Without a doubt. But what ol' Dutret never understood--and what some of the people who fawn over him still don't understand--is that having all the knowledge isn't the same as having all the answers.

The Dute knew a great deal about the optimal way to set up a bike...for a guy like him. But other people have other criteria for what makes bike riding worthwhile. Including, but not limited to, fun. These people will cheerfully and knowingly take a minor performance hit in exchange for a bike that they can't wait to hop on to in the morning. That's their choice. The Dutrets of the world can't accept this for some reason.

Do we really know he's gone, BTW? For all I know, he could be in the Alt Bike Culture subforum right now, banging out an indignant lecture on how mechanically inefficient it is to ride bicycles consisting of dumpstered frames welded on top of each other by drunk anarcho-hessians.