CritEastwood

Save your dollas and support the homeland artists in lieu of an instant gratification bike that will never ride like a great boutique frame.

Garfield Cat

Here's an article on Kent Eriksen from January of 2008

https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/articl...-eriksen-14380

robertkat

Production frames are made to fit a variable range of people of an arbitrary size and weight, generally with a multitude of compromises. A custom fab'ed frame is made to fit you and only you, and it's made to do what you and only you want it to do, to handle how you and only you want it to, without having to compromise. Often times one seeks a custom frame because they want a titanium frame, a high-end steel (often lugged) frame, or in my own situation, a production frame that meets my requirements is non-existent.

CritEastwood

Reyonlds often lugged, yes. Columbus doesn't need to be lugged because it handles the heat from TIG well.

Garfield Cat

Geometry and fit: The cervelo web site has an interesting view on this. Two sections of their site, under the engineering category and then under the "bikes for women".

https://www.cervelo.com/en_us/bikes/women/

I don't think they would agree with your "arbitrary size and weight" and "multitude of compromises".

motrheadsroadie

"can you install this bento box on my globe hybrid for me?"

robertkat

"Drop it off on Monday and hopefully we can get to it by Thursday, but we'll call you if it will take longer."

trustnoone

I read the article and it almost lost me when I read "Canadian geese" WTF is that? Geese from Canada or do the mean or Canada geese the plural of Canada goose (Branta canadensis)? I digress. A pet peeve no pun intended. Canada geese make lousy pets.


Anyway I did manage to get to the paragraphs in question. The two guys in the bike shop sounded like just that. Two guys who love bikes. Personally I think Time is the equivalent of Colnago not the other way around but hey we all have the right to be elitist about something. Were I within 500 miles of SD I would definitely buy a bike from them.

As for coming across as elitist. I bet they don't come across as elitist at all to their customers because guess what, their customers are that too. Not elitist in that they think they are better than everyone else but elitist in that they love bikes and they appreciate the quality they are spending their money on. The same way an art collector could by a Renoir print for $30 and put it in an expensive frame but would rather get the original at auction. If someone purchased an original Renoir then hung it in his bathroom or carport he could be fairly accused of having if not more money than brains at least more money than taste.

If someone is worried about the shop keeper's opinion of them and are one sales pitch away from changing their mind from Campy to Duracé to SRAM then IMO they are not ready to shop at that store. The two dudes don't worry about alienating their customers because the bike is sold long before the customer walks in and that customer is not just some window shopper out for a Saturday stroll looking for the most bang for his buck on a multi-use path hybrid. I thought they did a good job of explaining that the socioeconomic status of the customer is unimportant. They just want to sell a bike to people who are as passionate about bikes as they are. Heck, who wouldn't want to run a business with that customer in mind?

If you want condescending go down to the local Ferrari dealership and ask them why you should spend $192,000 on a California when you can buy a Ford Focus for $14,000. If the sales rep has to explain the difference between a Focus and a Ferrari to you I suspect he is going to lose interest in the sale pretty fast.

sdgrannygear

trustnoone, thanks for finally answering the original question. I agree with you that they are two guys who are very passionate about bikes, heck, they sponsor one juiced up team (no pun intended and a whole other issue we won't touch here). They obviously know their stuff. I have no problem with them selling super high end bikes for discerning people. Most of their buyers are want that exclusivity they are offering, but at the same time, it sounds like they get noobs also who go in, and have never really ridden a road bike but still wants something really nice, hence "fredding" out their bikes and making the comments about guys who can barely fit in their tights. To use your analogy I think the situation is more along the lines of if someone went into a ferrari dealership and buys a car and then the salespeople making comments about the guy overcompensating for something.

CritEastwood

That's nothing more than thinly veiled "industry" pap. If it had been written by Andy Pruitt, it would be believable because he's a neutral party, not some shill working for cervixelo.

Give me some money,

Jancouver

Pista Palace is a joke. Just look at the website. You will get the idea. Bike shop size of your living room with limited inventory. Other than few outdated Colnago frames hanging on their walls you will not fine much over there. And before you decide to see it for yourself make sure you called in advanced because business hours does not really mean much to those guys.

DaveSANYYZ

Pista Palace is (was?) the only go-to place for Colnago warranty work in SD though. I never bought anything from them, but my dealing with them via corporate Colnago was positive.