Bicycling
04-07-2012 | 08:24 PM
#1
Thread Starter
I'm a man of my word.
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,883
Likes: 0
From: Devil's Advocate
Bicycling
Man, I put 20 miles in on mine this morning. I was getting passed by dudes twice my age, almost thrice my age. But, in my own defense, the gears are all kinds of jacked up since I used to do a boat load of trail riding and crashed more than once. It's time to switch it up for one of them fancy road bikes, all skinny and fast and stuff. That's where paycheck number one will be going after recurrent.
Copperhed51, where's he at? I need his advice.
Copperhed51, where's he at? I need his advice.
Same here!
My crap-tastic road bike will have to be retired sometime this summer...first thing I'm going to reward myself with is a new mountain bike.
Thinking Trek this time instead of Giant.
(Definitely thinking Trek for the road because the local shop hold sale items for me.....because I'm a G)
My crap-tastic road bike will have to be retired sometime this summer...first thing I'm going to reward myself with is a new mountain bike.
Thinking Trek this time instead of Giant.
(Definitely thinking Trek for the road because the local shop hold sale items for me.....because I'm a G)
HAWAAAAAAA???????
I'm still a relative newcomer so any advice would definitely help!
I've checked out a couple FUJIs and Diamondbacks (random note....Sport Chalet out here has them...with upgrades....which was shocking) and they don't seem half bad either.
All-in-all I just don't want to make the awful choice I made back in 2008 road bike wise (won't even mention the brand out of embarrassment).
I'm still a relative newcomer so any advice would definitely help!
I've checked out a couple FUJIs and Diamondbacks (random note....Sport Chalet out here has them...with upgrades....which was shocking) and they don't seem half bad either.
All-in-all I just don't want to make the awful choice I made back in 2008 road bike wise (won't even mention the brand out of embarrassment).
Nope Specialized. They bully bike shops into taking everything they sell and to drop all their other brands. Then they sue other smaller companies for patent infringements while stealing other company's technology. Lots of bad juju...
And this is related to Trans States because...um...the management...and um...whipsaw. We should resurrect one of the bike threads. It was my life before flying.
And this is related to Trans States because...um...the management...and um...whipsaw. We should resurrect one of the bike threads. It was my life before flying.
(Note to Mods: Leave it here for a bit, por favor, so we can get some good exposure)
04-07-2012 | 08:31 PM
#3
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 204
Likes: 0
Big fan of my Specialized Allez. Good thread! Lots of the flight instructors I work with are into biking of some form. I'm still trying to crack in to the road bike thing but it's been a lot of fun. I've learned that I'm really out of shape. ...blame it on the job.
I'm laughing now but I got passed by more than one guy who looked like that this morning.
04-07-2012 | 08:39 PM
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 117
Likes: 0
From: SF34 FO
I used to have a Specialized Allez sport when I first started out. I'd love to have one now despite my dislike of the big S. Sold my bikes to pay for a couple ratings. Worth it...I think?
04-07-2012 | 08:42 PM
#7
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 4,138
Likes: 30
From: Volleyball Player
..sigh, specialized has done a lot for advocacy, supporting trails, and many other causes within cycling. Yes, they protect their work like any company would. There were a few spec. employees a while back that came up with an idea for a bike frame that was rejected by specialized, but the problem was that they came up with it using company resources and presenting it as "work" within the company. The company then owns said idea and even if they decide to not produce it, they own the rights to it. Those employees tried to start their own company producing the frame idea. Specialized goes after things like this, as would most businesses. There were some other issues with names of products, and yes some of these things sounded like they went a little too far, but again, they've done a lot of good for the cycling community.
Specialized was also partnering with Fox when Stratos was trying to sell their Inertia-Valve idea, except that Stratos tried to cover the patent under an obscure off-road motorsport patent, while Fox protected it under a cycling patent, and Stratos imploded at the same time due to many many other issues, but Fox and Specialized get some of the blame for this, despite Stratos simply being poor/inept at protecting their work. Stratos imploded around this time due to improperly machined crowns that were far thinner than they were supposed to be, seals that were out of spec due to a change in suppliers and dropping the ball, other issues that ruined the perception of the company, mishandling R&D and poor/no product development, and many many customer service aspects.
I used to work in a shop, and ANY of the big companies are just as good/bad as the next. Giant, Trek, Specialized, etc. I got lots of stories of each one of these copying or borrowing someone else's ideas and making only minor changes that are questionable from a patent point of view (patent lawyers are gold for these companies).
Specialized was also partnering with Fox when Stratos was trying to sell their Inertia-Valve idea, except that Stratos tried to cover the patent under an obscure off-road motorsport patent, while Fox protected it under a cycling patent, and Stratos imploded at the same time due to many many other issues, but Fox and Specialized get some of the blame for this, despite Stratos simply being poor/inept at protecting their work. Stratos imploded around this time due to improperly machined crowns that were far thinner than they were supposed to be, seals that were out of spec due to a change in suppliers and dropping the ball, other issues that ruined the perception of the company, mishandling R&D and poor/no product development, and many many customer service aspects.
I used to work in a shop, and ANY of the big companies are just as good/bad as the next. Giant, Trek, Specialized, etc. I got lots of stories of each one of these copying or borrowing someone else's ideas and making only minor changes that are questionable from a patent point of view (patent lawyers are gold for these companies).
04-07-2012 | 08:43 PM
#8
Thread Starter
I'm a man of my word.
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,883
Likes: 0
From: Devil's Advocate
04-07-2012 | 08:47 PM
#9
APC co-founder
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,853
Likes: 0
From: B777
I'm still riding my 2004 Trek 5500 & telling myself I'm going to race again someday. I guess a more realistic goal is not look like the guy in Hawk's post. Yikes!
04-07-2012 | 08:51 PM
#10
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 117
Likes: 0
From: SF34 FO
..sigh, specialized has done a lot for advocacy, supporting trails, and many other causes within cycling. Yes, they protect their work like any company would. There were a few spec. employees a while back that came up with an idea for a bike frame that was rejected by specialized, but the problem was that they came up with it using company resources and presenting it as "work" within the company. The company then owns said idea and even if they decide to not produce it, they own the rights to it. Those employees tried to start their own company producing the frame idea. Specialized goes after things like this, as would most businesses. There were some other issues with names of products, and yes some of these things sounded like they went a little too far, but again, they've done a lot of good for the cycling community.
Specialized was also partnering with Fox when Stratos was trying to sell their Inertia-Valve idea, except that Stratos tried to cover the patent under an obscure off-road motorsport patent, while Fox protected it under a cycling patent, and Stratos imploded at the same time due to many many other issues, but Fox and Specialized get some of the blame for this, despite Stratos simply being poor/inept at protecting their work. Stratos imploded around this time due to improperly machined crowns that were far thinner than they were supposed to be, seals that were out of spec due to a change in suppliers and dropping the ball, other issues that ruined the perception of the company, mishandling R&D and product development, and many many customer service aspects.
I used to work in a shop, and ANY of the big companies are just as good/bad as the next. Giant, Trek, Specialized, etc. I got lots of stories of each one of these copying or borrowing someone else's ideas and making only minor changes that are questionable from a patent point of view (patent lawyers are gold for these companies).
Specialized was also partnering with Fox when Stratos was trying to sell their Inertia-Valve idea, except that Stratos tried to cover the patent under an obscure off-road motorsport patent, while Fox protected it under a cycling patent, and Stratos imploded at the same time due to many many other issues, but Fox and Specialized get some of the blame for this, despite Stratos simply being poor/inept at protecting their work. Stratos imploded around this time due to improperly machined crowns that were far thinner than they were supposed to be, seals that were out of spec due to a change in suppliers and dropping the ball, other issues that ruined the perception of the company, mishandling R&D and product development, and many many customer service aspects.
I used to work in a shop, and ANY of the big companies are just as good/bad as the next. Giant, Trek, Specialized, etc. I got lots of stories of each one of these copying or borrowing someone else's ideas and making only minor changes that are questionable from a patent point of view (patent lawyers are gold for these companies).
I plan on getting this:
