Cycling as a whole; losing the plot...?

[amediasatex]

Typical Jobst Brandt.

...riding offroad but non-technical trails, with another rider on a similar* type of bike. That's a far cry from leading the pack on an a proper MTB route.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting JB down, he was a very clever guy, immensely fit and I have a huge amount of respect for him, he's one of my favourite characters from the world of cycling but you're comparing chalk and oranges in this case.

* RE: Brucey's comments about expectations and capability syncing with the rest of your group.

[Samuel D]

This is the Jobst Brandt that inspired me.

Brandt was born in 1935, so he was 58 years old when he did the ride described at that link. He must have been quite the cyclist when he was “young and beautiful”.

While we’re talking about Brandt, André Jute – another eccentric bicycle fan – has a link to a slideshow of Brandt’s life here. It includes a sad photo of him post-crash, looking like a downed bird (slide 16).

[bigjim]

but you're comparing chalk and oranges in this case.

I wasn't trying to compare anything. Just showing what a road bike is capable of. Nothing more sinister than that.

[amediasatex]

Then I apologise, as I misunderstood. And it's a great example of that, they're capable of a lot more too, like I said earlier, many would be surprised!

Going to go and have a re-read of some of JBs exploits now to offset the gloomy rain I can see out of the window...

[pwa]

I've just spent a couple of mainly pleasant hours fettling a low value skip rescue bike for my son to use at Uni. Ally framed hardtail Mtb (Raleigh) with 3x7 gears and cheapo suspension that works (surprisingly) though I have adjusted the preload to make it rock hard. I put Pasela tyres on it some time ago, so this time I was getting grease in all the places it ought to be. I was surprised to be able to get in the bottom bracket from the left side (other side too stiff or frozen) and packed grease around the thankfully caged ball bearings. I got rid of most of the play. Similar treatment of the rear hub, and the front. Brakes adjusted. All now kind of working. It needs a little overshifting to do the gears, but nothing too annoying. And it is actually quite nice to ride. Which makes me think that a lot of what is best about cycling can be had on a modest budget with kit that is not that great.

[reohn2]

.....The roots of this problem are in consumerism, which isn't easy to fix....

Agreed,but the major problem IMO is rampant and unneccesary consumerism,the sort that declares last season's gruppo or colour scheme as out of date,in the same way the fashion industry works
I sometimes sit and wonder what will they dream up next... .....both in cycling and fashion.

[mig]

the other side of consumerism is mentioned in brucey's first post - that better engineered bikes should be able to be produced from modern materials but these i suppose would go and last longer and you wouldn't need a new one so quickly!

i guess that everyone's 'line' where they'd pay a higher initial price for a better, longer lasting item varies.

[Bmblbzzz]

The touring bike is alive and well, both in its traditional Anglo-French drop bar, cantilever brake guise and in many others, with flat bars, drop bars, flared drops, with cantilever brakes, disc brakes, V brakes, backpedal brakes, with leather saddles, with sprung plastic saddles, with smooth tyres, knobbly tyres, steel, aluminium, titanium frames, the variations are many.

[pete75]

it is good to have more choice of course. But as I earlier commented, this does not come without a cost, or at the expense of something.

I think a recent casualty is 'the touring bike'. Easily the most versatile kind of bike, it has been supplanted by myriad different hybrids, 'adventure bikes' and gawd-knows what, each one a shade different from a touring bike and a shade better at one thing, at the expense of another. These variants appear to be modern and trendy etc but they are, overall, not such useful or capable bikes as a traditional touring bike IMHO.

I took a look at the Raleigh website recently. 'Touring bikes' are not even a category any more. I discovered that they still make a Raleigh Royal touring bike, (their dealers advertise them) but I couldn't find it on the Raleigh website....

cheers

Yeah but the types you mention are in addition to touring bikes not instead of. Trad touring bikes are still easily obtained by anyone who wants one.

[Si]

Trad touring bikes are probably the best choice if you live in a time/society where you can only afford one bike but want to do various things. If you live in a society with a large midfle class who can afford to spend plenty on their "hobbies" and want to express their identy through material goods, then having a collection of specislist machines will make more sense.

Anyway, off to the bike show tomorrow to kick some tyres and be wowed by meaningless sales spiel.

[mig]

but if you were new to cycling then how likely is it that sales pitches, magazine articles, adverts and the general nonsense of a bike review in the press would lead you to the conclusion that a touring bike would be the most useful tool for the job?

[Vorpal]

.....The roots of this problem are in consumerism, which isn't easy to fix....

Agreed,but the major problem IMO is rampant and unneccesary consumerism

This extends to everything in Western culture, though... cars, toys, clothes, gadgets, apple watches, fidget spinners...

[horizon]

it is good to have more choice of course. But as I earlier commented, this does not come without a cost, or at the expense of something.

I think a recent casualty is 'the touring bike'. Easily the most versatile kind of bike, it has been supplanted by myriad different hybrids, 'adventure bikes' and gawd-knows what, each one a shade different from a touring bike and a shade better at one thing, at the expense of another. These variants appear to be modern and trendy etc but they are, overall, not such useful or capable bikes as a traditional touring bike IMHO.

I took a look at the Raleigh website recently. 'Touring bikes' are not even a category any more. I discovered that they still make a Raleigh Royal touring bike, (their dealers advertise them) but I couldn't find it on the Raleigh website....

cheers

Yeah but the types you mention are in addition to touring bikes not instead of. Trad touring bikes are still easily obtained by anyone who wants one.

I agree. Cycling is going off in all directions but the touring bikes really are still there. Maybe it's a Golden Age!

[pete75]

.....The roots of this problem are in consumerism, which isn't easy to fix....

Agreed,but the major problem IMO is rampant and unneccesary consumerism

This extends to everything in Western culture, though... cars, toys, clothes, gadgets, apple watches, fidget spinners...

Yeah but just think how many jobs would be lost without it.

[Vorpal]

Agreed,but the major problem IMO is rampant and unneccesary consumerism

This extends to everything in Western culture, though... cars, toys, clothes, gadgets, apple watches, fidget spinners...

Yeah but just think how many jobs would be lost without it.

We need to find some other ways to manage our economies. Constant growth and rampant consumerism
-will use up limited resources
-cannot continue unabated forever, even if we expand it into space and onto other planets
-contributes to economic inequality; it may be possible to address one wihtout the other, but an ideal solution would address both

I don't know what the answer is. Human nature seems to be that some people always want to exploit others, and this seems to happen, whatever economic and political systems are in place. Maybe it's enough just to adopt everywhere one of the systems that seems the least subject to corruption, and the fairest to the most people. Maybe we need to develop technology that can manage equitable distribution of resources. Or perhaps there is some other answer, not yet thought of.

But what we are doing today is neither sustainable nor fair.