mats@dual.UUCP (Mats Wichmann) (05/27/84)
Okay, I just had my button pushed. Buying cars, buying bikes. They ARE
similar. When buying either, you DO have to content with lying salesmen.
There are good salesmen - don't get me wrong. But they are VERY rare,
just like good people in any field (maybe more so, in this case). Really,
you have to go out and do some work, determine what you really want,
and look for EXACTLY that. In some cases (for bikes, that is), you have
to build it yourself.
I didn't ride for many years - my parents never let me (too dangerous).
When I finally could make my own decision and had the bucks, I bought
a medium-level Centurion - I had already done some research, and found
out I wanted decent pedals, toeclips, and the GODDAMN (sorry, those of you
who are sensitive) cheater brake levers off. This bike served me well for
a while, while I learned to ride, but I soon started feeling like it was
not all that well balanced. I bought an old Atala with Campy parts from
a local bikie selling it for a friend, got hold of Glenn's repair book
and put it into shape. This was a big improvement. Next iteration, after
selling off the Atala, I got parts at various places - a short set
of Galli (what, never heard of them???) components - a local racer had
bought them, used the headset, then won a lot of parts at races and
never used the other parts - these were CHEAP. I built my own wheels,
bought a Guercotti frame mail-order (again for cheap - it didn't have
the name-brand Columbus tubing), and it just happened to come with a
headset installed, and I have been riding this bike ever since!!!
Okay, what's the point? Well, unless you buy a proven racing bike with
Campy parts, the one way you know FOR SURE what you are getting, you
have to do a lot of work to find out just what it is you need for your
use of the bike, and then go out and find it. It's out there somewhere,
may be the local bike shop, may be mal order, may be from someone selling
off a used bike, whatever; but if you take the time to research what
you need (and this net is not a bad place to start), then you will have
to deal with bunches of salesmen, who have a job to do that may not
agree with what you need - they have to sell what is in their stock,
rather than what you want. This even goes for the shop manned by the
local bikies (one in every town, right?) - even they have to earn their
bread, or they won't be trying out for the Olympics....
I think I have rambled enough. Please remember, though, if you are looking
for a new bike, this net is here to help, and a few well-placed queries
can really help you get what you want. So can local bike clubs. Bikers
seem, as a whole, to be a pretty friendly group (notice how often folks
you meet riding will say `Hi', while the runners ignore you???).
Mats Wichmann
Dual Systems Corp.
...{ucbvax,amd70,ihnp4,cbosgd,decwrl,fortune}!dual!mats