Entry Level Bikes and Such

I totally agree. The bike doesn't ride itself. You still need legs and muscles ...and the brain.
mybikecoach.blogspot.com

Great topic! I think I am below entry level! I own 6 bikes and I paid for only 2 of them, $80 for one and $42.00 for the other. I mostly ride a mid 80s Raleigh Olympian that I got free from a friend who works at a large bike shop. It was left there by someone who bought a new bike. No one at the shop wanted it so he called me because he knew I was riding a '75 Raleigh sprite 5 -speed. In the year and a half since I got the Olympian I have ridden it about 2500 miles including Ragbrai this summer. I put on new tires, tubes, cables and chain and got a new stem and seat to accommodate my middle aged body. I love riding it!

I am always amused by the occasional snear from someone on an Uber-level bike. Dude! We are all riding bikes. It's all cool! I am seriously thinking of getting a Huffy 10-speed and riding the wheels off of it just to prove the point that the fun is riding and not having carbon and titanium this or that.

Oh yea! On Ragbrai, of the four in our group there were 2 Madones, a rental aluminum Trek and my sleazy old Raleigh - the oldest, heaviest, cheapest bike of the four! One Madone had a terminal problem with the rear hub, the other needed some minor adjustments and repairs, the Alu Trek only had a flat and my Raleigh covered the most miles and had no service issues at all. We all had a good chuckle about that.

Reid. glad you saw the reference to The Bard.
Obsequious (oddly, i find myself looking up for the spelling, there is a limit to how high a chap is willing to be hoist by his own petard) is not something you want to be, a good friend of mine made a fortune as a Rentboy (Male prostitute) by his obsequiousness, (he was a maid of honour at my wedding with his partner of the time, since split up, shame).
Obstreperous is not something you want to be either, bullish, over opinionated and often wrong (as the Greek Prince).
We have taken this thread with no degree of seriousness, what else could we do? entry level is. if you will excuse the venacular," a load of old bollocks designed to part the gullible from their wages".
Sadly young Jascha had his demeanour beaten into him, pre revolutionary Russia was no nicer a place to be than post revolutionary Russia. [censored] hot Violinist

.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by alienator [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Absolutely correct:

obsequious[FONT= HiraMinPro-W3] |əbˈsēkwēəs|[/FONT]adjectiveobedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree

I stand corrected. Thank you. I am so very, very, very sorry. I am an obsequious [censored] for you guys now and always, may I spit-polish your boots?

(grins, thanks, just learning the word now)

R.
Only obstreperous to thug cops, never cyclists

I learned the word incorrectly, you see, from a friend, Clara Rockmore,
who was elderly, and telling me a story about the great, young violinist she knew in 1915,
Jascha Heifetz. She was trying to describe his great vanity and pride, he looked down his nose at everyone,
"he was still in knee pants, but he was so...ob..." I tried to help her find the word, and suggested "obsequious",
(which was wrong, I understand now)..."Yes, exactly, Heifetz was very obsequious." He was just the opposite, though.

PS: but he sure could play the duck out of a violin without accusation of canard by quacks like myself.

when I make wordplay puns, I have to remember to look up the words involved,
I've always "heard" them, but rarely know the words by definition.

thefreedictionary.comcanardOpen ↗
Noun 1. canard - a deliberately misleading fabrication fable, fabrication, fiction - a deliberately false or improbable account

Reid, you were Navy, i would imagine that discours on grammatical veracity was what you might call "a bloody daft game to play" in a combat situation, now your brain is less tuned to the survival of yourself and that of your comrades, new words are delight, we share the most descriptive and complex language (other, possibly than Mandarin). Now that people will not die at the miss turn of a phrase i might suggest throwing words whilly nilly, better to make the occasional error than to be restricted to "enrty level" English

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by jazzz [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Reid, you were Navy, i would imagine that discours on grammatical veracity was what you might call "a bloody daft game to play" in a combat situation, now your brain is less tuned to the survival of yourself and that of your comrades, new words are delight, we share the most descriptive and complex language (other, possibly than Mandarin). Now that people will not die at the miss turn of a phrase i might suggest throwing words whilly nilly, better to make the occasional error than to be restricted to "enrty level" English

Jazz? It was when I was a stripling in the Navy, that I first got [censored].
I liked it and didn't understand, but I liked it, so I said, : ) "Thank you got your perspicacity."

Well, my loquaciousness got me [censored] again.
And I liked it, go figure sailors? "Reid, just shut up."

"Mmmmmpfhmmph."

I love my trek 2.1 aka entry level bike and to be honest I don't give two ducks about not having a CF bike when I know that I'm doing perfectly fine in getting in shape with the one I got, now if any knob out there wants to tell me to my face that their $7,000 cervelo is better than my $1,250 trek I will smack em in the face and nick their expensive one innit hahaha, [censored] em who cares what you ride in as long as you are happy..

I love my Fuji newest 3.0. VERY much an entry level road bicycle although not my 1st (or only) road bike. Nothing wrong with all the bells and whistles of the pricier bicycles. But I am very happy with my bicycles [even the old lugged steel one]. I wouldn't even mind finding an old mid-1960 Schwinn Varsity like I owned back then.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by modelmartin [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I am seriously thinking of getting a Huffy 10-speed and riding the wheels off of it just to prove the point that the fun is riding and not having carbon and titanium this or that.

Ok, let's not get carried away.[IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif[/IMG]

But to digress, on the fast group rides in my local park, it's often the old geezers still riding on steel doing much of the thrashing. Legs always talk better than bikes.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by danfoz [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Legs always talk better than bikes.

Yep! And in my case... it wouldn't matter how much money I spent. It isn't my bicycle that limits me.

Last weekend I saw a youngish hipster couple that was riding old rusty cruisers. The type with fat tires and big rust covered fenders and they looked like they had been stored outside for about 50 years. They had on cool leather jackets and the woman had knee high boots with heels. They were having fun but clearly were making a statement about bicycles too. I appreciate their statement and I called out, "nice bikes" as I passed them. However I doubt if they were planning to cover much distance or many hills that day.

I wonder what statement they were trying to make.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by rxter [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I wonder what statement they were trying to make.

Rust Never Sleeps?

I guess they were signaling their reverse snobism. Sort of like a billionaire driving an old pickup.

Maybe they were just enjoying their bikes. Why does someone have to be making a statement? What statement are you making when you ride your bike?

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by alienator [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Maybe they were just enjoying their bikes. Why does someone have to be making a statement? What statement are you making when you ride your bike?

You could be right but I doubt it is so simple. My view is they went out of their way to find bikes like these and have that look to call attention to themselves. Nobody who cares about their bikes would purposely let them be in such a bad state unless they were trying to project something. In fashion merchandising, they'd call this "bottom up" style. Sort of like buying jeans that already have wear holes in them. Think about it, all dressed up with leather jackets and fancy boots sitting on totally rusty bikes. They wanted a certain look. However, I am also sure they enjoyed their ride.

As for statements people make with their bikes and other possessions... that is pretty common whether people think about it or not. There is a reason why branding is slathered across bikes and clothing in giant letters and matching outfits. I think that these two were making a counter statement against that. Things like the "Tweed Ride" and "Seersucker Ride" are similar statements.

BTW, I have nothing against people making "statements" with their clothing, jewelry, homes, or other possessions. Some people make art or music and some express themselves in other ways.

Here are people making statements on their bicycles:
dandiesandquaintrelles.comdandiesandquaintrelles.comOpen ↗

AlanG said:

Quote: Originally Posted by alienator [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Maybe they were just enjoying their bikes. Why does someone have to be making a statement? What statement are you making when you ride your bike?

You could be right but I doubt it is so simple. My view is they went out of their way to find bikes like these and have that look to call attention to themselves. Nobody who cares about their bikes would purposely let them be in such a bad state unless they were trying to project something. In fashion merchandising, they'd call this "bottom up" style. Sort of like buying jeans that already have wear holes in them. Think about it, all dressed up with leather jackets and fancy boots sitting on totally rusty bikes. They wanted a certain look. However, I am also sure they enjoyed their ride.
As for statements people make with their bikes and other possessions... that is pretty common whether people think about it or not. There is a reason why branding is slathered across bikes and clothing in giant letters and matching outfits. I think that these two were making a counter statement against that. Things like the "Tweed Ride" and "Seersucker Ride" are similar statements.
BTW, I have nothing against people making "statements" with their clothing, jewelry, homes, or other possessions. Some people make art or music and some express themselves in other ways.
Here are people making statements on their bicycles:
dandiesandquaintrelles.comdandiesandquaintrelles.comOpen ↗

That's gotta be it. There is absolutely no way it could be something else. Nuh-uh. No how. No way. You have absolute proof.

I simply said it was "my view" of how I read the situation. I don't know if you were also there near swanky Gerorgetown last weekend to see them and help form your opinion.

I work with advertising agencies (and took some advertising and fashion merchandising courses in college) so maybe I am biased or sensitive about the effects of marketing and image. Maybe they had just found them in the trash for all I know and went on a joy ride. Or these were the only possible bikes available to them and they rode them despite feeling totally embarrassed but had to get somewhere and had no other method of travel. I am just giving my read on it that it was kind of a bicycling version of a performance art project to them. If I see them again, I'll ask and report back.

As an advertising photographer, if I took an image of them as they were, I think I know what message it would communicate to some people if not to you. There is generally a reason why we put specific props in our photos. They are thought to affect both the conscious and sub-conscious.

Why all the concern about this and who is right? You may be right. Does it matter? I'm sorry I mentioned it now.

AlanG said:

I simply said it was "my view" of how I read the situation. I don't know if you were also there near swanky Gerorgetown last weekend to see them and help form your opinion.
I work with advertising agencies (and took some advertising and fashion merchandising courses in college) so maybe I am biased or sensitive about the effects of marketing and image. Maybe they had just found them in the trash for all I know and went on a joy ride. Or these were the only possible bikes available to them and they rode them despite feeling totally embarrassed but had to get somewhere and had no other method of travel. I am just giving my read on it that it was kind of a bicycling version of a performance art project to them. If I see them again, I'll ask and report back.
As an advertising photographer, if I took an image of them as they were, I think I know what message it would communicate to some people if not to you. There is generally a reason why we put specific props in our photos. They are thought to affect both the conscious and sub-conscious.
Why all the concern about this and who is right? You may be right. Does it matter? I'm sorry I mentioned it now.

Obviously they were posing for a hidden advertising photographer. That's it. Critical thinking be damned.

"Obviously they were posing for a hidden advertising photographer. That's it." You read all of what I wrote and used critical thinking to conclude this is what I meant??

I'm really sorry if I am bothering you in some way. Where did I say they were acting as if they were posing for a photographer? Or that one has to be making a statement by riding a bike. I am not trying to convince you of anything but you seem to desire to be very argumentative about this for some reason. Whereas I have no such desire.

Please tell me you are putting me on with this because I'd hate to think you are being serious. Is this like the Joe Pesci, "Am I funny to you?" routine in Goodfellas or something?

Anyhow in the event you are being serious I'll give you another reply that you can disregard or mischaracterize too...

Consider that people make statements all of the time whether they intend to or not, They may not be aware they are doing it either but a lot of things about actions, dress, and possessions cause people to form conclusions. But in my mind, I felt they were intentionally making a statement and maybe other observers drew no such impression or drew other conclusions. But I felt I was in on their little joke. If you think I should use more critical thinking, so be it. But I won't as I like my conclusion and have no desire to over analyze every little thing in my life. Perhaps if I had investigated further, I'd be incorrect. If you want to think they weren't making a statement, that is ok by me. However you weren't there so I don't know why you have an opinion at all. It seems you are just being contrary for the sake of it.

Why is this a problem for you? I just don't get it. Don't you ever draw conclusions from your observations? Is something hinging on me getting it right?

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by AlanG [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]
... My view is they went out of their way to find bikes like these and have that look to call attention to themselves. Nobody who cares about their bikes would purposely let them be in such a bad state unless they were trying to project something. In fashion merchandising, they'd call this "bottom up" style. Sort of like buying jeans that already have wear holes in them. Think about it, all dressed up with leather jackets and fancy boots sitting on totally rusty bikes. They wanted a certain look. However, I am also sure they enjoyed their ride.

I agree. For a large part of the population (of course, not the entire population) even a car, or home is a fashion statement. Style, look, color, popularity is a big deal to many (if not most) people. Heck... I know more than a few cyclists that won't wear a cheap "plain one color" cycling jersey. Style may not dominate every part of our lives... but style and fashion plays a bigger part than most people like to admit.