Originally Posted by
3alarmer
...I think maybe you have unrealistic expectations of what and how much you can learn about stuff like this on an internet forum, but that's just my opinion. Yes, there are a boatload of different things out there now, in terms of standards and quality for sure, as well as a bunch of proprietary stuff. Some things, you just have to figure out on your own.
You may be right. Unfortunately, some of us live in rural areas where other cyclists and LBSs are few and far between. Just to give you an idea, I wanted a stem with a true "7" bend -- about -30 degrees so that I could lower my bars a bit. The LBS owners response was, "Oh, I could probably order one for you. Everyone wants to raise their bars." Followed by, "Oh, its a road bike with a quill stem." This is a place that does not even stock any road or touring bikes, just cyclocross and mountain. And, that suits the population around here who are primarily mountain riders, since we have an abundance of awesome mountain trails.
The takeaway, though, is that there is nowhere I can go to take a look at things myself and very few people to hang with and learn from them and play with their toys. That means that I can either learn on forums and from web publications or I can learn by credit card -- buying tons of stuff and trying it. Since my bike budget rules out the latter, I'm stuck with forums. In fact, the level of cycling around here is such that 4 months of cycling and working on my bike led to the LBS to recommend that my neighbors kids get help from
me. Kinda the one-eyed leading the blind.