Bikes!

[glatt]

It's interesting, because I was trying to figure out just WTF GMC bikes is. I had seen this GMC bike referred to as a Kent in other locations. The deal is that Kent bikes sells bikes under its own name, and also licenses the names of Jeep, GMC, Razor, Cadillac, and Little Miss Match. They import their bikes from all over the world, but many of them come from China, produced by Shanghai General Sports Co., Ltd.

[Griff]

Yeah, 27 got replaced by 700c back in the nineties on road bikes plus a smaller 650C? size for women's bikes. It became a pain to get 27 tires but when I bought my last touring bike I switched over. Mountain bikes are in upheaval right now wheel wise. 26 was the standard, then they pushed 29s, then 27.5 (650B), and some super wide stuff. They seem to want to maintain them all at this point but I have noticed a reduction in choice for 26". Mountain bikes always seem to be rushing to the next great thing hence my stash of old XT parts. I can't begin to predict if any standard will emerge.

[glatt]

Have you tried one of the fat tire bikes? They look like they would bounce over any little bumps but would be a little soft in the turns.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by glatt

Have you tried one of the fat tire bikes? They look like they would bounce over any little bumps but would be a little soft in the turns.

I swapped bikes with a fellow traveler for a short run on one of those. The tires soak up most everything so it is a cushy ride. It seemed to corner really well. They are heavy as shit for climbing though and are really inefficient for pedaling.


Yeah the intentional move to throw-away parts is really annoying and expensive. The front suspension fork and disc brakes are two actual improvements although I have not gone disc yet. My XT shifters circa 2000 are better than the same level 10 years later...

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Griff

Yeah, 27 got replaced by 700c back in the nineties on road bikes plus a smaller 650C? size for women's bikes. It became a pain to get 27 tires but when I bought my last touring bike I switched over. Mountain bikes are in upheaval right now wheel wise. 26 was the standard, then they pushed 29s, then 27.5 (650B), and some super wide stuff. They seem to want to maintain them all at this point but I have noticed a reduction in choice for 26". Mountain bikes always seem to be rushing to the next great thing hence my stash of old XT parts. I can't begin to predict if any standard will emerge.

My touring bike has 27" wheels and my racing bike has 700c tubular rims. I build my own wheels and even after 10K miles on them they are in great shape, I can't really bear to just change them out just because they are out of fashion.

Fashion and consumerism seem to be driving everything these days. I remember in the early 80s that most bikes hadn't had any significant changes in a couple of decades. Shimano led the charge, I believe, when they began changing their components every year; a cable anchor bolt from a 1984 rear derailleur would not fit on a 1985 rear derailleur. Shitty little things like that drove people to need an entire new derailleur when shops couldn't or didn't want to stock 97,000 different bolts, washers, nuts, pulleys, bushings, etc. Parts sales went up, repair revenues went down. Designs and styles also changed, but in terms of actual improvements there were few genuine improvements and a lot of different way to do the same thing.

Which leads me to many of my questions about the changes in today's bikes.

I have to go right now, but I'll continue when I return.