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#142
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Government Bicycle Program News
On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 2:39:46 PM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/30/2020 1:00 PM, wrote: On Monday, June 29, 2020 at 5:38:34 PM UTC-5, 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. Maybe. But everyone I ride with is in his 50s, 60s, 70s. I doubt there are too many of them or me with professional bicycling dreams. None of them are poor. They all have sufficient money. And like to ride bikes. So maybe not representative of adult bicyclists across the country. Spending $1-2000 or more on a bicycle every few years is not a big deal. I remember riding across Iowa and stopping in some little downtown cafe for breakfast. I felt a little odd wearing riding clothes when everyone else looked like farmers, wearing jeans or overalls and John Deere caps. Then a couple farmers came over to chat. One of them said back in the 1970s he used to ride a Raleigh International. The other guy mentioned some other high-end Raleigh that he had. Those were bikes I used to drool over. It was a pleasant conversation. -- - Frank Krygowski RAGBRAI was started back in the early 1970s. Its possible these farmers may have taken part in one of the early rides. There were a few hundred people on the first one. That bloomed to a few thousand on the years after. Then the tens of thousands in more recent years. |
#143
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Government Bicycle Program News
On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 2:31:23 PM UTC-5, sms wrote:
On 6/30/2020 10:00 AM, wrote: On Monday, June 29, 2020 at 5:38:34 PM UTC-5, 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. Maybe. But everyone I ride with is in his 50s, 60s, 70s. I doubt there are too many of them or me with professional bicycling dreams. None of them are poor. They all have sufficient money. And like to ride bikes. So maybe not representative of adult bicyclists across the country. Spending $1-2000 or more on a bicycle every few years is not a big deal. I'm my next door neighbor's bicycle repair person and assembler. They are not poor. So far, during the pandemic, they've bought two Linus bicycles for the mom and teenage daughter, and I assembled them. The dad has a Dahon. They are looking for a bicycle for their 12 year old son, but due to the current bicycle shortage they have been unsuccessful, so he rides the Dahon for now, and the dad rides some older hybrid. $600 is about their limit for new bicycles. They are not going on 25 mile or longer rides. They might do 15 miles. We have different definitions of adult bicyclists. I know maybe technically any adult who rides a bicycle meets the definition. But I only consider people who ride frequently for 30-40-50-60 miles at a time as bicyclists. Others may ride a bicycle, but riding once or twice a year with the kids on the trails for an hour or two doesn't qualify for me. So the low cost bikes you mention would be the appropriate tool for those tasks. An analogy might be someone living in town planting a big garden. They till the soil, plant the seeds, harvest the crops. So they can consider themselves a farmer? Or I work on my own bikes and bikes for friends, so I am a bike mechanic? Not that I could not be one if given a chance, but I would not label myself as one at the moment. The bicycle shops in this area usually have plenty of bicycle in the $400-600 price range. Maybe not the pro-level shops, but the "regular shops." Supposedly, bicycle shops are going to be restocked sometime in July or August. |
#144
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Government Bicycle Program News
wrote:
On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 2:31:23 PM UTC-5, sms wrote: On 6/30/2020 10:00 AM, wrote: On Monday, June 29, 2020 at 5:38:34 PM UTC-5, 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. Maybe. But everyone I ride with is in his 50s, 60s, 70s. I doubt there are too many of them or me with professional bicycling dreams. None of them are poor. They all have sufficient money. And like to ride bikes. So maybe not representative of adult bicyclists across the country. Spending $1-2000 or more on a bicycle every few years is not a big deal. I'm my next door neighbor's bicycle repair person and assembler. They are not poor. So far, during the pandemic, they've bought two Linus bicycles for the mom and teenage daughter, and I assembled them. The dad has a Dahon. They are looking for a bicycle for their 12 year old son, but due to the current bicycle shortage they have been unsuccessful, so he rides the Dahon for now, and the dad rides some older hybrid. $600 is about their limit for new bicycles. They are not going on 25 mile or longer rides. They might do 15 miles. We have different definitions of adult bicyclists. I know maybe technically any adult who rides a bicycle meets the definition. But I only consider people who ride frequently for 30-40-50-60 miles at a time as bicyclists. Others may ride a bicycle, but riding once or twice a year with the kids on the trails for an hour or two doesn't qualify for me. So the low cost bikes you mention would be the appropriate tool for those tasks. An analogy might be someone living in town planting a big garden. They till the soil, plant the seeds, harvest the crops. So they can consider themselves a farmer? Or I work on my own bikes and bikes for friends, so I am a bike mechanic? Not that I could not be one if given a chance, but I would not label myself as one at the moment. The bicycle shops in this area usually have plenty of bicycle in the $400-600 price range. Maybe not the pro-level shops, but the "regular shops." Supposedly, bicycle shops are going to be restocked sometime in July or August. For me the way to quantify the cost of a bike is on a per kilometre basis. A 200 dollar Walmart bike that’s ridden twice a year is more expensive than a 6000 dollar road bike that’s ridden 10000 km a year. |
#145
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Government Bicycle Program News
sms wrote:
On 6/30/2020 10:00 AM, wrote: On Monday, June 29, 2020 at 5:38:34 PM UTC-5, 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. Maybe. But everyone I ride with is in his 50s, 60s, 70s. I doubt there are too many of them or me with professional bicycling dreams. None of them are poor. They all have sufficient money. And like to ride bikes. So maybe not representative of adult bicyclists across the country. Spending $1-2000 or more on a bicycle every few years is not a big deal. I'm my next door neighbor's bicycle repair person and assembler. They are not poor. So far, during the pandemic, they've bought two Linus bicycles for the mom and teenage daughter, and I assembled them. The dad has a Dahon. They are looking for a bicycle for their 12 year old son, but due to the current bicycle shortage they have been unsuccessful, so he rides the Dahon for now, and the dad rides some older hybrid. $600 is about their limit for new bicycles. They are not going on 25 mile or longer rides. They might do 15 miles. The bicycle shops in this area usually have plenty of bicycle in the $400-600 price range. Maybe not the pro-level shops, but the "regular shops." Supposedly, bicycle shops are going to be restocked sometime in July or August. Funny but your “pro wannabes” is remarkably similar to one of your favorite posters here. |
#146
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Government Bicycle Program News
On 6/29/2020 9:15 PM, jbeattie wrote:
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. I agree. To me, "pro wannabe" implies someone working hard and perhaps spending hard to be fast or look fast. Others can spend considerable money on bikes with other objectives. See http://www.historyspaces.com/u-s-his...age-of-excess/ -- - Frank Krygowski |
#147
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Government Bicycle Program News
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#148
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Government Bicycle Program News
On 6/30/2020 5:59 PM, sms wrote:
snip She's been riding it to work for 8.5 years. Actually 10.5 years. Not sure if anything on the bike is still original. |
#149
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Government Bicycle Program News
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#150
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Government Bicycle Program News
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. |
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