Ride Lugged

Grant Peterson mocks the new Bridgestone bikes… they are quite tawdry..
here’s a link to an interview with Grant by Sheldon Brown, http://sheldonbrown.com/podcasts/grantpetersen.html
but I’ll throw out a few excepts for you lazy fucks.

Grant:
Yeah, but overall I’m a little bit disturbed by the shape of modern bikes these days. And I mean that probably literally. I mean I think that saddles are high and skinny and the tubes are sort of out of proprtion, at least for steel tubes. You know I look at them - I’m used to slender tubes on a bike and now, the tubes aren’t really tubes anymore, and they all seem to have this similar look, you know that bladed high-volume carbon fiber look.
Sheldon:
I prefer the term ‘plastic.’
Grant:
They are plastic, but you know, if they make people happy, that’s good, but they aren’t the kinds of bikes that make me happy. On the other hand it probably helps Rivendell because we don’t have as much competition.
….
Grant:
I think the worst thing thats happening in bicycles these days and it’s been happening for years is using racing and competition bicycles to sell bicycles to people who are not going to do that. I mean, it wouldn’t happen in cars. You don’t see people driving around in cars that people race on the dragstrip or in NASCAR cars but that’s the kind of bike that people get on and ride. It’s not a practical bike for everyday living, but people, I don’t know, they get caught up in the excitement of racing, and in the bike industry, everyone is sort of fretting about “what’s going to happen with road bike sales, now that Lance Armstrong is retired?” And that’s a pathetic way to look at it. Normal people should be able to ride bikes and they should be able to be comfortable on a bike. Riding a bicycle is a fantastic thing, but if you have to dress like Lance (and I’m a Lance fan, by the way.)
Sheldon:
Oh, who isn’t?
Grant:
If you have to dress like him and look like him and try to ride like him, you are not going to have a fun time on a bike. I would have a miserable - the most miserable rides I ever do are the ones where I try to go fast. I try to go fast about once a week, and those are the rides that I don’t like. I’m caught up in it a little bit, and everybody is.
Sheldon:
It really bothers me, the concept that you need to wear special clothing to ride a bicycle.
Grant:
I think that’s what keeps people off of bikes. If you had to wear an oddball uniform to go buy a McDonald’s hamburger, McDonalds would go out of business.
Sheldon:
Good point.
Grant:
People who don’t ride bikes now, want to ride a bike, but they don’t want to have to change who they are and thier whole look. The look that you have may seem casual, what I’m wearing now may seem casual, but there’s a certain amount of calculation in it.

anyway, its availible as a podcast too, so check it out. QBP is gunna be releasing a Rivendell designed lugged 650b bike soon, that outta be hot. Keep yer eyes pealed…
-Johnson