Hit or Miss

Call me easily entertained. Here a few little quick shots of things that made me smile or raise an eyebrow.

Target Marketing.

There was some concern from riders that duffers at the Northshore Golf Range would be a danger to trail users. When I saw this sign along the River Trail, the phrase "target marketing" immediately came to mind. We rode over just to check out their offerings but we were on road bikes and the gravel driveway turned us off, though on some days, a cold drink would have been worth it. OK, it really doesn't take much to amuse me.

Not what I wanted to hear...

As a former board sailor, I have had good experience with Neil Pryde sails and when I read awhile back that they were getting into the bike business, I thought it was a good fit. They have extensive composites experience, they know gravity/human powered sports and the value of eeking out maximum watts per gram, and they know more than a little bit about aerodynamics. When I saw their recent print ads, I was glad to see their presence, but the message just doesn't tell me what I want to hear about a performance road bike.

Neil Pryde seems to be marketing to a shredhead, downhill, big surf, X Games market, but I think they missed the mark. Even the most daring and aggressive road riders don't really want to describe the ride quality of their bike as "hairy". "Stable", "responsive", "quick" or "rock solid" maybe, but "hairy" makes me think "unpredictable and unstable".

And I sure don't want "a ride so scary, maybe you die a little." ...not even a little, thank-you!

Just because it's advertised in a bike magazine...

Bose makes some fabulous, high end products, and Bicycling Magazine probably hits their target market of folks with disposable income who appreciate the cost of quality. However, just because it's advertised in Bicycling doesn't mean that a product is a bicycle accessory. I've passed a couple of folks on the trail wearing these full coverage, noise cancelling headphones, which are designed to allow you to enjoy your music during the takeoff run of a jumbo jet, while riding. They may not be any worse than an iPod, but at least with earbuds you have a chance of hearing a shouted warning or the sound of a steam locomotive run amuck on the River Trail.