Serotta makes headlines

Agreed, Ken.

I think there's a difference between being able to financially afford a
$6k bike, and being able to realistically work it into your life.

I have a bike that I ride around on during the weekends and a car I use
about every day. I would bike to class if I could, but where I live
doesn't make this a real option. The only way I could do it would be
to move closer to where I went to school. Also, there's no public
transportation in my area, not to mention the snowy winters that making
bicycling practically impossible.

I bike when I can, but I drive almost all the time.

-Bill H.

There is definitely some truth to this. I am a large mouth bass when I see
bright shiny things cross my path :~)

In article <[email hidden]>,

Peter Cole said:

Functionally, you don't *need* to spend a lot to get a really nice
bike, the point of diminishing returns is lower than ever, but if you
*want* high-zoot, it's not such a bad lust, as lusts go.

If anyone can use such a bike, all power to 'em, I sez.
But personally, I can not use such a bike. I'd be scared
to put a U-lock on it for fear of marring the paint.
In fact I'd be scared to park it and leave it unattended.
I might end up vigilantly guarding it like the character
Bogart played in 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' and his
gold. I think I now know why such chattles are sometimes
referred-to as 'trappings'.

There are some really impressively elegant (and accordingly
priced) bicycles out there. But like the saying goes, we
should be careful of what we wish for.

If anyone gave me a bike like Kerry's Serotta for free,
I might not be averse to sticking a milk crate on it and
riding it in the rain to the supermarket.

On second thought ...

cheers,
Tom

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Above address is just a spam midden.
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A very good point. My bikes I guard and never leave out of my sight. I would
never lock it to a pole. If I need to go shopping verses "riding" I take my
choice of several beater bikes I have.

Lets not confuse the purpose of our bikes. Some people use it as a mode of
transportation in a very utilitarian sense. My Serotta and Colnago do not
fit this paradigm. They are purely recreational, for fitness and serious
distance riding. I would think that this distinction would be obvious. Any
other type of riding would be silly on these machines.

Different clothing for different purposes as far as my thinking goes.

David L. Johnson said:

Matt O'Toole said:

Ken Marcet said:

I mean how many people can really afford to spend 6 grand on a

bike?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The same people who can afford $50k-plus cars and million dollar

homes,

Quoted message said:

This is not true. If you can afford a $6,000 car, then you can

afford a

Quoted message said:

$6,000 bike, instead.
David L. Johnson

My fave is the guy with the Litespeed UnObtanium hanging off the
back of a clapped out Jetta. Probably a 5k$ bikes on a 1k$ car.
Man has his priorites in order, now dropping 5k$ on a factory built
bike when there are lots of fine one man shops is another question.
Me, I'd take a Bruce Gordon over a Serotta/Colnago class ride any time.

Scott G.
Support your local framebuilder.

People rave about Seven's too.

Bill H. said:

Agreed, Ken.

I think there's a difference between being able to financially afford a
$6k bike, and being able to realistically work it into your life.

Depends on your life, and the extent to which you are willing to work the
bike into it.

Quoted message said:

I have a bike that I ride around on during the weekends and a car I use
about every day.

I use my bike every day, and the car usually on weekends.

Quoted message said:

I would bike to class if I could, but where I live
doesn't make this a real option. The only way I could do it would be to
move closer to where I went to school.

For some, that is not an option. But if it is, consider it seriously.
This option just became available this year for me (since my wife can no
longer work, eliminating the pressure to not live near my office), and
that has made a huge difference in my life.

Quoted message said:

transportation in my area, not to mention the snowy winters that making
bicycling practically impossible.

I ride under all conditions. The only time I would want to take the car
is when it's snowing, or raining (such as today), but those are precisely
the times when there is no place to park. So, I got studded tires,
fenders, and a decent rain parka.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | What is objectionable, and what is dangerous about extremists is
_`\(,_ | not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant.
(_)/ (_) | --Robert F. Kennedy

Peter Cole said:

Sure, but there's no correlation, you know what I mean? Actually, I
think there's a negative correlation in the group I ride with. It seems
that people are constantly "upgrading" but most are riding less as time
goes on.

I've noticed a definite correlation here: the slower the ride, the more
prevalent the titanium.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember
_`\(,_ | that your initial objective was to drain the swamp. -- LBJ
(_)/ (_) |

Peter Cole said:

Matt O'Toole said:

Peter Cole said:

I know a guy with several. He's just a single professional who
spends his disposable income on bikes. Of course he's middle-aged,
overweight and a pretty mediocre rider, a fairly typical high-end
bike owner.

To be fair, I know plenty of successful people who are fit and fast
too. Some people just have their [censored] together in general, you know?

Sure, but there's no correlation, you know what I mean?

Yup.

Quoted message said:

Actually, I
think there's a negative correlation in the group I ride with. It
seems that people are constantly "upgrading" but most are riding less
as time goes on. I think a common motivation is to get a better bike
to stimulate more riding and better fitness. It's kind of like people
who get a dog to lose weight.

I've noticed this too. When people's riding slacks off, they start thinking
about gear. Either this is to maintain some connection to the sport when
they're not riding, or to get themselves motivated about riding again. Of
course it's a bunch of bunk, but it's no different than buying clothes one
doesn't need or other kinds of unnecessary consumption.

Quoted message said:

MTB'ers seem to be even worse than roadies for being drawn to bright
and shiny things. There's not much of the retro-fetishism that plagues
the road warriors, so newer is always better. Nobody seems to wear
anything out any more. Ride it for a while, then Ebay it.

This is definately true. For one thing there's at least the perception that MTB
stuff is improving all the time. I do think this was true until a few years
ago, but not anymore. Also, I think MTB'ing attracts more gearheads -- people
who are attracted to the gear as much or more than the activity. As I'm sure
you've noticed, other sports and hobbies are rife with this too.

Matt O.

Brian Wax said:

There is definitely some truth to this. I am a large mouth bass when
I see bright shiny things cross my path :~)

Hey, I know a guy who's making custom fly rods, out of the finest high modulus
carbon composites...

It's long been my contention that fishing lures are not designed to lure fish,
but fishermen!

Matt O.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Brian Wax said:

Lets not confuse the purpose of our bikes. Some people use it as a mode of
transportation in a very utilitarian sense. My Serotta and Colnago do not
fit this paradigm. They are purely recreational, for fitness and serious
distance riding. I would think that this distinction would be obvious. Any
other type of riding would be silly on these machines.

Quite so. I'm just saying that if anyone becomes infatuated
with such a dream bike, they should have a real good think
about what they'd be committing themselves to.

It seems many people broadly classify riding as either
recreational/fitness, or transportational/commuting.
But I think there's a much broader spectrum of ways to
use bicycles, with a lot of overlap. When a bike shop
staffer asks a prospective customer: "What kind of riding
do you intend to do," that can be a downright complex and
difficult question to answer thoroughly. And whether or
not they'd ever be locking the bike is just one thing to
consider. There's also what kind of weather one intends
to ride in, how much maintenance one is willing or able
to perform, storage ... all kinds of stuff. It's really
quite easy to end up with the wrong bike for one's purposes.
Nevertheless Serottas, Colnagos and beautiful custom jobs
on Eisentraut frames /are/ appropriate bikes for some
people such as yourself. Thank goodness there's a bicycle
for just about every need and niche.

Maybe bike shops could print out some 'buyers' guides' that
cover those sort of considerations, to hand out to prospective
customers along with some product literature & catalogues,
to aid their decision making. I've got a sneaking hunch
Mike Jacoubowsky already does that.

cheers,
Tom

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-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Brian Wax said:

People rave about Seven's too.

If I were buying a new custom steel frame the only person I would get it
from is Richard Sachs.....................

Jeff Martin said:

Brian Wax said:

People rave about Seven's too.

If I were buying a new custom steel frame the only person I would get it
from is Richard Sachs.....................

A year is a loooong time to wait. You are a far more patient man than
I ;-)

"Jeff Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Brian Wax said:

People rave about Seven's too.

If I were buying a new custom steel frame the only person I would get it
from is Richard Sachs.....................

I heard recently his waiting period is now up to 39 months! Now that's job
security!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sure, but there's no correlation, you know what I mean? Actually, I
think there's a negative correlation in the group I ride with. It seems
that people are constantly "upgrading" but most are riding less as time
goes on.

I've noticed a definite correlation here: the slower the ride, the more
prevalent the titanium.

This does not correlate with my experience.

Perhaps you haven't sampled data from the far enough out on the curve.....

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

Tom Keats said:

...
Nevertheless Serottas, Colnagos and beautiful custom jobs
on Eisentraut frames /are/ appropriate bikes for some
people such as yourself. Thank goodness there's a bicycle
for just about every need and niche....

I would rather ride this bike at one-third the price than any of those
mentioned above: <http://www.ihpva.org/incoming/2002/sunset/Sunset001.jpg>.

--
Tom Sherman - Earth (Downstate Illinois, North of Forgottonia)

Ken Marcet said:

...
I guess I would have to agree with you. Just as long as your hobbies don't
include homemade weapons of mass destruction!

I am having trouble finding the "Buy it Now" buttons on this site:
<http://www.strategic-air-command.com/weapons/nuclear_bomb_chart.htm>.
Is there something wrong with my browser?

--
Tom Sherman - Earth (Downstate Illinois, North of Forgottonia)

Matt O'Toole said:

...
Hey, did you know that most rich people in America are self made, and not scions
of old money (or married to them)? Save your pennies....

Drinking Kool-Aid at the Norquist residence?

--
Tom Sherman - Earth (Downstate Illinois, North of Forgottonia)

That's cool. Stay well within your limits. If you know what is right for
you; then most of us in this group would only encourage you.

Look up the term non sequitur