Advice Wanted: Bike Buyer in NYC

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 12:53:23 -0700, Terry Morse
wrote in message :

The only valid reason I can think of for choosing steel for touring
is that the frame can be repaired by just about anyone with a
welding torch.

I can think of others. For example, the Dawes Galaxy is made of steel
and is a very well built and specified touring bike. That's no more
arbitrary than any other reason for choosing steel or any other
material.

Having had two frame fatigue failures on aluminium bikes, I'm inclined
to mistrust aluminium for long-term use. I use my bikes every day.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 06:47:07 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf"
wrote:
Don't you wonder why all of the true touring bikes (admittedly there are few
left) are still chro-moly, i.e. Trek, Fuji, Koga-Miyata, Bruce Gordon, etc.

Steel may be easier to repair on the road, for people interested in
doing self-sufficient loaded touring; any idiot with a Sears welder
can make a faulty weld rideable to get at least to a place for a
proper repair. I don't think such people are much of a market
segment.

More likely, however, is pure marketing:

If even Trek sticks with steel, there is obviously a very good reason for

Reason: Marketing. It seems that most of the touring crowd is made
up of retrogrouches like you, who would buy a steel tourer over an
aluminum one.

it! And of course you are well aware of the reasons. The Trek web site sates
(of the 520): "FRAME: Welded Cro-Moly built to endure the demands of fully
loaded touring."

So, you swallow marketspeak when convenient. I wouldn't be surprised
if Trek says exactly the same thing of threadless headsets.

Opinions masquerading as fact are dangerous things.

They certainly are. Almost as dangerous as marketing implicature
masquerading as facts.

You mean like this:
"FRAME: Welded Cro-Moly built to endure the demands of fully
loaded touring."
?

You're pushing mythology, prejudice, and retrogrouchery; and you
push your anti-aluminum agenda on everybody, not just tourers.
Meanwhile, some gullible newbie is going to end up on a poor fitting
steel cheapie because his LBS didn't have a good selection of steel
traditional-sized/shaped frames with threaded headsets, friction
shifters, and ungreased square tapers or whatever...
--
Rick Onanian

"Steven M. Scharf" wrote in message ink.net...
"Rick Onanian" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 15:28:19 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf"
wrote:

snip

Thank you all for your responses.

So both the Marin Argenta and the Bianchi Brava are better bikes than
the Trek 1200?

If that's true, I'll get one of them. I'm not too good with
components, but I don't see why anyone here would lie.

I'm leaning towards the Bianchi because

1. It's cheaper.
2. I like how it looks more than how the Argenta looks. But I
still really like the Trek.
2. Another LBS even nearer to me than the one on 96th is a Bianchi
dealer. I'd like to give them some business.

The only problem is that store, Champion Cycles on 101st and
Amsterdam, hardly carries any inventory. So I'd have to mail-order it
anyway. And I like to ride before I order.

I'm on the edge here... any words of encouragement? Is that what you
think I should do? (I can't believe I'm asking a bunch of strangers
how to spend hundreds of dollars… =) )

Zipping along, maybe at 20 mph or so, as it was a slight downhill. Not the
best of neighborhoods. Just after I went by, a young black man waiting at
the bus stop broke a bottle and kicked the glass into the bike lane.

My response: "Ya jerk!", and just continued down the street.

Better response would have been?

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 23:12:11 GMT, "Claire Petersky"
wrote:

Zipping along, maybe at 20 mph or so, as it was a slight downhill. Not the
best of neighborhoods. Just after I went by, a young black man waiting at
the bus stop broke a bottle and kicked the glass into the bike lane.

My response: "Ya jerk!", and just continued down the street.

Better response would have been?

Silence and some deft bikehandling. In the words of Speech from
Arrested Development:

"At first I ignored them cause see I know their type
They got drunk and got guns and they wanna fight
and they see a young couple having a time that's good
and their egos wanna test a brother's manhood"
-Arrested Development, "People Everyday"

-Luigi


Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

(I can't believe I'm asking a bunch of strangers how to spend hundreds
of dollars… =) )

We can't believe it either, but my advice would be to send me hundreds
of dollars immediately.

It's your decision to make, if you make the wrong decision you will
still have gotten a bicycle. If you make the right decision you
will still have gotten a bicycle.

Either way, you will be better off, because you will have a bicycle.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________
------------------"Buddy Holly, the Texas Elvis"------------------
in.edu__________

In short, we _are_ worried about airplanes falling out of the sky due to
metal fatigue, and we monitor it closely now.

Steel components on aircraft are also closely monitored for fatigue cracking
and other inservice degredation.

Be sure and put that on your website.


Chris Neary


"Science, freedom, beauty, adventu what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

Zipping along, maybe at 20 mph or so, as it was a slight downhill. Not the
best of neighborhoods. Just after I went by, a young black man waiting at
the bus stop broke a bottle and kicked the glass into the bike lane.

My response: "Ya jerk!", and just continued down the street.

Better response would have been?

In hindsight, most of us can come up with a much better remark than we used
at the time. However, sounds like you haven't been able to, and I really
can't think of anything better either. Not sure I'd spend much time in
that neighborhood though. Generally I don't worry about such things, but if
you'd had a flat, it might not have been a comfortable environment. I
assume you carry a cell phone?

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

I can think of others. For example, the Dawes Galaxy is made of steel
and is a very well built and specified touring bike. That's no more
arbitrary than any other reason for choosing steel or any other
material.

Having had two frame fatigue failures on aluminium bikes, I'm inclined
to mistrust aluminium for long-term use. I use my bikes every day.

On the other hand, from the perspective of the shop owner, it was common
knowledge (and I've also seen several first-hand) that Dawes Galaxys of a
certain era tended to suffer broken chainstays due to defective chrome
plating. But that doesn't mean the all did, nor is it an indication that
steel is a poor material to make a frame from. It's just one more datapoint
for the improbability matrix. Now where did Trillian go? :)

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 12:53:23 -0700, Terry Morse
wrote in message :

The only valid reason I can think of for choosing steel for touring
is that the frame can be repaired by just about anyone with a
welding torch.

I can think of others. For example, the Dawes Galaxy is made of steel
and is a very well built and specified touring bike. That's no more
arbitrary than any other reason for choosing steel or any other
material.

Having had two frame fatigue failures on aluminium bikes, I'm inclined
to mistrust aluminium for long-term use. I use my bikes every day.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

In article fjYhc.4779$YP5.441163@attbi_s02,
"Claire Petersky" writes:
Zipping along, maybe at 20 mph or so, as it was a slight downhill. Not the
best of neighborhoods. Just after I went by, a young black man waiting at
the bus stop broke a bottle and kicked the glass into the bike lane.

My response: "Ya jerk!", and just continued down the street.

Better response would have been?

If there was a bunch of ppl there, I'd have been inclined to
stop and clean up the mess as well as I could. Both to
shame the guy in front of everybody, and at least kick the
glass aside and out of the bike lane for the next rider that
comes along.


good ride,
Tom

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