kennethr@sri-unix (07/20/82)
A couple of weeks ago I asked people what bicycle they'd buy if
they could afford pretty much anything. I was swamped with replies,
most of which were requests to print what I learned. What I learned
was this:
1. Don't start looking for a bicycle until you come to terms with
what kind of rider you are or are trying to become. Anybody
can tell you to buy a Klein frame with Campagnolo parts, and
they'd be damn close to recommending one of 2 or 3 best bicycles
in the world, but that's an appropriate selection for a very
small subset of the bicycling community.
2. Trek frames have a fairly large, vociferous following on the net.
Apparently Ralph Trek or whoever is responsible for these frames
has some satisfied customers.
3. Several people recommended Campagnolo parts to round out a nice
frame, but they invariably commented that anything labelled
"Campagnolo" on the bicycle increases the risk of theft, unless
the owner takes some extra precautions. Whether this is true
in the sweepingly general form presented here I will leave to your
greater judgement. Please don't write me to say "I have Campy
parts and I don't lock my bicycle up and they have never been
swiped so there, nyahh, nyahh." I will turn a scornfully deaf ear.
4. One person wrote to tell me about the Specialized Stumpjumper.
I don't want to bog this down with the discussion of a single bicycle,
but I rode it and it is a really neat bike. Those of you in
the market for a touring bike might want to give the Stumpjumper
a test ride. If it won't go anywhere you want it to, it's because
you're too wimpy to take it there.
5. The best advice I got was to forget asking what other people thought
and get off my ass and start finding what *I* like in a bicycle.
So I decided to get married so I can ride my fiancee's Avocet-equipped
Trek whenever I want, and buy a Hobie Cat instead of a bicycle.
Ken Rhodes
Tektronix Inc.
tekmdp!azure!kennethr to those of you who'd rather think a
machine wrote this.