Yeah but what’s the rb1 with clearance for 32s?
the RB1
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I wonder what Grant thinks about sandwiches.
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If we look back I wrote an email to grant and he said the rb1 was designed around 28s which were actually 25s
RB-T then
I guess I’m extrapolating the implication from the “don’t go to a bike shop because you’ll get sold an uncomfortable race bike you don’t want” argument. If you don’t go to a bike shop you can’t buy a reasonable hybrid either.
I don’t disagree with you on this point. But I think the arguments he uses to sell that mindset are confusing.
srsly, used (US)BMC Road
Yes.
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the most under-appreciated (and sadly discontinued) bike in Mike’s lineup
it wasn’t gonna be a bike for me but I was still disappointed when he announced he was canning plans for the 700x35 disco followup to it, i was planning to recommend it to several friends
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BUT R&E SHOULD KNOW BETTER!!!
And my know better I mean figure out how to get the right fit and also make a good looking bike.
Also grant had a lot of influence and we can see the whole gravgrav thing as basically everyone taking his best ideas and running with it. I’d like a $4000 riv bum bike but my Kona dew for $700 sure does just fine.
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i am not nearly as much of a consumer of the grant/jan stuff as most of you but here is what i find irritating.
nice thing to say: this particular product works / doesn’t work for me
grant/jan thing to say: this particular product is BETTER THAN this other product
i love a good hot take as much as the next person but excluding people or making them feel bad about their choices (or even have to justify their choices) is annoying.
i am on a cycling team. it’s mostly roadies. although they’re not really the accepting type (some boomers), they don’t care that i ride around on a canyon with 32s and they’re on tarmacs. sometimes we get into the good natured shit talking because KNOW EACH OTHER.
things someone is going to comment in response:
- grant doesn’t sell bikes he sells a lifestyle.
yes that is true, i don’t care, i find him annoying because he has to say that his stuff is better - his stuff is better for most people
i also don’t care, why not just say “my stuff is good, make your own choice” - he walked back his initial anti-chamois post
the fact that he even wrote it in the first place shows his attitude
tldr: just don’t yuck anyone else’s yum and you’ll be viewed in a more positive light
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the thing that you are all criticizing is not the man - It’s his marketing strategy.
That strategy has been arguably fairly successful in a very niche world.
bicycle marketing strategies I find damaging or distasteful:
- planned obsolescence
- unnecessary new standards
- racey looking bike styling to lure new riders
- making your bike worse to build brand identity
- selling matching neon pajamas to the DHers
- reinforcing the idea that they guy who spends the most wins
- bike ads that feature a truck more prominently than the bike
- brand exclusive standards
- eXtreme anything
- skidding videos
- rebranding
- convincing the world that riding on a dirt road is a lifestyle choice
- novelty for it’s own sake
bicycle marketing strategies that I find fairly innocuous:
- a couple of old white guys selling boutique parts out of their garages being grouchy on the internet
- creating a market for silver components
and just to beat a dead horse. the point of online marketing is to increase engagement. it doesn’t really matter whether that engagement is positive or negative.
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wondering if everyone gets this upset when the guy at the smoke shop says grape swishers put holes in your brain or that the filter on a black n mild is the “cancer part”
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exactly, I’m sure all the people who sell organic food would sell more if they were like “processed food is cool too”
Grant’s not a bike shop. He sells a specific yum to people who find something else yucky.
It’s not a zero sum game. If Grant convinces someone they don’t need a chammy, some roadie doesn’t give up and quit.
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I love this thread
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Seriously, good luck finding a consumer product which is marketed like “We’re good but everything else is good too”
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this is not what i said. there’s a huge difference between “we’re good and everything else is good too”
and
“we’re good”
and then there’s
“we’re good because they suck” which is the one that annoys me
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everything else isn’t good tho
the only thing I’ve learned from this thread is that @jame5on is a grant sockpuppet
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