Louis Garneau follies

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

In another thread, Ryan Cousineau linked to the online Louis Garneau
catalogue:

http://louisgarneau.com/eng/catalog.asp?catalogue=HH6

Clicking on the categories to the left proved entertaining.

Alas, my bike club (of which Louis Garneau is an excellent sponsor) has
rules about representing sponsors in a good light to the public, so
rather than join the fun, I must point out that I really like my team
kit.

Quoted message said:

Accessories: Maybe zipping your booties will keep your feet warm and
dry, but it won't make those knobby tires give your street bike better
traction on the wet leaves scattered on that paved road.

I do feel compelled to point out the rider is on a cyclocross bike (note
brakes and top-tube cable routing, including extra-fancy 'cross-style
rear derailer cable), and unless I miss my guess, that's not a paved
road, that's a packed gravel road. Either that or it's a paved road with
a ridiculous amount of gravel scattered across its surface.

I would commend cyclocross to any cyclist, casual or competitive, as the
most fun one can have in bike shorts. Or bike tights. The bikes
themselves are a lot of fun to ride too: my new blanket recommendation
to newbies is to strongly consider a cheap 'cross bike as a veritable
Sawzall of bicycles: with the right tires and accessories, the bike can
tour, road race, commute, or even tackle surprisingly gnarly trails.

I went on a 'cross ride this week that detoured through a BMX track.
Even that was fun.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Ryan Cousineau wrote:

"I would commend cyclocross to any cyclist, casual or competitive, as
the
most fun one can have in bike shorts. Or bike tights. The bikes
themselves are a lot of fun to ride too: my new blanket recommendation
to newbies is to strongly consider a cheap 'cross bike as a veritable
Sawzall of bicycles: with the right tires and accessories, the bike can

tour, road race, commute, or even tackle surprisingly gnarly trails."

I agree, cyclocross bikes are very versatile. I've had my Lemond set up
in several configurations, from sport bike to loaded tourer. They don't
have the ridiculous tight clearances of many of the new road bikes, so
you can use wider tires and fenders, if desired. They also have a more
tolerable riding position, not having the bars set several inches below
the top of the saddle.

Smokey Strodtman

Quoted message said:

http://louisgarneau.com/eng/catalog.asp?catalogue=HH6

I've had a few piece of Garneau clothing and they're very good.
--
JT
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John Forrest Tomlinson said:

Quoted message said:

http://louisgarneau.com/eng/catalog.asp?catalogue=HH6

I've had a few piece of Garneau clothing and they're very good.

Dear John,

I expect that the manufacturing and the advertising departments are
separate. Indeed, I hope so.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 07:19:23 GMT, Ryan Cousineau <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

In another thread, Ryan Cousineau linked to the online Louis Garneau
catalogue:

http://louisgarneau.com/eng/catalog.asp?catalogue=HH6

Clicking on the categories to the left proved entertaining.

Alas, my bike club (of which Louis Garneau is an excellent sponsor) has
rules about representing sponsors in a good light to the public, so
rather than join the fun, I must point out that I really like my team
kit.

Quoted message said:

Accessories: Maybe zipping your booties will keep your feet warm and
dry, but it won't make those knobby tires give your street bike better
traction on the wet leaves scattered on that paved road.

I do feel compelled to point out the rider is on a cyclocross bike (note
brakes and top-tube cable routing, including extra-fancy 'cross-style
rear derailer cable), and unless I miss my guess, that's not a paved
road, that's a packed gravel road. Either that or it's a paved road with
a ridiculous amount of gravel scattered across its surface.

[snip]

Dear Ryan,

That road looks awfully smooth and shiny and paved under the chain
ring, which is where the picture is in focus.

Look how smooth and shiny the area with no leaves is, right below the
front tire.

I doubt that we're seeing any gravel, or even pebbles.

Look at the leaves plastered to the road.

Most of what looks like tiny black "gravel" or "pebbles" is actually
just the curled-up undersides of leaves showing at the camera angle.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

Poles: At least they show someone using
poles while bounding along on
snow-shoes, not someone walking down a
level path, waving ski poles.
Unless you have a bad limp or a severe balance
problem, "walking"
poles are mostly a fashion item

Walking with poles can raise heart rate and engage more muscles than
walking at the same speed without poles -- it's a form of exercise.

Walking with poles is also used in training for skiing. My wife and I
do it a little as prep for skiing. It's better than just walking,
though now I can see we are perhaps being mocked by people who think
the poles are fashion items.

I don't understand your mocking of the pictures in this online
catalog.

They look to me like images of people I could easily know, doing
things that I do or my acquaintances do in well-thought-out clothes
appropriate for the activity. At least one photo is, I think, of
someone I've met (I think it's Tim Johnson) a couple times. The
photos are quite realistic for a line of clothing aimed toward people
involved in competitive cycling and skiing, as well as vigorous
outdoor recreation. The less sporty stuff -- like the city stuff --
looks good to me too.

Quoted message said:

I expect that the manufacturing and the advertising departments are
separate. Indeed, I hope so.

Why hope so?

PS: I have no relationship to this company other than owning a couple
of hats made by them that are really nice, and a superb windbreaker by
them that's one of my favorite pieces of clothing. And observing
their product on other cyclists and skiers.

--
JT
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Quoted message said:

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

Quoted message said:

http://louisgarneau.com/eng/catalog.asp?catalogue=HH6

I've had a few piece of Garneau clothing and they're very good.

Dear John,

I expect that the manufacturing and the advertising departments are
separate. Indeed, I hope so.

Dear Carl,

You mean the same, not separate, I think. You should hope that they
are the same.

Doug

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

In another thread, Ryan Cousineau linked to the online Louis Garneau
catalogue:

http://louisgarneau.com/eng/catalog.asp?catalogue=HH6

Clicking on the categories to the left proved entertaining.

Outdoors: D'oh! [she slaps her head] As opposed to the indoors line?

XC: Note how the artificial lighting from the waist up blends her hips
into the dark, pine-covered horizon.

Multisports: It was such a sunny day that the photographer skipped the
artificial lighting, but he must have looked silly, perched on a
ladder to look down at that weird angle, which makes it hard to tell
if the model needs to shave his head more often or is wearing a
remarkably dull helmet above the wrinkle line across the back of his
neck.

Fleeces and Accessories: Sorry, dear, that's a front-zip sweater. No
matter how hard you try, it won't turn into turtleneck.

Base Layers: The male model is laying down a base layer by not
shaving, but he hasn't fully developed it yet.

Downhill: Do Junior G-Men wear Junior GS-Assault suits?

Fall Cycling: Gee, I hope that truck doing 80 mph swerves around me
and the artificial lights blocking this half of the highway!

Helmets: The drab clothing and snowy scene are inspired by Star Wars
Hoth-couture (sorry, some puns are irresistible), but that's just a
movie camera, not a ray-gun.

Snowshoes: Maybe the photographer should have snapped a picture of
someone standing on the snowshoe, not someone holding it like a tennis
racket with the cover accidentally left on.

Gloves: Someone should tell the photographer that he was suppposed to
take a picture of a glove, not a green jacket--and that a black glove
doesn't show up well against black pants. (And someone should tell the
web-site designer that covering the other glove with the shaded menu
area is even dumber.)

Poles: At least they show someone using poles while bounding along on
snow-shoes, not someone walking down a level path, waving ski poles.
Unless you have a bad limp or a severe balance problem, "walking"
poles are mostly a fashion item described by Veblen:

"The walking stick serves the purpose of an advertisement that the
bearer's hands are employed otherwise than in useful effort, and it
therefore has utility as an evidence of leisure."

Accessories: Maybe zipping your booties will keep your feet warm and
dry, but it won't make those knobby tires give your street bike better
traction on the wet leaves scattered on that paved road.

Thanks for this. Saves me having to navigate that
fashion bog and testing my patience.

--
Michael Press

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

On Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:27:40 -0600, [email hidden] wrote:

>http://louisgarneau.com/eng/catalog.asp?catalogue=HH6

I've had a few piece of Garneau clothing and they're very good.

Dear John,

I expect that the manufacturing and the advertising departments are
separate. Indeed, I hope so.

Dear Carl,

You mean the same, not separate, I think. You should hope that they
are the same.

Doug

Dear Doug,

No.

I mean that it is reasonable to expect that the manufacturing and the
advertising departments are separate.

Indeed, I hope that the manufacturing department is separate from a
very bad marketing department.

That would mean that the company manufactures a good product and
merely advertises it on an awkward website with poorly planned
photographs.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 07:36:48 -0400, John Forrest Tomlinson
<[email hidden]> wrote:

>On Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:27:40 -0600, [email hidden] wrote:
>
>>http://louisgarneau.com/eng/catalog.asp?catalogue=HH6
>
>I've had a few piece of Garneau clothing and they're very good.

Dear John,

I expect that the manufacturing and the advertising departments are
separate. Indeed, I hope so.

Dear Carl,

You mean the same, not separate, I think. You should hope that they
are the same.

Doug

Dear Doug,

Dear Carl,

Quoted message said:

I mean that it is reasonable to expect that the manufacturing and the
advertising departments are separate.

You should hope not, for employees are not easy to replace. You have
to fire them, which make you unhappy, and them even more unhappy, and
you risk lawsuit, etc. Staffing up in the first place, however, is
easy.

Quoted message said:

Indeed, I hope that the manufacturing department is separate from a
very bad marketing department.

There is probably no marketing department at all. This is clearly the
work of engineers, who are notoriously bad at marketing. They are
trying to save money. When they come around, they'll hire real
marketeers.
If there is a marketing department, they will have to can them before
they hire competent staff. Before they can can them, they have to
admit to themselves that things are really bad and it's necessary.

Quoted message said:

That would mean that the company manufactures a good product and
merely advertises it on an awkward website with poorly planned
photographs.

This is already known to be true; you need hope for nothing.

Doug

Quoted message said:

Carl Fogel

Michael Press said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

In another thread, Ryan Cousineau linked to the online Louis Garneau
catalogue:

http://louisgarneau.com/eng/catalog.asp?catalogue=HH6

Clicking on the categories to the left proved entertaining.

Outdoors: D'oh! [she slaps her head] As opposed to the indoors line?

XC: Note how the artificial lighting from the waist up blends her hips
into the dark, pine-covered horizon.

Multisports: It was such a sunny day that the photographer skipped the
artificial lighting, but he must have looked silly, perched on a
ladder to look down at that weird angle, which makes it hard to tell
if the model needs to shave his head more often or is wearing a
remarkably dull helmet above the wrinkle line across the back of his
neck.

Fleeces and Accessories: Sorry, dear, that's a front-zip sweater. No
matter how hard you try, it won't turn into turtleneck.

Base Layers: The male model is laying down a base layer by not
shaving, but he hasn't fully developed it yet.

Downhill: Do Junior G-Men wear Junior GS-Assault suits?

Fall Cycling: Gee, I hope that truck doing 80 mph swerves around me
and the artificial lights blocking this half of the highway!

Helmets: The drab clothing and snowy scene are inspired by Star Wars
Hoth-couture (sorry, some puns are irresistible), but that's just a
movie camera, not a ray-gun.

Snowshoes: Maybe the photographer should have snapped a picture of
someone standing on the snowshoe, not someone holding it like a tennis
racket with the cover accidentally left on.

Gloves: Someone should tell the photographer that he was suppposed to
take a picture of a glove, not a green jacket--and that a black glove
doesn't show up well against black pants. (And someone should tell the
web-site designer that covering the other glove with the shaded menu
area is even dumber.)

Poles: At least they show someone using poles while bounding along on
snow-shoes, not someone walking down a level path, waving ski poles.
Unless you have a bad limp or a severe balance problem, "walking"
poles are mostly a fashion item described by Veblen:

"The walking stick serves the purpose of an advertisement that the
bearer's hands are employed otherwise than in useful effort, and it
therefore has utility as an evidence of leisure."

Accessories: Maybe zipping your booties will keep your feet warm and
dry, but it won't make those knobby tires give your street bike better
traction on the wet leaves scattered on that paved road.

Thanks for this. Saves me having to navigate that
fashion bog and testing my patience.

That site has technical problems in the sense that it's not very
accessible except with specific browswers and software, but apart from
that it's site showing quality product by people who look like the
intended users. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if some or
all of the models are friends of the company or workers at the firm.
That is very honest marketing.

This whole set of comments from Fogel and Press reek of the bogus
"anti-" sporty reactionary views that are way too common in RBT.
Ragging on people for looking sporty or "like racers" and such. It's
actually a form of elitism.
--
JT
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John Forrest Tomlinson said:

....
This whole set of comments from Fogel and Press reek of the bogus
"anti-" sporty reactionary views that are way too common in RBT.
Ragging on people for looking sporty or "like racers" and such. It's
actually a form of elitism.

Or, this being Usenet, they are just "yanking your chain"

--
Tom Sherman - Here, not there.