ntmjeep

What’s next, antilock brakes? It seems like something that only the endless budget of sponsored racers looking for that next competitive edge, might see any real need for all of this. With all of the cool new technology out there, we've obviously seen a lot of recreational/fitness riders on dirt riding single speed rigid bikes. Do I even really need 1x10 or 2x10 gearing, or 29 or 27.5 tires, to have fun out there, let alone more computational power than it took to land Armstrong on the moon? I’m with the “Keep It Simple Stupid” school on this one, and don’t log nearly enough miles to justify a lot of extra money for little extra whizbangs that I wouldn’t have much faith in. I have had or seen faliures on simple cable and hydraulic systems, but they seem few and far between, and can often be overcome w/ a little enginuity if needed. I'm not sure I'd trust fine electronics, little LiPo batteries or even the softwear to be as reliable, especially considering the abuse I subject this stuff to out on the trail.

So how many comments later, and no one has changed their mind or impression of what is correct behavior. It's nice to provoke critical thought and dialog, but no one seems to be learning anything. The opinionated are still opinionated, the dicks are still dicks, the hippies are still hippies, the lawyers are still lawyers, the "entitled" are still "entitled" and... "Can't we all just get along?"

So from their web site, "FASTER, LIGHTER, RELIABLE AND MORE AFFORDABLE MOUNTAIN BIKES - THIS IS REDALP'S GOAL!" So tell us, did they come close to any of those goals? "Faster," will only come w/ some big wins, so we'll see about that. I can't imagine all of those little extra bits adding to "reliability," and the price looks pretty scary knocking off "affordable," so what's next??? right, "Lighter," and this seems to match the KONA'S CARBON OPERATOR in the nect article here on PB, so they didn't get ahead of that curve either.

So if you dig, is that the only patch of dirt you ever ride (and keep it to yourself, or do diggers sometimes wander off to ride what someone else built? At some point we are all just eaters of someone else's labor. I imagine there are dicks within every sort of rider you meet, and I think the take-away from this article needs to be some level of concideration in all directions. As a long time rider, with very little time to ride (work, wife, kids, actually having interests beyond biking...) if I find an hour or two to myself, I need the escape of getting on my bike. (That may not be enough time to break out the shovel and hike to that trail) If I stumble accross your secret stash of dirt-n-bumps, I might even ride on it, but it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the sweat and love a builder put into it. Most of the trails I ride, legal or not, were cut by hikers, not mountainbikers... and have been here before there ws such a thing as a mountain bike. That's a whole other (but kinda similar) battle, and the wild growth of ladder bridges on those trails doesn't calm that fight at all.

Exactly, Looking at all us cheap SOBs, PB ought to at least give a nod to the "home version" of some of the cool trick top-of-the-line stuff they review. It's in these discussions where we might see the difference between the high end item, and it's middle or bottom of the line product we may be more likely to buy. Tell us what's the differene in the products and money, and we can see which holds better value for us. Pros serious racer types probably can justify the better, where many of us can see the valye in a $100 stand, over a crappy home-grown one that still ate $50 of our hard earned coin

It's pretty poor when so many of us have to buy RD Hangers on-line, because the LBS doesn't stock these consumable parts, or charges double for them. I did find a LBS, that is an hour drive away (= $12 in gas), who stocks hangers at on-line pricing... but it's faster for me to get it shipped and the shops closerto me don't know or carry squat.

that's right too... where the LBS gets poor product shoved own their throat by the distributor they end up in bed with, and has to try to get full premium retail pricing for it... right down to askig for twice the price for chep-ass tubes.

That's a great point, about the industry, and how it goes to market through distribution that likely failed to adapt their ways to a changing market, and the local dealer takes it on the chin. Perhapse the supply chain need to value their "partner" in the local bike shop a little more, and help to be proactive in adapting how bikes, parts and gear get to us the consumer. "run away with their cheese leaving local shops in the lurch"!!! great

I think you got it, but beyond that issue of margins is the "market" th shop can serve. Are there enough people that can buy that larger volume of product from this retailer at that lower margin, so the shop can still remain profitable enough to keep the doors open. That defining of a market is probably something that most small businesses fail to accomplish, and some are just lucky to find that they have a market. You can't run a shop on the backs of the dozen riders you hang with at your local trail. Another knife to twist on that point, is you may love DH biking, but all the riders in your area may be roadies... or parents just looking for kids' bikes and hybrids... are you willing to run a shop that supports those activities too as a shop owner? The customer is goign to drive that boat, no matter how hard the retailer tries to believe otherwise.