Amen!
Tede Ernst
Palos Verdes Estates,CA
>I think the new catalog layouts say two things - first, emphasize clothing
>and accessories because these, being made for next to nothing in China,
>have larger profit margins than bikes which are made merely cheaply in
>Taiwan (although some of the frames are starting to come from China now
>too). Second, it says the vendors think today's cycling cycling public is
>a bunch of narcissistic poseurs, to which there is probably more truth than
>we would like to believe.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Houston, TX
>
> BobHoveyGa@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 4/3/2005 3:01:40 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org writes:
>
> I remember back when they were still "Bike Warehouse" and they offered
> all kinds of little things: Campy spare parts, Proteus frame building
> kits, a diversity of manufacturers' products -- Campy, Zeus, Shimano,
> SunTour, Stronglight, etc. And maybe half a page of clothing. Now it
> seems two-thirds of the catalog is clothing (yawn), and there are none
> of the funky little bits and pieces I used to like to pore over...
>
>
>
>
>
>
> The thing that interests me is how the priorities seem to have changed.
> Look at how these modern catalogs are laid out... if memory serves, the
> old
> catalogs had their finest frames and bikes on the first couple of pages,
> followed
> by components, then tools, then accessories like lights, racks, panniers
> and
> rollers, then clothing and finally books and miscellaneous items. Today, I
> can open a Colorado Cyclist catalog and the first thing I see is clothing
> (lots of it), then sunglasses, shoes and helmets, jewelry, energy bars and
> drinks, stationary trainers, videos, cycle computers, then tools,
> components,
> tires and finally... bicycles.
>
> I'm not sure if this is a statement about the new style of marketing, or
> the
> priorities of modern cyclists... or maybe it means nothing at all. Still,
> it strikes me as odd and maybe a bit sad.
>
> Bob Hovey
> Columbus, GA