Further to yesterday’s post, a cycling publication raises a compelling question:
Yes.
The answer is yes.
Look, I know the eMTBers need everyone else to justify their fun, but that’s not our job. If you people can’t live with yourselves that’s your problem. And why do you need a bike with a motor, anyway? Because of the Earth’s orbit?
While the guilt of riding an eMTB is something that I struggle with, it’s also something that I am slowly learning to ignore – partially because e-bikes are so damn popular, but also because the whole reason I ride bikes is to have fun, and get outside – with an eMTB I’m able to do this even more, especially during the time of year when the sun is setting so early. The stigma around eMTBs is slowly fading, and I think that’s a great thing, because they are super fun to ride and let more people access trails. Unfortunately, this is both a good and a bad thing.
Sorry, but for the past 20 years the mountain bike has barely met the definition of a bicycle; it’s just another sporting good you see hanging off the back of a pickup truck:
[What is the point of a big truck if the bike still needs to hang off the back of it like half a couch sticking out of the open trunk of a Toyota Corolla? How come I can fit an entire bicycle inside of my own car without even taking the wheel off? What am I doing wrong?]
Now it needs to have a motor because you can’t manage your time and you need to squeeze in a ride before sunset? THIS IS NOT MY PROBLEM. The world does not owe you a good time. Maybe take a lesson from the roadies you’re always making fun of and ride your bike in the morning like someone with a life.
Say what you will about roadies, but at least they’re not lazy.
Meanwhile, eMTBs should be relegated to dedicated bike parks where you have to pay to get in so you can do stuff like this:
People seem to understand that extreme thrill rides belong in for-profit “parks” like Six Flags, yet for some reason mountain bikers think they should be able to build huge jumps and ride electric motorcycles in the same places where people like to take quiet walks and go birdwatching and stuff.
I’m not saying mountain bikers are necessarily the worst, but…they really are the worst.
Then again, this is coming from someone who rides around on a 43 year-old road bike:
Every so often I fall hard for a bike I already own and we embark upon a torrid affair, and this is exactly what’s happening right now with the Cervino. Last week I crammed a wheel with a modern cassette in there, and I swapped the toe clips for CLIPLESS (!!!) pedals, and it feels so good I’ve been riding it ever since. By the way, let’s take a moment once again to appreciate the fact that a bicycle from 1982 accepts a 130mm wheel and a 9-speed cassette with some gentle persuasion and a few turns of the limit screws, and that there’s enough range left in the derailleur and the shifter that I’m sure 11 speeds would be no problem. Let’s also celebrate the fact that simply updating the cassette and the chain is sufficient to radically improve the quality of the shifts. Will a modern road racing bike age this gracefully and remain similarly useful half a century from now?
I suppose time will tell, but it’s difficult to imagine that it will.
Another major improvement was the addition of a Bananasack, which fits the bike perfectly and easily holds two spare tubular tires with plenty of room left over:
Though I suppose I also could have stored the tires in the generous gap of my wizard sleeve brake lever hoods:
I should probably spend the $18.99 and get something with a proper fit already:
This would fully restore the bike to its former glory:
But it would also require undoing the brake cables, and I am pretty lazy–not mountain biker lazy, but still, pretty lazy.
Speaking of Campagnolo, things are not looking good–and I’m not just referring to the questionable aesthetics of their current offerings:
Sadly, Campagnolo seem to be under the impression that making the same black electronic stuff as Shimano and SRAM is going to save them somehow:
The news follows a busy year for the Italian brand, which has returned to the WorldTour after a one-year hiatus with Cofidis, launched its flagship Super Record 13 wireless road and gravel groupsets – and hinted that the imminent arrival of a more affordable 13-speed wireless platform could soon broaden its appeal.
But why would it? Why do the exact same thing as the other companies that have been eating your pranzo for decades now? Why not take the Brooks route and just keep making the stuff that made you famous to begin with?
Just imagine if Campagnolo gave up on electronics and instead sold hubs like this (or hubs at all for that matter)…
And mechanical derailleurs like this…
And downtube shifters…
And integrated shifters with shiny silver levers and ratcheting front shifting like Lob intended?
[Sorry, you’ll need to un-see the ErgoBrain.]
Come on, bringing back the C-Record crank alone would be enough to save them!
Though I guess we’d have to listen to Path Less Pedaled complain about how it’s no good for “party pace” because it doesn’t come in a 74mm BCD version.
Okay, fine, I realize this marketing strategy is also doomed, for the simple reason that nobody’s making bikes you can put stuff like this on anymore. But Campagnolo should just do it anyway. At least they’d die with dignity.