Technofear;just pedal

OldNickToo

Are we being used? Is the human body being taken out of the equation oif its own exercise?

I recently railed against HEART MONITORS. I can se A PLACE for them; amomgst elite athletes and the very frail.

Then I start looking at rear shocks (front shocks now seem almost unavboidable) and I get told by Giant;
The VT suspension is influenced by our exclusive single-pivot four-bar DH design, combining single-pivot lateral rigidity and strength with a smooth, progressive four-bar linkage with up to 5.75 inches of travel. The Manitou Swinger 4-Way air shock has Stable Platform Valving (SPV), which resists pedal bobbing yet provides excellent small bump sensitivity. Put it all together and you have a bike with big-hit capability while at the same time being extremely sensitive to small bumps, as well as a drivetrain that has excellent pedaling efficiency while accelerating and climbing.

Sorry. For anybody but a top athlete whose ONLY object is winning against technology, this sounds like;
a PAIR OF WELL-TRAINED LEGS.

OR;
marketing gobbledegook

I regret the fact that as time goes by, the human frame is being belittled by technology, when it should only "need" this if there is a cutting edge situation. Even then it is sad that we feel that with something as basic as bikes, the human frame is not enough, and (once again) we have to dehumanise the process.

I place the quotes because I wonder when the human art of cycling gets lost in the techno jungle.

And I will say that the top athlete will not be usng Giant's sales-driven compromises, but some highly-tuned specialty. Just one step up from Huffy?

OldNickToo

Hehe! Love it. Sorry for the late reply. Had heart failure due to dehydration! <G>

I always carry water.

I am building up a toolkit (pump, patches, tyre levers, allen keys), but so far we ride "in circles" through bush and we are never that far from home that a walk is a real problem.

Glad I am not the only one, anyway....

BTW, I have an instant way to lighten _my_ system. It's called diet and exercise! <G>

triguy98

I was just observing the other day how much suspension has progressed. XC used to mean maybe 3 inches. Now its 4-5. Freeride used to be 4, now its all the way up to 7-8. Insane! These dudes roll up to the trailhead with this big long travel bikes and are amazed that my buddues with their hardtails and me with my 3 inch XC or hardtail can do everything they can... without the body armor and full face helmets. Pussification of the sport. You dont NEED that long travel bike to do a 5 foot drop or do those dirt jumps, dude. People have been doing that stuff for decades with worse equipment. Argh.

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