Re: Extensive article on Rivendell and Grant Petersen

On 9/23/2024 8:47 PM, sms wrote:

On 9/23/2024 8:18 AM, Roger Merriman wrote:
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Basically more modern bikes are more adaptable with wider tires and gear
ranges, and disk brakes which certainly cope wet, and more steep stuff
better.

 I would hate to see the state of the bicycle industry if consumers were all to buy bicycles like Rivendells.
 One bike could serve as a road bike, touring bike, gravel bike, commuter bike, and utility bike. It would decimate the bicycle business.
 It would also decimate parts and accessories sales. Imagine being able to raise the handlebars to a comfortable riding position without the use of funky stem extenders on threadless headsets. No more funky clamps to attach accessories since there are so many braze-ons.
 Since the frames are lugged steel, there would be no repeat business from broken aluminum or carbon-fiber frames, you could keep the same bike for 50 years, as Grant Peterson pointed out in the article.
 Clothing makers would go out of business if a lot of cyclists realized that they did not have to buy specialized clothing to ride a bicycle.
 Since Rivendell doesn't use carbon forks there could also be negative implications to the health care industry.
 The entire eBike industry would collapse if people found out that with proper gearing there is usually no need for an electric motor and batteries.

Sorry, not buyin' it. Not to mention the fact that taking someone off an e-bike and telling them they have to pedal is one way to completely put them off cycling, regardless of the proper gearing. I'd suggest you go out on an E-bike for an hour and ride some hills. You'll get a good sense of why "with proper gearing there is usually no need for an electric motor" is a rather myopic comment.
My wife is a great example. Her favorite bike is a Jamis Dakar MTB 3x9 Deore. Even on the moderate hills around here on the road (with semi-slicks) hills are very challenging. Sure, she's in the granny doing 6 mph on a 3% grade, but it's still a lot of work for a casual cyclist.
Last year in Ireland we rented bikes. She got an E-bike (on my insistence) and I got a regular bike (same basic bike, but with no motor). She flew up hills much longer and steeper than anything around here with little effort, leaving me behind gasping for air.
Try telling her she'd do just as well with an "appropriately" geared bike, and you'll get her classic 'you really can't be that clueless' glare.

 I do think that he's a bit of a retro-grouch when it comes to shifting, there is nothing wrong with indexed shifting. And I confess to liking disc brakes.
 Grant Peterson is stuck in the 1980's when similar bicycles to the ones he sells, were mainstream, not expensive boutique items. It's a decent niche business.

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