Originally Posted by
Phil_gretz
Way back when I was tentatively learning about bikes, there were fewer options. You could hang out at a bike shop and ask a lot of questions, which depended entirely on the personalities of the shop and the person asking. Or you could read bicycling magazines, and those contained quite a bit of new product information. Then there were books that usually focused on introductory maintenance, basics of bike types, gearing, and the like.
I did all three. With a passion. I also had a group of riding friends who were gaining experience about what worked and what didn't. We weren't technical or "inside the industry", but we were observant and learning the rudiments of day-to-day operations on our particular bikes, a great teacher. It was during the boom. There was a lot to see and a ton to know.
Fast forward three generations - and here we are, on a web discussion board. Folks wander in and ask questions. Some folks have been hanging around the bike shop a long time. They/we swap parts, frames, stories and the like. Other folks stay in the shop, too. These folks often repeat themselves. Their take on things is at times askew, maybe influenced by their particular experiences and (to some degree) their mental state. Only the moderators can decide whether to kick them out of the shop or not.
I too did what you say you did. I got back into biking in the early 80s when my two oldest sons started to bike. I love books and one of my book cases has a whole row of cycling books going back into the 80s. I was subscribed to Bicycling back then too, when it actually had a wealth of information. Additional during the 80s cycling kind of reached a zenith with lots of bike racing, and the Coors Classic, and a whole list of famous cyclist whos names almost everyone knew. Then too there was the 84 Olympics which raised the awareness of cycling. In the 80s we got click shifting, and clipless pedals. And at the same time we got down tube shifting and some of the most beautiful lugged frame bikes that were ever made.
So some of us old guys are pretty well steeped in many subjects of cycling. We learned, and now a lot of new people want to learn too. Lets -------------be nice------------and share our knowledge when they ask questions, even questions some think they shouldnt be asking.