I followed w/ interest, the post's of mixing different tubing in one
frame, and of , "Fat pampered American's" (although I have yet to see a
American rider in Pampers).
There is reference to cultural differences in what is ridden and what is
considered "best" or "affordable" . Aren't these terms arbitrary?;
snip,
I don't see
> why that is any reason not to ride the best bike I can afford, if
that's
> where my interest lies.
I wonder what people would ride (consider best) if there were no decals, badges or other identifying marks on a bike? The many variations that won bike races should show there is no "best" .Heck, bikes have been disguised to look like another brand for the sponsor as far back as I remember.
In Germany, it is (was?) common for the factory to omit the model plate
from the rear of a Mercedes Benz , at the buyers request, so it could
not be identified by a simple glance. This was a status symbol .This
flies in the face of the American status seeker who at the extreme end
will plate those badges in gold, or worse, use a higher end badge on a
lower model, for status. Or ,as has been pointed out in numerous
outings, in the bike world, for fraud.
>I generally leave the tubing stickers off of my frames, even when the
tubeset is all the same.
To my eye most tubing stickers are like bad lipstick. They often clash
with the overall scheme
of the bike and distract from the beauty of the piece like the wrong
color lipwear distracts
from the charm of a natural beauty.
Maybe this is why nude beaches are not as popular in America as in
Europe, no place to hang a logo.
>Honestly, who made the bike and how is far more important
than which brand of tubing was used, within reason, of course.
Brian Baylis
Isn't who rides the bike just as important as who made it? If the rider was half as fine tuned as his steed the tubing decals would be less an issue than the farding, cell phone using, Pampered Mercedes driver that just about cleaned your clock , on the road, while "looking" good.
Grin factor is a gage often overlooked. How much benefit is the top end bike if you can't get out of the seat and get it flexing?
David Cowie
rambling on
Sutherlin , Oregon
37ยบ, foggy yuck