A pretty straightforward article about Rivendell Bicycle Works. Say what you will about their "distinctive" vision of what cycling should be, at least they have a vision. Unlike so many other bike companies operating today. Take the bikesnobnyc blog quiz to see what I mean.
An excerpt from the Rivendell article:
"...the industry lost its way when it began catering to the minority of riders who actually race, resulting in featherweight bikes with cramped angles. Racers endure discomfort in the interest of speed, but the majority of consumers who buy these machines—middle-aged men and women with disposable income to burn—will never enter the Tour de California and will wind up stashing their bikes in the garage to gather dust.
Petersen prefers a gentler, more old-world aesthetic aimed at enjoyment and practicality rather than aerodynamics. His lugged steel frames are hand-brazed, a lost art perfected decades ago, when a finely crafted bicycle was comparable to a work of art. Although customers may gush over how Petersen’s Rivendell bikes look, they spend big bucks—prices for complete bikes range from $1,500 to $5,000—for the ideas that go into them. Petersen stretches the front of his bikes upward for a more relaxed position for the rider, for example. He drops the center of gravity to hug the curves. You can take his fastest bike down a fire trail on Mount Diablo, or you can ride his Mixte, what the uninformed would call a granny bike, on a tour across the country. Former president Jimmy Carter rides a custom Rivendell, which he bought a few years ago."
4 comments:
The think that bugs me about that is that Grant thinks he knows his market better than they know themselves. People don't buy a race bike to race, or to be fast or for comfort. They want to have what the racers have. It makes no more sense than buying a Porche to drive around in city traffic. Still, he's doing s great job of marketing his product...
-M
I don't want to portray myself as an unquestioning cheerleader for the company. For example I'm not particularly sold on the idea of introducing new 650 model bikes. It's a great idea for conversion of older bikes that you want to give a bit more room for practical tires/fenders. I must admit their frames are pretty much all nicer looking than 98% of what is out there though.
That being said, I think it's fair to say that Grant DOES (or at least, HAS) know/n his market better than they know themselves. I've heard too many people independently talk about what a welcome relief it was to ride one of their bikes after trying to look like a racer on one of the hot carbo/alu/ti bikes O' the month. I think this was particularly true a few years ago. Now, most bike companies are putting more emphasis on models that look racy but are designed with slightly higher bars, a little more stretched out geometry, etc. Whether this emphasis has come about because of the aging demographic of these wannabee Lances with their disposable incomes or because Grant has quietly nudged folks into looking more critically about what they are buying/building, who can say. Probably both.
I'm not sure the Porsche analogy works. An aging boomer which disposable income but with virtually no driving skills can still drive rather comfortably in a hot car from point a to point b for hours. Put the same aging boomer on the latest racy model from any big bike company and 2 hours later most will be in severe pain from their lower backs, to their necks, to their wrists, from contorting themselves into the prescribed racing fit.
For the record though, I'm not particularly sure what the point of a 300 horsepower anything is for driving in real life.
I will defend my analogy to the death. But only over beers...
-M
Shall we say...pistols at noon?
I'd prefer Guinness at 5...drop me line
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