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postscript: kent p
Kent left a little while ago, after a VERY early morning of breakfast and quiet talk.
Some things that came out of the conversation, in no particular order:
1. When trying to educate someone else about other ways to do things that might be better, never begin the sentence with either of these phrases:
a. "You're doing it all wrong." The fastest way to turn off their ears.
b. "It's easy." Well, okay. For YOU it's easy, but for them just thinking about a
different approach might require a quantum leap in thinking. (This is a
reiteration of a point my wise sister made several years ago along similar lines.)
2. The upside of Thoreau's "Walden" was that it promoted a degree of self-sufficiency and the idea that one COULD live with less material comfort and still be quite happy and fulfilled. The downside of Thoreau's missive was the codifying of the ideal of every American having his/her five acres of wide open space. We're still paying for that mindset today, and if you don't believe me, look at every city that hasn't a clue about how to control sprawl.
2a. Climate and topography greatly influence the development of infrastructure, especially for bicyclists and pedestrians. (Look at Portland. Now look at Seattle. Given the choice, which town would YOU rather ride a bicycle in? Mount Tabor is merely a quasi-volcanic lump in the road. Queen Anne Hill is the real deal.) But planning also plays a role. Portland developed its "2010 Vision" thirty years ago, mindful that its climate and topography would attract people and generate growth. Portland's leaders decided to plan for that growth as much as possible and include bikes, walkers and transit users in the big picture. Portland is now working on a "2040 Vision" that will continue to manage growth in a sensible and sane way.
3. Fancy bikes that show fine craftsmanship and art are beautiful. But they're not absolutely necessary for a pleasurable experience of riding a bicycle. This was proven beautifully by Kent's bike, which he got for around twenty dollars:
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2007/04/t
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2007/04/2
This is the same bike he's riding around Washington this month. It was right at home with my Peugeot, which I rode around while tour-guiding Kent yesterday.
4. Fancy bikes are cool, but unfortunately they make people think that they need to spend a bunch of money in order to (pick one): commute; race; transport cargo/kids; tour; etc. The beauty of Kent's twenty-dollar bike is that it reaffirms two ideas:
a. Any merely decent bike can be made to work well enough to get you from place
to place. (If you want to race, you WILL have to spend more. But if all you want to
do is go for a bike ride, you can do that on almost anything with two or three
wheels, a seat and handlebars).
b. It's the engine that makes a machine go. Kent is an extremely efficient engine
and he can make any bike move forward. (But hey, kids! The secret is that, given
enough time and safe places to ride, most of us are fairly efficient engines and
we can make bikes go, too.)
Kent was a delightful houseguest and I had fun hanging out with him I hope he'll visit Portland again so I can show him a little more next time. As I write this he's making his way to St. Johns. From there he'll make his way back across the Columbia River into Washington. Happy pedaling, Kent.
Some things that came out of the conversation, in no particular order:
1. When trying to educate someone else about other ways to do things that might be better, never begin the sentence with either of these phrases:
a. "You're doing it all wrong." The fastest way to turn off their ears.
b. "It's easy." Well, okay. For YOU it's easy, but for them just thinking about a
different approach might require a quantum leap in thinking. (This is a
reiteration of a point my wise sister made several years ago along similar lines.)
2. The upside of Thoreau's "Walden" was that it promoted a degree of self-sufficiency and the idea that one COULD live with less material comfort and still be quite happy and fulfilled. The downside of Thoreau's missive was the codifying of the ideal of every American having his/her five acres of wide open space. We're still paying for that mindset today, and if you don't believe me, look at every city that hasn't a clue about how to control sprawl.
2a. Climate and topography greatly influence the development of infrastructure, especially for bicyclists and pedestrians. (Look at Portland. Now look at Seattle. Given the choice, which town would YOU rather ride a bicycle in? Mount Tabor is merely a quasi-volcanic lump in the road. Queen Anne Hill is the real deal.) But planning also plays a role. Portland developed its "2010 Vision" thirty years ago, mindful that its climate and topography would attract people and generate growth. Portland's leaders decided to plan for that growth as much as possible and include bikes, walkers and transit users in the big picture. Portland is now working on a "2040 Vision" that will continue to manage growth in a sensible and sane way.
3. Fancy bikes that show fine craftsmanship and art are beautiful. But they're not absolutely necessary for a pleasurable experience of riding a bicycle. This was proven beautifully by Kent's bike, which he got for around twenty dollars:
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2007/04/t
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2007/04/2
This is the same bike he's riding around Washington this month. It was right at home with my Peugeot, which I rode around while tour-guiding Kent yesterday.
4. Fancy bikes are cool, but unfortunately they make people think that they need to spend a bunch of money in order to (pick one): commute; race; transport cargo/kids; tour; etc. The beauty of Kent's twenty-dollar bike is that it reaffirms two ideas:
a. Any merely decent bike can be made to work well enough to get you from place
to place. (If you want to race, you WILL have to spend more. But if all you want to
do is go for a bike ride, you can do that on almost anything with two or three
wheels, a seat and handlebars).
b. It's the engine that makes a machine go. Kent is an extremely efficient engine
and he can make any bike move forward. (But hey, kids! The secret is that, given
enough time and safe places to ride, most of us are fairly efficient engines and
we can make bikes go, too.)
Kent was a delightful houseguest and I had fun hanging out with him I hope he'll visit Portland again so I can show him a little more next time. As I write this he's making his way to St. Johns. From there he'll make his way back across the Columbia River into Washington. Happy pedaling, Kent.
(Anonymous)
Practical Bicycling
Your blog and Kent's blog are so refreshingly practical about bicycling, they are a joy to read (as compared to "Buy-cycling" magazine, which goes directly into the recycling bin these days).
I thought that the 650b wheel movement had some "cult" aspects to it - maybe it's technical superior in some way, but with two adjacent wheel sizes (26" & 700C) and established supply chains, I believe it may be fixing something that ain't broke.
There's something to be said for streamlining down to simplicity when you own several bicycles - I've managed to get it all down to 20" Presta tubes and 26" Schraeder tubes for my fleet (1 MTB, 2 cargo bikes, and 1 folding bike).
Keep up the great blogging.
Yours,
Eric
Bicycle commuter in Silicon Valley,
South San Francisco Bay Area
Re: Practical Bicycling
One thing I found hard to reconclie during the testing phase was the fact that this frame was being marketed as a "do-everything, all around" bike, yet it was being aggressively marketed to riders with money, storage space and not a little fetishism about their bikes -- and their bike culture. I was testing the bike as though a typical customer might buy it and biuld it up, and my typical customer is NOT a bike fetishist. I made it a point to build my bike up with a mix of new and used parts, just as one of my customers might; the resulting bike rode well enough, though not creamy-dreamy -- and that was the point. So that might explain why the difference in ride quality wasn't strong enough for me to consider 650b a viable "third way".
Bias duly admitted. Thanks again.