Suspending Disbelief – Bike Snob NYC

Additional to yesterday’s submit, the response to Traditional Cycle Thursdays Giveaway Wednesday, Sponsored by Traditional Cycle Thursdays was whelming:

When you suppose you might have nowhere to place a motorbike you’re not attempting arduous sufficient, however the sender assured me his bathtub is already filled with bikes. I’m positive the Softride would have match properly on the fireplace escape however I didn’t press. Look, I get it, some individuals are simply in it for the fun of the hunt.

Right here, by the way in which, is the advert, which I’ve now taken down now that re-homing preparations are underway (extra on that later):

Consider it or not, I didn’t obtain a single honest supply from any unwitting Craigslist buyers. It was the one Softride on there, too, which means it was the most effective deal within the tri-state space by default–to say nothing of the entire absence of them on The Professional’s Closet:

$68 million in funding and no Softrides?

Pathetic.

There have been loads of Normcore Bikes on Craigslist although:

I suppose a few of these are repeat postings, however at first look you’ll be able to’t even inform, as a result of in the event you’ve seen one Normcore Bike you’ve seen all of them.

Additionally, in the event you have been partaking within the scavenger hunt and had by no means visited New York Metropolis Craigslist earlier than, you will have observed that individuals ask some huge cash for his or her bikes. That is for 2 causes:

1. Costs are typically inflated in New York Metropolis
2. Egos are additionally inflated. Individuals who dwell in New York Metropolis have a bloated sense of their very own significance and suppose issues are price extra for mere advantage of their having owned it

Each of those clarify why a submit asking $5,900 for an outdated Softride was not flagged instantly.

However there’s hope for the dogged discount hunter. Typically talking the asking costs lower as you progress out into the suburbs, the place they’re principally seen as storage litter versus important hipster equipment–therefore the Normcore Bike in Bronxville going for approach lower than those in Ditmas Park:

It even comes with a Zefal pump, although they weren’t fairly in a position to hit that pump peg:

Good job demonstrating the chain hanger although:

I’ve had just a few bikes with chain hangers through the years and never as soon as have I ever remembered to make use of them.

Anyway, get it now earlier than Ditmas Park grabs it, pumps up the tires, and re-lists it for $450. The truth is it’s most likely price it for the pump alone. Now that they’re being discontinued it’ll quickly be extra helpful than the bike.

And no, you’ll be able to’t get one from The Professional’s Closet:

What the hell? It’s just like the “Cheese Store” sketch from Monty Python! Do they even have any bikes price proudly owning in any respect?

Anyway, ought to the winner of the Softride decide to make use of it as a gravel bike, right here’s one one who would approve:

I do know searching for sense in a BikeRadar submit is like attempting to order a bagel at McDonald’s, however I can’t assist being shocked that there are individuals who nonetheless don’t get why the entire garvel bike factor has occurred:

Garvel bikes don’t exist regardless of the proliferation of mountain bike tech; they exist due to it. On the leisure rider stage, a gravel bike is what a mountain bike was once–a sturdy bike with wide-range gearing and clearance for knobby tires that allowed you to enterprise offroad:

Although they weren’t solely restricted to offroad use, as they typically additionally included provisions for racks and stuff like that which allowed individuals to configure them for touring, or for different extra sensible functions:

After awhile, although, the mountain bike grew to become this:

And finally what individuals name “mountain biking” went from using your bike on trails to an excessive sport primarily based on utilizing big shocks with wheels hooked up to them that loosely resemble bicycles:

However imagine it or not, regardless of what the magazines let you know, not all people who enjoys using on trails is fascinated with going up within the air whereas using a bicycle:

I imply definitely there are individuals who do wish to go up within the air, and there’s completely nothing incorrect with that, however I think far more don’t–but there’s no query in my thoughts that at a sure level mountain biking determined to go together with the path riders who wish to “ship it” and determined to disregard the many individuals preferring to “preserve it.” However the “preserve it” individuals by no means went away, and so they nonetheless needed a sporty bike you would journey on a path, or on a street to a path, and that was moderately rugged but wasn’t so sophisticated and ponderous on pavement that you just’d somewhat grasp it off the again of your truck than journey it on easy terrain:

And there’s your gravel bike:

Principally, the bike business took one thing away from individuals, and so they needed it again. So the bike business gave it to them. However the bike business being the bike business, and the bike media being individuals like the one who wrote this BikeRadar factor, they’re already taking it away once more and turning the gravel bikes again into mountain bikes:

Meaning some new sort of motorbike will finally come alongside that restores simplicity to the gravel bike, and the cycle will start anew.

The suspension gravel bike of in the present day is the Softride of tomorrow.