Psst! I'll let y'all into a deep, dark secret. Confession time. Once (well, more than once), when I was short of cash, I was cajoled into . . . assembling Huffys for K-Mart. Yes, there it is. (Now, where's my 12 step program, SA ([censored] Anonymous))?
The point is, (BTW, don't ever buy an adult Huffy or Royce Union) is there any justification at all for supporting an uncaring monolith like K-Mart, not that they stock much of interest, even though they get people riding at a very basic level? Yes, I know I am as guilty as all get-out in facilitating this, solely for the filthy lucre involved. Mea maximum culpa. I have seen the error of my ways. How do we go about converting people who ride dual-suspension mass-market monsters to something simpler and more pleasant and efficient to ride? Or do a Mike Moore on them, and pressure the retailers to stop filling a market niche with dangerous [censored]?
Furthermore, what do people think about BV's tactic of offering, free, an analogue of the above type of bike to people who sign up for the GVBR by a certain date? Unassembled? In spite of most bikeshops ardent opposition to the idea, after BV earlier sent out some PR fluff about "building better relationships with the industry"?
I can, as a mechanic (as I may be) on the ride, see some late nights involved, resurrecting some interesting excursions into mechanical ineptitude. I'm not saying that they will be of an equivalent quality to the average Huffy/Dunlop/Northern Star/other horror supermarket special, but that this is another of BV's masterstrokes that has the potential to bite everyone in the glutes, and turn a lot of people off riding in general.
I have nothing against the GVBR, and I think it has done an incredible amount to raise the idea of cycling as a worthwhile way to get around, for fun and profit. But why pander to the 'bike as interchangeable consumer product' idea, like a toaster or a disposable exercise gym, rather than something you get real pleasure from?
PtsOV?
M "bikes can become old friends" H