No Lycra
 

Does he say anything about Lycra? I skimmed through some of the video and looked at the chapter labels; nothing about Lycra in the parts that I looked at.

I was a bit embarrassed for him in his discussion of "standards." He apparently doesn't know about the period when bikes came in a variety of threading standards (British, French, Italian, Swiss, Whitworth), front and rear over-locknut dimensions, bottom bracket widths, etc.

Speaking of Lycra:

Grant Petersen once conducted an interview with Maynard Hershon, a longtime writer, particularly about bicycles and motorcycles, and one of Grant's mentors, in which he asked what Hershon considered the most important innovation in the world of bicycles in recent decades. Hershon immediately replied, "Lycra shorts."

Grant said, "You must not have tried a pair of Kucharik wool shorts. They're wonderful."

Some backing-and-forthing ensued, ending with:

Grant: "You really need to try the Kucharik shorts. I'll send you a pair."

Maynard: "I love you, Grant. Please don't send me any wool shorts."

No, he doesn't mention Lycra, either as something to miss, or as something to NOT miss.

As for standards, national standards were replaced (or absorbed by) international standards. The point is that there ARE standards, but they are often not followed by manufacturers today, and so will likely present problems down the road.

I have a pair of wool shorts. I only wear them for Eroica and Cino type events - as the kids say, it's "cosplay." They're not really bad, but washing them is a pain in the butt compared to lycra with synthetic chamois. They tend to sag by the end of a long ride. I switched to lycra over 4 decades ago and never looked back.

Pretty sure 'Lycra' alluded to a recent (un)popular thread. Well-placed troll imo.

I've watched this video before, and while it's true that he's not a fanatic like us here and does get a few things incorrect, it's generally on point.

I do wonder who was the first marketer to start disemminating the annoying white lie about disc brakes allowing larger tires where rim brakes cannot. It has proven to be extremely persuasive/pervasive in the cycling community.

Given that clear and unassailable logic, why has the sport has completely abandoned these so called comfortable frames from days of yore. As prices for vintage examples of bicycles continue to drop yet top tier mechanical watches, cameras and audiophile equipment prices are still climbing also needs explanation if these vintage bicycles products are so superior.

Still trolling I see. Nice! You gotta be you. :)

Sorry, Atlas Shrugged , could you clarify, are you saying that the fact that vintage mechanical watches, film cameras, and audiophile equipment continue to climb in price as proof of their objective quality versus modern stuff? And that since the price of vintage bikes are dropping they aren't matching the same quality as modern bikes?

If so...come now, you're losing your touch, I've seen you troll much better before.

Come on, another Lycra thread so soon after the last gong show and throw in the unsolicited and off topic long disproven worn out trope of vintage steel comfort. I couldn’t help myself.

Get out there have some fun and enjoy the weekend!

I have a pair of Ibex wool shorts with a modern pad. They are quite nice, too bad they went belly up.

35 and raining here. Ain't gonna happen. :(

I have a pair of Ibex wool knickers, they were my go-to winter shorts, but I wear lycra underneath. They're falling apart. Meanwhile, the Plumline knickers I have from when I was a sales rep in the 80's are still working quite well. They're made of Cordura lycra, tough stuff.

lI don't buy that. I have ridden plenty of comfortable crabon bikes. And I have a steel bike that comes in at 7.0kg and it easily can get to UCI 6.9.

In spite of being a dyed-in-the-wool lycra guy I have a pair of Ibex knickers and like them a lot, a world of difference from the wool shorts I wore in the seventies. I never felt the need for lycra under them. Maybe I'm just callous.

On a related note a letter to the editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, back in the days when we wore black wool shorts, black wool arm warmers, and black wool leg warmers, asked "who are these people riding around town in black pajamas?"
Brent

A whole lot to agree with in that video. :thumb:

It was supposed to be a joke.

Clearly, I should have known better.

Wet and sorta nasty here in NorCal this AM. Looks like the market run today will be on the low pressure fat tire Fantom CX. With denim over the lycra JIC