After being stuck in China for almost a month, here I am back in civilization
and experiencing humanity again, only to be dispatched back to the barbaric landside again in just a few days. Anyways, since I'm back in a land where moaning about politics isn't considered crime and logic still manages to make sense, I'll just moan and complain all I want for a while.
Ever since I started my job working for a bike manufactorer, bikes, like as ever before, has been occupying my conscious 25 hours per day. It was a hobby before I entered the bike biz, it still is a hobby & lifestyle to me but, some sort of corrupted pressure and thoughts sneeked their way into what supposed to be the love & joy of my life. Thinking of it, perhaps it's not about the bike, but rather how those bikes were made, who they were made by, the puns that criticize them, all this stuff. Then again, without all these elements there wouldn't be a bike after all, and without critics a bike wouldn't be a bike neither.
Talking about these human powered vehicle, several things spring to mind... let me start from those Euro brands. I just could not understand why people are so obsessed with the site of manufacture, or to be precise, the claimed site of manufacture. Most prestigous Euro dudes buy their tubes and all the necessary alloy stuff from the Orient, sometimes even epoxy and paint and decals, slap their own logo on and voila! Made in Fritaly frame sold at a premier price to a proud fat North Americano customer that cares more about status than fact. These all happen under our nose and the reason for our fooling ourselves is due to, like what, ego? So sad this is reality.
People tend to assume that stuff made in the Orient are easy to do and having a carbon frame to be produced is like churning out hotcakes. How damn wrong they are. But then again who am I to debate against this torrential misconception? Recieving better education doesn't always having better output of anykind, and even though people I see in China are mostly uneducated and tend to repeat mistakes on a hourly basis, there are times I just can't help admiring the outcome of their work. Well, at least one time or twice a week.
Argon18 finally had their Element114 frameset covered on Cyclingnews.com. Even though this frame did not carry its master up to the podium, it's always nice to know that it did assist the rider to top the fastest time split on bike during the Hawai Ironman event.
And yeah, that Specialized Transition frame was really the surprise of the year. Congrats, Spesh.
Bikes for next year and the year beyond are starting to move to the whopper direction. I've been seeing in front and behind the scenes manufacturers are all asking for larger lower headtube bearings, integrated bottom brackets, and massive tubes for presumably better stiffness values. Stiffness, stiffness, with all the talk about stiffness = performance, I really wonder if has there been anyone did some sort of experience monitering to what extent can human beings really feel the difference between two different stiffness values? Well, we all know that feelings can be deceiving, perhaps it is possible that after all there's not much to be noticed regarding the issue of stiffness anyway? Oh yeah, I've been hearing a acquaintance moaning about his frame being toooo stiff for him, just to find out that it was his overinflated crappy tyres causing all his crappy problemos. There's always a difference between the suitable tyre pressure and the maximum tyre pressure, yo.
Darn, can I ever stop talking about bikes...............
No pictures for you this time, folks. All the best.
Ever since I started my job working for a bike manufactorer, bikes, like as ever before, has been occupying my conscious 25 hours per day. It was a hobby before I entered the bike biz, it still is a hobby & lifestyle to me but, some sort of corrupted pressure and thoughts sneeked their way into what supposed to be the love & joy of my life. Thinking of it, perhaps it's not about the bike, but rather how those bikes were made, who they were made by, the puns that criticize them, all this stuff. Then again, without all these elements there wouldn't be a bike after all, and without critics a bike wouldn't be a bike neither.
Talking about these human powered vehicle, several things spring to mind... let me start from those Euro brands. I just could not understand why people are so obsessed with the site of manufacture, or to be precise, the claimed site of manufacture. Most prestigous Euro dudes buy their tubes and all the necessary alloy stuff from the Orient, sometimes even epoxy and paint and decals, slap their own logo on and voila! Made in Fritaly frame sold at a premier price to a proud fat North Americano customer that cares more about status than fact. These all happen under our nose and the reason for our fooling ourselves is due to, like what, ego? So sad this is reality.
People tend to assume that stuff made in the Orient are easy to do and having a carbon frame to be produced is like churning out hotcakes. How damn wrong they are. But then again who am I to debate against this torrential misconception? Recieving better education doesn't always having better output of anykind, and even though people I see in China are mostly uneducated and tend to repeat mistakes on a hourly basis, there are times I just can't help admiring the outcome of their work. Well, at least one time or twice a week.
Argon18 finally had their Element114 frameset covered on Cyclingnews.com. Even though this frame did not carry its master up to the podium, it's always nice to know that it did assist the rider to top the fastest time split on bike during the Hawai Ironman event.
And yeah, that Specialized Transition frame was really the surprise of the year. Congrats, Spesh.
Bikes for next year and the year beyond are starting to move to the whopper direction. I've been seeing in front and behind the scenes manufacturers are all asking for larger lower headtube bearings, integrated bottom brackets, and massive tubes for presumably better stiffness values. Stiffness, stiffness, with all the talk about stiffness = performance, I really wonder if has there been anyone did some sort of experience monitering to what extent can human beings really feel the difference between two different stiffness values? Well, we all know that feelings can be deceiving, perhaps it is possible that after all there's not much to be noticed regarding the issue of stiffness anyway? Oh yeah, I've been hearing a acquaintance moaning about his frame being toooo stiff for him, just to find out that it was his overinflated crappy tyres causing all his crappy problemos. There's always a difference between the suitable tyre pressure and the maximum tyre pressure, yo.
Darn, can I ever stop talking about bikes...............
No pictures for you this time, folks. All the best.
