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Now go ride your bike dammit
By Sarah Hansing
Hitting up Utah slickrock for Afterbike on an aluminum frame and 26″ wheels. *gasp* Not that the latest and greatest wouldn’t be awesome! Just make sure bike envy doesn’t bum out your ride.
Interbike.
Now that weโve gotten that out of the way, maybe we can all unwind and relax a little.
The massive industry trade show on the Vegas stripย can be overwhelming โ both for those of us who end up there, and for those of us who canโt seem to refresh the feeds fast enough so that we can be up to date about and privy to the latest and greatest things the cycling world has ever known.
Because of course, THIS year is the year of the best, most innovative and ingenious frames, components, performance cycling wear, lights and nutrition. Pretty much gonna revolutionize the cycling industry. Pretty much nothing will ever be as good again. Pretty much, if you donโt get on the waiting list to buy these absolute necessities, you may as well just say goodbye to cycling.
You obviously donโt understand the severity of the situation, should you choose to continue down your path to obsolescence.
Sooooโฆ
Do I soundย a bit sarcastic? The thing is, Iโve been in this industry for going on 20 years now. And although I have seen quite a lot of legitimate, amazing improvements to bicyclesโฆ
…I simply donโt feel that anyone should feel shameย for just riding their bike.
That isnโt to say that maybe, just maybe, a person who has been riding for years and years might really appreciate how far technology and design have come.
But that doesnโt mean they might still really love the ride of their old skool rigid Bontrager of Santa Cruz steel mountain bike.
I like to think that bikes are a wonderfully unifying element in society โ pay as much or as littleโฆ youโre still going to pedal.
So I suppose my advice is that before you start sneering at your bike (which two years ago you were madly in love with), just go ride it. Think about upgrades, think about a new bike, think about whatever keeps you stoked. And get ’em when you can.
Just don’t worry too much about keeping up with the Joneses.
Ride your bike. And love it.
โFat Tire Tuesday columnist Sarah Hansingย has been slinging wrenches as a pro bike mechanic for 15 years (with the exception of a one year stint working for Trek Bicycles in Wisconsin.)ย Epicenter Cycling scooped her up as their lead mechanic and the shop’s crewย plans to โkeep her forever. Sarah loves riding singletโrack, wrenchingย on bikes, and hanging out with her jerk-face but adorable cat Harlan. (Who is a jerk.)
