Originally Posted by
chephy
Gosh darling, you don't even bother to read what's there, do you?...
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?
See
http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...5&postcount=63
Originally Posted by
chephy
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.
Dudette,
The OP was about commuter bikes offered for the North American market, not the "world at large". I again point out that I doubt that many North Americans or First World residents) are contemplating bike commuting regularly for any serious distance on mountain trails or dirt roads. I suspect that the type of commuting bikes bragged on by their proud "experienced bicyclist" owners on BF's commuting forum would be hard to find being used by commuters anywhere else but North America (and maybe the English speaking world at large that is not in Asia or Africa).
Originally Posted by
chephy
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.
Baloney, you had no problem identifying who are the Non "experienced" cyclists that I was discussing. The commuting cyclists that do not fit the profile of the BF brand "Experienced Cyclist" commuter are unlikely to be doing any shopping at the typical LBS found in the US.
Their kind, seeking basic inexpensive rides, over typical commuting/utility distances have been unwelcome at such establishments for decades. When was the last English or American brand inexpensive one or 3 speed prominently displayed or marketed at an American LBS' - the late 70's?
The OP pointed out the trend for the LBS' to at least consider offering bikes for a consumer that is not necessarily interested in bikes optimized or designed for competition (i.e comfort over speed, convenience/reliability over bling, glitz and gee whiz materials). The next step, and the big step, is for the mass marketeers of North America to offer and promote at the big box stores the equivalent of the English/Schwinn 3 speed of decades past, or an Electra Townie type bike at half the price (or less) found on less practical "commuting" bikes at the toney LBS.