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weekend century pics
 

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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area

4/29/13 7:23 AM

weekend century pics

perfect weather for the century, but the roads were poorly marked in some sections...which led to some, uh, navigational issues...







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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

4/29/13 7:57 AM

Looks like a nice ride!

Navigational issues can be so much fun. The weekend before last, the marks on the metric routed riders *away* from one of the food/water/etc. stops. Not good when you have to start looking around for a gas station or a bush...

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

4/29/13 9:16 AM

And piggybacking...

Here's one from New Haven's Rock 2 Rock Metric the previous weekend. Lots of wind on the coastal leg, otherwise a little cool, but fun. The route is at the link below.



http://snippets.mapmycdn.com/routes/view/embedded/180650884?width=700&height=400&&line_color=E60f0bdb&rgbhex=DB0B0E&distance_markers=0&unit_type=imperial&map_mode=TERRAIN&last_updated=2013-03-12T14:13:33-04:00

(It was the Guilford stop that we were routed around, BTW.)

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/29/13 9:41 AM

Bully bully! :)

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

4/29/13 1:08 PM

nice h-bag

Is that a knockoff, or did you borrow it from Jan? :)

Early for a century, I rode 50 mi Sunday and was pretty wiped.

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

4/29/13 1:44 PM

Knocked off.

It's a Velo Orange copy, which I got at my LBS at a very significant discount. Jan's probably right, and it will be shredded like tissue paper in a year or two and then it will give me bad karma. Sigh.

But for now it does the job nicely.

IF I ever get seriously into Randoneurring (sp? of which there is only the most adipose probability) I will try to get my hands on something nicer, like an Acorn tall rando bag or something.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

4/29/13 1:52 PM

shredding

>>Jan's probably right, and it will be shredded like tissue paper in a year or two and then it will give me bad karma.<<

Does Jan actually say this about the VO bag? You suggest that people like he and Peter White and Peterson say that only the stuff they sell is adequate and all other stuff is crap, but in the reading I do I don't quite see that.

BTW, I have a VO knockoff of an old TA crank; it is cheaper than the Herse crank Jan sells - so what?

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

4/29/13 2:29 PM

No, they don't say it.

But they certainly imply it.

I suppose it's a bit like those old "good, better, best" advertising strategies. I understand that it's largely puffery, but it has this religious feeling that gets under my skin.

I know my suspicions of conflict of interest are likely baseless, but when Jan (or Peter, or Grant) praise the items that they sell not just in advertising, but in blogs and publications that they control, well, my BS detector lights up. Might be a false positive, but I was raised skeptical.

Read too much MAD growing up.

:-)

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

4/29/13 2:31 PM

PS:

Shimano and Campy are (IMO) the true champions of this game. Do you think the pricing differences between 105 and DA (for example) reflect the true difference in the cost of production?

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Dave B
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 4511
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

4/29/13 5:27 PM

Pikers


quote:
Shimano and Campy are (IMO) the true champions of this game. Do you think the pricing differences between 105 and DA (for example) reflect the true difference in the cost of production?

I think Campy is worse than Shimano at this but, overall, bike component makers are pikers in this game. Auto manufacturers are far better at convincing you to spend vastly more on a perceived upgrade. Does a Lexus or Cadillac really cost that much more to make than a Toyota or Chevy? do they deliver that much more performance and/or comfort?

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

4/29/13 7:37 PM


quote:
do they deliver that much more performance and/or comfort?

Yes they do (deliver more comfort AND performance).

How much more? And whether that's worth the price differential? THAT is a different matter.

The price differential was never meant to reflect the production cost anyway. In fact, nothing is priced to reflect the production cost, not bikes, no cars, not houses. It's only competition that keeps prices loosely correlated to cost.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/29/13 7:58 PM

Walter, I'll see your Velo Rag, and raise yo a Rabo-bank Helmet...

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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real

4/29/13 8:15 PM

Looks too cold for a century.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

4/29/13 8:56 PM


quote:
Does a Lexus or Cadillac really cost that much more to make..?


How about to repair?

As for power, small advances come with big prices. For example, I read the Wright brother's propeller blade is only 5% less efficient than today's best design. Considering what fraction of time they used for propeller R&D versus the hours today's teams spend, the advances are really expensive.

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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2625
Location: Canberra, Australia

4/30/13 5:31 AM


quote:

Shimano and Campy are (IMO) the true champions of this game. Do you think the pricing differences between 105 and DA (for example) reflect the true difference in the cost of production?

I think Campy is worse than Shimano at this but, overall, bike component makers are pikers in this game.

Certainly, so far as Campagnolo are concerned, you only have to look at their spare parts catalogues to see that different levels of components have the same internals. I have their parts catalogues from a few years ago, to match the components I have, and quite often you find that Centaur, Chorus, and Record all take exactly the same spare part with the same catalogue number. Once you reach the level of 105 or Centaur, all you're paying for with the higher cost components is a better level of finish, not greater durability.

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JohnC
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Glastonbury, Ct

4/30/13 9:32 AM


quote:
Once you reach the level of 105 or Centaur, all you're paying for with the higher cost components is a better level of finish, not greater durability.


Sometimes you're also paying for lighter weight, which can mean LESS durability in some instances.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/30/13 10:08 AM

There is surely more time spent buffing prior to finish.
Some levels are just painted and cleared over. Which power coating is used which is probably even more durable than polished and cleared over stuff. ;)

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