Have you ever heard of an “extremophile?” No, it’s not your friend who only listens to identical-sounding black metal bands with identical-looking scratchy letter logos. An extremophile is an organism that can survive pretty much anything, like those little wormy things they thaw out of the Siberian permafrost:
And yes, I know your extremophile friend has every single identical-sounding Siberian Permafrost album on vinyl, good for him.
Well, the bicycle world has its own extremophiles, and while most people associate durability and longevity with steel, one of the hardiest of all extremophiles is the venerable Trek 1200, which is of course made from glued-together aluminum:
It’s a scientific fact that you cannot walk more than half a block in New York without encountering at least one Trek 1200. Furthermore, 85% of them still have intact Biopace stickers on the chainrings, and fully 98% of them boast original pie plates:
The world really never needed another bike from Trek after the 1200, which could by why they’re in such trouble.
Meanwhile, I guess the whole Sea Otter thing is happening, and it’s clear from the coverage that the industry has made its decision and the move to 32-inch wheels is officially a Done Deal, as evidenced by this Ari Fleisher:
So far it sounds like the new wheel size is ideal for riding short distances through crowds:
Beyond that, both of the Ari 32″ prototypes I saw had unique-looking prototype negative-rise Race Face stems to compensate for the larger front wheel. Fox’s bike also had a set of Race Face branded wheels with its own Vault hubs, so those are also clearly ride ready prototypes as well. The bright red Raicam Racing brakes aren’t a common sight, either. I had a chance to ride Fox’s bike up and down a crowded pathway between the booths, which was my first time on 32″ wheels. It was paved and there were lots of people around, so I can’t say that I took much away from the experience, other than that the fork was definitely functional.
OK, so in case you’ve lost track, here’s a brief summary of the past six years in bicycle retail:
- In 2020 governments wouldn’t let people go to work and instead sent them checks to do nothing
- Bored out of their minds, they all decided to buy bikes
- The big bike companies went hog wild, overproduced, and bought up a bunch of bike shops, because if history has taught us anything it’s that bike booms never end
- People went back to work and the bike boom ended immediately
So now they’re engineering a wholesale shift to a new wheel size that will make all these bikes they can’t sell instantly obsolete.
Makes sense to me.
But hey, what do I know? The world has a way of confounding your expectations. For example, when I was younger there was this idea that Australians were rugged individualists:
Or at least lovable eccentrics:
But then I got older and learned that Crocodile Dundee was basically Hitler:
[Maybe the most Guardian article that ever Guardianed.]
And far from being a land of rugged individualism, Australia is a place where you can’t even ride a bicycle without wearing a helmet. In fact, doing pretty much anything on a bicycle in Australia will land you a fine, even if you’re “South Australia’s top traffic cop:”
Here’s what happened:
Supt Johnson, head of SA Police’s Traffic Services Branch, was fined after taking a selfie while cycling on a residential street and posting it to his Strava account.
Mr Johnson said he had been “winding down” after a 200km ride with friends last year, and he was less than 100 metres from his home when he took the photo.
And here’s the photo:
Wow. As far as I’m concerned, he’s guilty of nothing, apart from being a huge Fred. Even here in New York it’s not illegal to use a phone while riding a bicycle. Certainly using a phone while driving a car is dangerous, but using one while you’re riding–to take a picture of yourself no less–isn’t any different from any of the other things you routinely do on the bike, such as eating, drinking, sticking your gloves in your jersey pocket, or “going downstairs and rearranging the furniture,” if you get my meaning.
I say anyone in favor of fines just for taking a photo while riding a bike has nothing to rearrange.