Originally Posted by
iltb-2
Whaa, Whaa, Whaa! Yep, same old tiny group of Road Warriors specifying that their bicycling niche and preferred equipment is the paragon of bicycling virtue, that any and all Real Commuters would be wise to emulate under all conditions and scenarios. And always repeating it over and over in oh-so-many threads in oh-so-many variations of the same self satisfied smugness; and always objecting when their parochialism is noted.
Gosh darling, you don't even bother to read what's there, do you? I guess not - what would be the point when you already know ahead of time what you're gonna say? You probably just copy-paste from your old posts.
I never said that I disagreed with that point of view. Quite the opposite, in fact. You'd see it if you bothered to read. What's amusing is that you always say the same old stuff. Using exact same expressions. Even if it's perfectly correct, doesn't it get a little tiresome? Don't you ever want to inject a little variety in your speeches?
Originally Posted by
iltb-2
I don't doubt such commuters could be found somewhere but I doubt if there are "a helluva lot of" them. Beat up dirt roads and commutes of 24 miles or more each way with brutal climbs? Just what percentage of bicyclists or potential cyclists do you believe regularly commute under those or similar conditions? 1/1000? 1/10,000?
If you consider the world at large, most people who ride bikes for transportation probably ride them on dirt roads. Well - a nontrivial portion of them anyhow.
Of course it is possible to alter the equation if you should choose to only consider the more righteous cyclists like yourself, and ignore all those pesky immigrants, college students, school kids etc. who cycle daily to their work or school or chosen destinations but don't fit the "Experienced Cyclist" profile.
Dude, my whole point (which you're gonna miss) is that each commute is different, and labelling one type of bike as "commuting" bike is pushing the same "I know what will work for you" philosophy that you yourself criticize. I never said that bikes of that type were a bad idea, or useless, or uncool, or "not serious", or impractical. They'll work great for a certain set of situations. However, it's silly to label them "commuting" bikes because in the majority of cases, they will not make for the best commuting vehicle (nor will any other kind of bike).
Let's consider those "pesky" immigrants (funny that I should find myself pesky, but I suppose some people do have a negative self-image; perhaps you're projecting). Do you think they (the ones you have in mind anyway - working at minimum wage jobs - BTW, don't you think you're kind of offending immigrants here and in your other posts?) will shell out five hundred to a thousand bucks for a "commuting" bike just to have fenders and a dynamo-powered light? And leave it locked outside all day. And what kind of high school kid will want to be caught riding a grandma bike - wouldn't he rather ride an impractical but "cool" BMX biek? You're just as patronizing here as those "experienced cyclists" you take so much pleasure in despising.