Re: unabashed plug, Crumpton

On May 9, 4:03=A0pm, Chalo <chalo.col...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> dustoyevsky wrote:
>
> > Just as a side note, I was talking to Nick on a ride a week or so ago,
> > IRT stay length and room between the chainstays for "wider" tires,
> > since I'd noticed that one of his customer bikes had a whole lot more
> > "tire clearance" just aft of the BB than his personal ride. The brake
> > bridge on the customer bike was quite a bit higher, also. How about
> > that, a well-regarded custom CF builder leaving room for 25mm tires,
> > mud, and out-of-true wheels? There's some progress for you! <g>
>
> Now that is a good thing. =A0I wonder how he managed it with prefab stay
> units?

He's good. Wins shoot-outs and awards and stuff for his work.

>=A0Now I find myself in Joe's position, thinking in
> regard to Nick's bikes "why bother, when you could buy almost the same
> thing on eBay for less than the cost of materials?"

You'd have to ride and compare and be honest with yourself.

> I guess it's like curly lugs. =A0I don't mind curly lugs, but I'll be
> damned before I'll spend a fortune and years on a waiting list to get
> a bike whose only real distinction is curly lugs. =A0Still, there are
> folks who do go to absurd lengths to get curly lugs (and the maker's
> mark thereof).

Curly lugs, I don't care too much but for those who do, more power.
Not a waste in my book.
>
> As for me, I don't opt in to being choosy. =A0I can either be choosy, or
> I can give up cycling, or I can hurt myself. =A0If I were 5'10" and 150
> lbs., and every manufacturer of every bike-related thing in the entire
> world made something that would work just fine for me, I suppose I
> might get distracted by minutiae. =A0But to my eyes, every bike with
> 73.5 degree angles, short stays, plastic forks, too few spokes and too
> little tire clearance is so interchangeable with all the others as to
> become invisible. =A0They all make me say "meh". =A0I wouldn't know how
to=

> pick from among them except by weight and price.

You're not picking from among them in the first place. My secondhand
Litespeed Catalyst, with 73.5's, short stays, carbon fiber fork, 32/36
spokes (unless I put the Shamals or the Trispoke on) works just fine
for me. Tire clearance isn't vast but it works with a 25-ish tire on
the back, handles very well, rides a little stiff but OK as I'm not
doing the 140-mile days of my relative youth. If I were carrying loads
or other people, well duh, I wouldn't use that bike in the first
place. So lighten up on the sour grapes already, OK?  --D-y