Our Sport Has Been Hijacked: it's your fault V-Only Mondays

[Too Tall]

Resist the urge to label what I'm laying down. I'll start with "every thing you thought was cool will become passe only to become the next rage many years later".

Have you been swayed by the monster that is marketing or do you claim to be that unique flower unblemished by corporate influence and tribal lust. Heh yeah sure I'm laying on thick, guilty.

[Jonathan]

I'll admit to studying endlessly all the BMX magazines as early as 1978. I thought money equaled speed. I guess that is why as an adult I have a strong aversion to performance marketing. I fell for it as a kid, then I grew out of it.

[edoz]

I am feelin that. Big wheels were the rage, then smaller wheels, now wider wheels and front derailleurs are suddenly horribly problematic and need to be done away with.
In 6 more years tuey will be selling 26" wheels and triples again to solve all the problems with 1x15 drivetrains that will also be the solution to all the problems when they sell us those.
Don't even get me started on coffee/booze. I get more peer pressure to drink now than when I was in high school:(

[Tamu8104]

Aren't we all guilty here? Can you live in today's society uninfluenced by marketing? Whether that marketing is focused on the masses or if that marketing is touting it's lack of marketing, we are all influenced to a degree. I for one in spite of my non-commercialism words can admit that I'm influenced and swayed.

[steve garro]

Allot of it is people looking for affirmation in their own choices among perceived peers, or seeking acceptance through similar material possessions rather then mental similarities.

"Isn't my new ****** so cool.......isn't it?"


I like people who ride what they want.

- Garro.

[s_curran]

One of the best things about cycling is that once you are riding, none of it actually matters. I get swayed by the monster all the time when I'm off the bike, but the more I ride, the less I care, and the less I buy out of vanity.

[Too Tall]

One of the best things about cycling is that once you are riding, none of it actually matters. I get swayed by the monster all the time when I'm off the bike, but the more I ride, the less I care, and the less I buy out of vanity.

Oh sure, throwing a leg over the top tube is a large does of STFU generally speaking so to speak.

Bill Gatesism >>> You can't fight city hall
Vsalonism >>> I'd rather than fight

We all are nicer people when we are on the bike.

[Dallas Tex]

Marketing has to create some sort of tangible excuse to convince folks to replace their perfectly good 2014 Trekalized SuperMambo with the new 2017 SuperMambo 2.

The SuperMambo was better than the Mambo because it had more gears. The new SuperMambo 2 is better because it has fewer gears.

Clothing fashion will pick a 'hot' color every year. It's not the hot color because it's better, it's the hot color because it's newer.

[theflashunc]

The fads are the sport, to some degree, always have been. May be coming faster and thicker these days, but they're still fads.

I'm of the mind that everyone tends to gravitate towards what was cool when you were 15-16. I'm drawn to those bikes from the mid 90s. (US National Team GT Triple Triangle frame? Clean-up on aisle 5.)

What transcends fads to lasting style? Man, I'm not the tastemaker to ask.

[Matthew Strongin]

I'm pretty ambivalent about marketing and the push for the latest and greatest. I'm a bike nerd and that means, sometimes at least, geeking out on all the new stuff, even if it's largely bullshit. It still beats all the other bullshit that gets marketed to us. New fashion, new technology, new politicians, new fad diets, etc., etc...everywhere you look someone is trying to sell you something. At least with bikes it's something I have an interest in and enough expertise to actually suss out the stuff that matters from the stuff that doesn't. On the flip side, it drives me nuts when I ride around and see tons of people on ill-fitting uber bikes that have no idea the actual riding part of being a cyclist could be so much better for them if they pointed their spending in a different direction. I guess I hate being marketed to, but I love buying cool new shit (even if it's been marketed at me).

We all are nicer people when we are on the bike.

And down here, with the explosion of cycling and expansion of hyper competitive group rides, I know countless people that are all much nicer OFF the bike.

[lumpy]

What transcends fads to lasting style?

Lots and lots of miles, a fluid pedal stroke, and riding in a straight line do it for me. You know the lifers when you see them.

[David Tollefson]

Even this here forum is rife with marketing. Builders market themselves and their wares, customers add their own marketing in ride reports and photo threads.

But I see that as a bit of a different beast: they're not marketing so much to convince you that the product is The Next Thing, but to sell you on yourself, that your idea of riding is right, whatever that is. And it's worth it.

Silca, Boyd...

Even you, TT, are marketing your own product here (NFS). But, again, there's a difference -- the shit works, and with a marked improvement.

Marketing is not wrong. That's how products are sold. But there's a line that one shouldn't cross, and companies sometimes either can't see it, or just don't care. That line doesn't really have a name, and is really difficult to describe. So, like porn, we can't describe it, but we know it when we see it.

[BSUdude]

"Marketing" takes on a lot of forms...I didn't think handmade bike frames were cool until I started hanging around here.

[Tamu8104]

And down here, with the explosion of cycling and expansion of hyper competitive group rides, I know countless people that are all much nicer OFF the bike.

I have a similar perception of the current bike environment here. Felt like riding with people yesterday so decided on a whim to drop by a local shop. 10 minutes of standing around listening to the pre-ride conversation and I decided to go ride solo. Not in the mood for cycling machismo.

[jmgorman]

What transcends fads to lasting style?

Maybe the sight of the best athletes in the world trying to find that line between too fast and dropped on an unpredictable downhill? I watched two races this weekend where I don't know who was riding what and I don't care-- I know who showed up to ride. Is that your lasting style?

[nash]

Being conscious of the affect is a step in the right direction, as with everything. Swim with the current, against it, or get in and out at times maybe...

Personally I try to abide by an idea of purpose and use. If it serves enough of a purpose then it is worth doing. At what cost? how much purpose is enough? I have my answers as do we all!

[lumpy]

I don't mind being marketed to, I know commerce has always been the lifeblood of the sport, and I like the way the sport is going in many ways (wider tires, wider gear ranges). But I do get annoyed when it's heavy handed. I want my disbelief to stay suspended.

[dashDustin]

I have a similar perception of the current bike environment here. Felt like riding with people yesterday so decided on a whim to drop by a local shop. 10 minutes of standing around listening to the pre-ride conversation and I decided to go ride solo. Not in the mood for cycling machismo.

hahahaha

that was a HUGE turn-off for me, and a big shocker when I moved down here.

[Too Tall]

Say it out loud. Dear (insert offensive mfg of choice) go #$%^ yourself, I'm not buying it.

Reluctant acceptance of the inevitable seems to be a fall back position for some of us. With luck, this can take years before becoming reality.

Where is Zappa now when he's needed?

Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.
If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library.
The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.
Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read.
Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff.
Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST.
There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another.
Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.

[nash]

I'll have some of what he's having.