Originally Posted by
T-Mar
We are talking entry level bicycles being purchased by teenagers and twenty-somethings, whose previous cycling experience were probably hi-risers or middleweights. They wouldn't know the difference between a lively and dead handling frame. Bicycle selection was largely a matter of base instincts, what little they'd read and the opinions of their friends. The bling effect has a huge influence on the uneducated consumer, regardless of the product. So yes, things like shiny paint, the amount of chrome and the decal style had a very big impact in this market segment.
Wait a minute. I resemble that remark!! Just because I bought a Raleigh Record with the shiny chrome rims instead of that expensive bike with the dull silver rims doesn't mean I didn't know what I was doing. My girlfriend (at that time) rode a Dunelt 3 speed, so I knew that English bikes had to be better than those cheap Japanese bikes
. And the American Schwinn bikes (Varsity) were heavier (well that part was true), which made them more difficult to get into my car (great reasoning). So forget that. Yes Sir I knew a lot about bikes!
Many, many Years later I joined bike forums, picked up a vintage Ross Signature with 700 C rims, within traveling only one block I had a "revelation" about road bikes and realized how bad that Raleigh was. Good thing they didn't have the internet and Bike Forums back in the 70's. I'd have badly embarrassed myself!