Something from the "Free rein or hobbled?" department, EBM with an important reality check, and, yeah, greenwashing is a thing you need to know about...
Here's something from Rivendell Bicycle Works that popped into my inbox recently and caught my attention.
Be proud of your tech-immune bike
I've fixed enough on my own bikes, low maintenance though they may be, that I consider myself a bike-saavy person. I'm no Leonard Zinn or Mark Abele, but I'm competent working on Rivendells or like bikes. I don't dread creaks or feel helpless when it's time to replace cassettes.
I do feel helpless though when we get the odd walk-in with a problem on an e-bike that isn't cut-n-dry obvious. Luckily we don't have to work on outside bikes, but jeez, I don't envy the people that do. Looking through bikerumor.com has the same effect. I feel out of the loop and bike-dumb. What's all this with spacing? Boost? There's new disc brake mounting standards? Leaf springs? Anti-squat? Not to mention e-bikes, where the tech moves so quickly even motors from last year are antiquated.
Maybe all that stuff has a place, but the tech-immune bike should be everyone's first choice. They're resistant to, and definitely don't require, the "latest and greatest", and they're unaffected by changes in standards. Tech immune bikes and components won't end up in landfill because the technology has improved (or maybe just lateraled) 3000 percent.
Our bikes are tech immune. The frames, as beautiful and as detail-oriented as they are, are super strong and will last 50 years, easily. We don't make frames to ride a couple of seasons and replace; that's a waste. The types of parts that go on Rivendells have been around for decades, can be installed and worked on by any bike rider, and are durable and reasonably priced. Any bike shop mechanic will be relieved to take a break from overhauling suspension forks to work on your Riv. Our components will only get better and comparatively less expensive, and Riv-riders can ignore all the way too pricey stuff manufacturers are churning out these days. Lucky us!
-will
Whether sailboat or bike, tech-immune makes all kinds of sense.
Listening to some ABBA covers
So it goes...
