Monday, October 11, 2010

Short Stuff: New Bridge for Shillcut Bayou; BDB Ninja; Bye Bye Cervelo

Garver gains contract to design new Shillcut Bayou Bridge
The wooden bridge near the Burns Park launch ramp will be replaced by a new structure that will be designed by Garver, LLC, of "just up the trail". Garver also provided the engineering design services for the BDB and Two Rivers Bridge, so they're certainly up to the task. The fact that many Garver employees are regular trail users should allow them an unusual degree of insight. Many riders hate the teeth-rattling ride across the current bridge, but it doesn't bother me. That's part of  the beauty of riding titanium!


Ninja On the BDB
5 MPH sport bike?
My reliable neighbor reported that a guy with his girlfriend on a Kawasaki Ninja rode up the BDB  on Sunday afternoon, making his way through the dogs and kids, and then stopping for awhile to take some pictures.
 Two questions:
What the hell was he thinking?
Why didn't somebody call the police?

I've seen scooters on the bridge, but never a sport bike, though I've heard that riding the bridge on motorcycles is not an infrequent late-night occurrence.


Cervelo Leaving Competitive Cyclist
Cervelo has made a decision to withdraw their product from on-line retailers, including Competitive Cyclist. Read more about it at "What's New" . Be sure to check out some of the comments. If you don't regularly read Brendan's blog, read on down. It's good stuff. 

I've got mixed emotions about this kind of business decision. One side of me says that bikes demand the kind of local service that shops provide, but the other side asks, if you don't have a local outlet for what you want or if you choose not to do business with them, why shouldn't you be able to shop elsewhere? Competitive Cyclist isn't a discount store and they give excellent service to an international clientele by adding value, so they would seem to be the best kind of internet retailer. Needless to say, the bike business isn't the only industry trying to figure out how to best deal with consumers. The knowledge and the high level of customer service available from on line retailers today challenges local specialty stores of all kinds to sharpen their game while smart comsumers are getting great values.

2 comments:

Bryan said...

Really... people whine about a wooden bridge? Those are probably the spandex warriors that think fenders and appropriate sized tires are too heavy for their plastic/resin bikes.

Jo said...

Big decision for Cervelo. I would guess that CC provides a significant amount of sales for them. Wonder which LBS will carry the brand now?