Sunday Ride

Quoted message said:

As I put my bent away, I saw their equipment. One had a Litespeed Saber Ti., the other had a
Litespeed Blade Ti. I said "Nice equipment" she replied "Yes, and worth every penny!!"

When I got home I searched for those bikes. YIPES!!! Retail for the two was right at $10,000.
Nice stuff.

I guess that makes recumbent bicycles like the Bacchetta Aero Ti and Ti Rush quite "reasonable" when
compared to what these Litespeeds cost. I bet these two ladies didn't blink much at all when they
forked over their 10 grand but would probably think that $3,900.00 is "too much" to pay for one of
those "funny looking" bikes.

I wonder what these two women do for a living...

Edward Wong Orlando, FL

I see by their website that they are very proud of them. The highest I saw was circa $6K or $7K. I have seen a few of these but they get the yawn most upright bikes get.

Of course if we do not respect their bikes we cannot expect them to really respect ours.

Derek

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Tom Blum
When I got home I searched for those bikes. YIPES!!! Retail for the two was right at $10,000.

10 grand for a couple of pain-in-the-keester "wedgie" bikes. IMHO, Anybody who'd spend that kind of
money on DF road bikes is either (1) a "true believer" in wedgiedom, (2) someone with lots of
disposable income looking for "prestige" in his Saturday morning cycling club,
(3) someone who seriously wants to get into professional cycling competition (where 'bents are,
sadly, banned), or (4) someone who is sadly ignorant of the sublime pleasures and (unfair)
advantages of recumbency. If I had that much money to spend, I'd probably get a titanium R-68
Sabre or maybe a ti-GRR.

I wonder... does it ever occur to those Saturday morning wedgie racers WHY they need a neck and back
message after only a 50-miler? (Not to mention other sore body parts.)

But there is one good thing about the existence of DF racing bikes in the mid-4 figure price range:
they help us recumbent riders to justify the price tags of our favorite bikes. Hey, I can buy 3
R-40s for the price of one Colnago! I feel better already.

Bill Anton 2001 Vision R-40 SWB OSS Lubbock, TX

"Tom Blum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On today's ride nothing happened of note. 40 miles. Saw one deer ,a doe.

But, at the end of the ride two women, who had apparently just finished their ride, asked me at
length how far? how fast? how long? etc. They wouldn't take "I don't know." for an answer. I
finally answed. Of course, I lied a little. <G> Doesn't everyone??

As I put my bent away, I saw their equipment. One had a Litespeed Saber Ti., the other had a
Litespeed Blade Ti. I said "Nice equipment" she replied "Yes, and worth every penny!!"

When I got home I searched for those bikes. YIPES!!! Retail for the two was right at $10,000.
Nice stuff.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to bid on some used parts on E-bay.

--
Miles of Smiles,

Tom Blum Winter Haven, Florida (remove "nospam" to reply) Homebuilts: SWB Tour Easy Clone Speed
Machine Clone

www.gate.net/~teblum

Bill Anton said:

I wonder... does it ever occur to those Saturday morning wedgie racers WHY they need a neck and
back message after only a 50-miler? (Not to mention other sore body parts.)

Does it ever occur to you that there are many upright riders that do not suffer any discomfort while
riding upright bicycles?

That there are people who own recumbents, have ridden recumbents for years, and yet prefer riding
upright bicycles?

The first regular column I wrote for Recumbent Cyclist News was called "It's All Perfectly Normal"
and in that article I mentioned that much recumbent zealotry seems to have the opposite effect of
what's intended: it makes people less likely to try recumbents.

It's great if you like your bike but don't assume that everyone riding a bike that's different than
yours is suffering in some way.

Kent Peterson Issaquah WA USA [email hidden] halcyon.comrando.htmlOpen ↗

I agree - to a degree. (I'm sorry, I couldn't help it.) I know of several upright riders who can
ride great distances without apparent problems - one did PBP four years ago in a few minutes under
60 hours, and was fine except for being tired and sleepy - but I'm not sure if he's human. Anyway,
seriously, I guess "discomfort" is a relative thing. Many upright riders just expect that part of
riding means that you'll need to vary your hand positions, shake your arms occasionally, stand up on
the pedals, and so on. While this indicates "discomfort" relief to me, it's probably not even close
the feeling I used to get from uprights. I think the level of discomfort is related to fit: how fit
is the rider - how much does the rider weigh, for instance - and does the bike fit? A light rider in
good shape on a bike that fits, will have less discomfort. I do agree with Kent's opinion regarding
zealotry, and it applies to more than just recumbents. Lead by example, try not to be obnoxious or
overbearing, and chances are good that more people will try out this new food, car, bike, whatever.
And that's how I'm slowly converting this part of the world to recumbent trikes!

Kent Peterson said:

Bill Anton said:

I wonder... does it ever occur to those Saturday morning wedgie racers WHY they need a neck and
back message after only a 50-miler? (Not to mention other sore body parts.)

Does it ever occur to you that there are many upright riders that do not suffer any discomfort
while riding upright bicycles?

That there are people who own recumbents, have ridden recumbents for years, and yet prefer riding
upright bicycles?

The first regular column I wrote for Recumbent Cyclist News was called "It's All Perfectly Normal"
and in that article I mentioned that much recumbent zealotry seems to have the opposite effect of
what's intended: it makes people less likely to try recumbents.

It's great if you like your bike but don't assume that everyone riding a bike that's different
than yours is suffering in some way.

Kent Peterson Issaquah WA USA [email hidden] halcyon.comrando.htmlOpen ↗

--
Larry Varney Cold Spring, KY home.fuse.netlarryvarneyOpen ↗

Regards DF bashing:

This "feels" the same as Harley bashing on a motorcycle list I belong to. It seems to me, that it is
the same sort of tribalism on the part of pace lining bike racer wannabees that we rant about.

The Rodney guy said it best "Can't we all just get along???"

Each type of Human powered vehicle has it's good and bad points.

It's the BDCs we have to unite against!!! (Big Dumb Cages, aka automobiles)

--
Miles of Smiles,

Tom Blum Winter Haven, Florida (remove "nospam" to reply) Homebuilts: SWB Tour Easy Clone Speed
Machine Clone

www.gate.net/~teblum

Can't remember my history, did the LA cops kick the snot out of Rodney (after) he said "can't we all
just get along" or (while) they were kicking the snot out of him or did he utter those words later
on after the kicking, but before they arrested him again?

As for Harley bashing, no one who wanted to father children would ever dare to speak poorly of
Harleys...guess the times have changed.

On the BDC thing, I always thought the best way to straighten out car/truck drivers was, instead of
suspending their license or giving them fines. They should be required to Pedal a bike in city
traffic everyday for 2 months (possibly holding a Cellphone in one hand) and then give them back
their car keys...if they survived the 2 months. It'll never happen of course in a society that
worships the almighty car.
---------------------------------------------------------
"Tom Blum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Regards DF bashing:

This "feels" the same as Harley bashing on a motorcycle list I belong to. It seems to me, that it
is the same sort of tribalism on the part of pace lining bike racer wannabees that we rant about.

The Rodney guy said it best "Can't we all just get along???"

Each type of Human powered vehicle has it's good and bad points.

It's the BDCs we have to unite against!!! (Big Dumb Cages, aka

automobiles)

Quoted message said:

--
Miles of Smiles,

Tom Blum Winter Haven, Florida (remove "nospam" to reply) Homebuilts: SWB Tour Easy Clone Speed
Machine Clone

www.gate.net/~teblum

What Kent said. I commuted by upright yesterday and suffered little discomfort, though my iffy back
might complain if I had to ride it much further than ten miles. I shall shortly be resurrecting
another upright for Mrs Legs, though as it's rather a nice one, I might just steal it for myself...

Dave Larrington - legslarry.crosswinds.netlegslarry.crosswinds.netOpen ↗
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Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
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