On 21 Sep 2004 13:25:30 GMT,
[email protected] (Qui si parla
Campagnolo ) wrote:
>Chris-<< What I'd like to know is, "why"? The ST crank/spindle has worked fine
>for over a century. >><BR><BR>
>
>Cuz they can. Change for change sake, not improving anything. More of an
>attempt to take somebody out of the marketplace, making parts more expensive,
>less people riding. The 'bike biz' needs to get it's collective head outta
>their **** and figure out how to grow the cycling public numbers, not make
>things unique, expensive and hard to find.
>
>The bike biz, on the eve of Interbike, is awash in gadgets and gizmos and these
>things do nothing to put a person that is new to cycling onna bicycle and keep
>them there.
Actually, it can work both ways. There are accessible gadgets and
then there is esoterica. Boutique stuff that is overpriced and
unattactive to the non-potential-cyclist doesn't help anything, but
affordable gadgets that might pique the interest of someone from the
general public can be beneficial. I'm fresh out of specific examples
of the latter for bikes, but for demonstrations of the phenomenon in
action, I will cite the early Ford Mustangs and the US marketing of
the VW Beetle in the late '60s and early '70s. In both cases, the
basic car could be dressed up with an almost endless variety of
accessories and/or options. With bikes, the most common types of
options historically were lights, silly kid-oriented decorations,
frame pumps, saddle bags, mechanical speedometers, front baskets, rear
baskets and/or racks, horns, bells, sirens, and the infamous banana
seats. Today, we can also add bar ends, bottle clips and bottles (if
the bike didn't come with them), digital speed/distance/time/BP/etc
comps, GPS units, tie-the-bike-to-your-feet devices that scare the
bejeesus out of a newbie, helmets, cycling wear that only the fit
should be seen in, hydration packs, and nifty tool kits. Now, out of
that whole list, what's going to grab the eye of the non-cyclist? If
you answer "Well, not much", you've got a handle on the bike accessory
problem from the *bike marketing* end. From the *cyclist marketing*
standpoint, most of those are good things to have available...but for
most of them, the potential buyer has to pretty much already be a
rider before they are interesting. (Except, perhaps, the nifty tool
kits and the GPS units, which are both a Guy Kind Of Thing...but not
cool enough to make somebody buy a bike just to have an excuse to
carry the Swiss Army Topeak Tool.)
So, what do *I* think the answer looks like? Simple. $5 a gallon for
gas. It may be closer than you think.
--
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