no one
# thinks that kids and young adults are fundamentally more flawed than
# in previous generations. Maybe many will "recover" from diagnoses
# too liberally slapped on to them. In his own studies of 14 skills he
# has identified as essential for adulthood in American culture, from
# love to leadership, Epstein has found that "although teens don't
# necessarily behave in a competent way, they have the potential to be
# every bit as competent and as incompetent as adults.

Wishful thinking doesn't produce result. The qualification of
"previous generation" is important. Protective parenting has been
growing for more than a couple of decades and is increasing. We see
that skills not learned in youth generally don't take hold later.
Psychotherapists have their hands full with the disoriented adults
these days. The article outlines it in certain terms and it parallels
my experience.

"Don't question authority!", parental, local and federal government.
The basis for questioning authority was erased beginning in early
youth.


interesting to see the one who exhibits the strongest resistance to
having their authority questioned, now appears to lack any ability to
connect any associative dots when seeking grounds on which to lash out
at others...

wrote in message
...

"Don't question authority!", parental, local and federal government.
The basis for questioning authority was erased beginning in early
youth.

And we wonder why there are so many fascist/Socialist youths.

In article ,
wrote:

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college.

Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by
now and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice
of bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting
to class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle
from Goodwill and let him pay for it.

I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee
his wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school
graduation? "Poor" kid!

What was that all about?

You might get a better understanding from:

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/...12-000010.html

Just because this syndrome is so prevalent, doesn't make it a good
mode of social conduct.

Jobst Brandt

I bought a bike at a garage sale for my pre-school-aged niece. Too much?
Time to cut the strings?

I'm totally willing to believe that some parents want to coddle their
kids too much and that has a detrimental effect on kids.

I'm totally unwilling to believe that a middle-class family buying a
bike, even a nice one, for their college-age kid, has anything to
explain.

However, the revelation that Jobst is now apparently advocating Randian
Parenting is . . . awesome! In several senses of the word.

http://obsequiosity.home.mchsi.com/philosophy/tots.html

Share & Enjoy,

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

"Ryan Cousineau" wrote in message
]...

However, the revelation that Jobst is now apparently advocating Randian
Parenting is . . . awesome! In several senses of the word.

Jobst has a lot of value to add. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a lot of
low value as well. Don't we all?

I took a look at craigslist on y'all's advice. You can buy some nice
bikes for astonishingly small prices. But, as soon as you want
something specific, the walls close in. An Inter-7 and a Dynamo hub
as components go for over $200. Building up wheels and adding a
shifter, and you are over half the price of the Transfer. I also
checked constant dollars. When I bought my first ten speed, the
Transfer was equivalent to $150, and that's before the REI dividend.
OTOH Performance had some nice, light derailleur bikes for less.

Maybe the kid's going to have to learn how to take care of a
derailleur...
JG

On Jun 9, 5:54 pm, wrote:
Michael Press wrote:
I'm looking to buy a commuter bike for my son as he is off to
college. The REI Transfer looks like a knock-out. It's an
upright commuting bike with Shimano seven speed internal gears,
26' tires, v- brakes, all fairly hassle-free, _and_ it's sold with
a rack, Shimano dynamo front hub, fenders, and kickstand for $600.
What other models should I be looking at?
Going to college? I suspect he should be essentially an adult by
now and ridden many miles. If he hasn't, that's where the choice
of bicycle got lost. Besides, if he hasn't ridden yet, commuting
to class will be only that so get a one speed balloon tired bicycle
from Goodwill and let him pay for it.
By the time most young men get to high school, they either know
what sort of bicycle they want to ride or they don't want to ride.
How long are you going to hold his hand, or better yet, let his
mother do so? What did he do for summer work, where a young people
earn their own money for such stuff?
I guess mom takes him to Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus to oversee
his wardrobe. What kind of BMW did he get for high school
graduation? "Poor" kid!
What was that all about? A guy wants to buy a bike for his kid
who's off to college. Could be that he's going to a school that's
bicycle-friendly and car-hostile. Yes, they do exist. Could be
that he's told his kid they can't afford a car for him, that with
college costing what it does, the deal is that mom & dad pay for
college but no car... he's going to make do with a bike. Whatever
the case, it's a pretty innocent-looking post, certainly nothing
indicative of everything that's wrong with our society.
We get people like this in our shop all the time. They're looking
for something practical and a shop that's going to take care of
things if something goes wrong.
You might get a better understanding from:

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/...12-000010.html

read all 8 parts and I think you'll recognize the behavior.
Just because this syndrome is so prevalent, doesn't make it a good
mode of social conduct.
Just because it is prevalent does not mean it is universal. Plenty
of children are not reared that way. And of those that are many
will survive and flourish. Funny how well analyzed the whole deal
is. I suspect that it is not all as straightforward as it is
presented.
Oh, look:

# Although we're well on our way to making kids more fragile, no one
# thinks that kids and young adults are fundamentally more flawed than
# in previous generations. Maybe many will "recover" from diagnoses
# too liberally slapped on to them. In his own studies of 14 skills he
# has identified as essential for adulthood in American culture, from
# love to leadership, Epstein has found that "although teens don't
# necessarily behave in a competent way, they have the potential to be
# every bit as competent and as incompetent as adults.

Wishful thinking doesn't produce result.

Hmmm. A lot of wishful thinking on your part was included in your
original rant. If you were to be completely honest, you'd admit that
you know absolutely none of your assumptions to have any basis in
fact.

E.P.

"JG" wrote in message
...
I took a look at craigslist on y'all's advice. You can buy some nice
bikes for astonishingly small prices. But, as soon as you want
something specific, the walls close in. An Inter-7 and a Dynamo hub
as components go for over $200. Building up wheels and adding a
shifter, and you are over half the price of the Transfer. I also
checked constant dollars. When I bought my first ten speed, the
Transfer was equivalent to $150, and that's before the REI dividend.
OTOH Performance had some nice, light derailleur bikes for less.

Maybe the kid's going to have to learn how to take care of a
derailleur...

After all, they aren't that complicated.