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I know Lapierre is still a desirable brand making quality bicycles (whether they exist in the middle of the barbell, not withstanding), but I looked up Raleigh's current product lineup on their website, and my how the mighty have fallen. It wasn't that long ago that everyone I knew had a Raleigh Furley for commuting or riding cyclocross, but now Raleigh is just generic mass-market Walmart bikes with the Raleigh label slapped on them. Ironically the Union Jack flag is still flying proudly all over the website, even though these bikes have as much to do with the UK as...

this is the kind of content we're here for

My megapost on Fox Factory is up. One fun side quest I took in this one was trying to show how/why interest rates matter so much, and even built a little calculator everyone can play with. TL;DR, when the discount rate goes up, future earnings goes down and the TAM is sort of eaten, the stock price tanks. https://jeffbrines.substack.com/p/how-fox-factory-lost-a-decade?r=cfzd9…

This is what worries me. I get the technical benefits of putting a kid on an ebike, but at the same time they're going to see that you don't need to put in the effort to get to the top. Just another shortcut in life that's so popular these days. Maybe if you could limit it to a certain level and not have any assist levels, only on or off, but it will still be a pain when they go to a regular bike. Which they will have to if they want to race for example. IMO it's too much...

Besides being one of the last racers to compete in cross-country and downhill on the same weekend, he’s the last one to podium both events... Won the 1991 XC World Championship, then took silver in DH. Ciocco, Italy

Young un's. 😀 He's one of the original legends. Think Gary Fisher, Bontrager et al. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/the-legacy-of-john-tomac-in-cycling-histo… I have no idea if Tomac is still involved in the Tomac brand but there's a lot of nostalgia around the name.

Dammit dude we’re trying to be all tech here!

Lol these did not catch enough heat when they were around

Same same

In the economics thread didn't we conclude Specialized is moving away from apparel l?

So from 1 to 10?

I have not finished the latest Escape Collective industry special, but I thought it was interesting that when talking about growth sectors the higher-up at QBP stated that MTB was not one of them (despite road also getting the nod for growth). They stated something akin to 'progress has stalled' which is interesting given incoming 32" bikes (which Salsa/QBP already sells). E-bikes were an area for growth but mostly down to the electric technology, not really the bikes themselves. I think we've heard this a few times in the forum, but interesting to hear someone at one of the bigger...

I do not disagree that income inequality, housing costs, weak local economies, and the erosion of discretionary spending make it harder to sell expensive recreational products. I have been making that argument for a while, and it fits directly into the “barbell hypothesis.” That said, invoking homelessness, smartphone addiction, Strava, cul-de-sacs, and the broader failures of capitalism does not demonstrate that independent bike shops are unbankable or that cycling culture is broadly collapsing. This conversation has taken a relatively narrow discussion about dealer economics and expanded it into a sweeping cultural diagnosis that is difficult to respond to directly, though...

One other issue for Trek... Giant makes a good number of bikes for Trek... And there are now reports that the Giant situation may not be cleared up for months..

Not that it matters much but why would someone downvote you? 🤷‍♂️

arguing about gearbox shifting sucks. Take it to a new thread please.