It says something about my engagement in the cycling biz and the power of osmotic information gathering, that I know anything at all about the newest bikes and tech hitting the market, because I kid you not at all that I pay zero attention to these things. I currently have no bicycle magazine subscriptions. I frequent no gear review sites. Some might say this is a sort of dereliction of duty on my part.
But people tell me things.
A typical bike shop owner conversation might include, “Did you see the new XXXXX?” to which I respond, “Nope. What do you think about it?”
My bike friends serve this purpose equally well. They want my take on a thing. I ask them to describe it. Maybe then I look it up.
It’s important to say, I’m no expert. Every opinion I express comes filtered through the experiences I’ve had, which are likely different to yours. If you want to know what I think about a new thing, I’m willing to tell you, but first, I’m often wrong, and second, I probably didn’t see, hear about, or ride the thing this new thing is based on.
I’m just not paying that much attention.
In my defense, it’s all a bit of a firehose. There’s too much to sift through, too much to know about.
In addition to liking to ride bikes, I also like to read books. I read both literary fiction and scientific non-fiction. My friends who are avid readers say things like, “Did you read the new Rushdie/Kingsolver/Rovelli/Lightman?” And I say, “Not yet.” It takes time to read a book, just as it takes time to put together an informed opinion about a new bike. There aren’t enough hours in the day, and I drink enough coffee to know.
This week’s TCI Friday wonders how closely YOU pay attention. Where and how are you learning about new bike stuff, and how much do you care?
I no longer pay much attention to road bike developments and I get updates on all the other variety of bike stuff from the Radavist and Bikepacking.com, but I have to say so much of it is forgotten not long after I read about it. My favorite bike-related/adjacent content is really the weekly newsletter from Rivendell and the however often published Grant Peterson Blahg, then a close second is your very own TCI and the Revolting podcast. I get nostalgic about the days when there were printed magazines that I truly enjoyed. The best was Bicycle Times. At one time Bicycling held some interest for me, but it’s been a couple of decades since they had an editor that made sure there was at least a little of we might today call “alt-bilking” content.
I find it hard to pay close attention these days (it was easier when it was just LX, XT, XTR). I get good bikes and keep them for 10-15 years. Therefore my learning curve felt steep when it was time for a new mtb. Luckily, while there is much to learn, most choices seem to work well. It was an adjustment but I’ve come to appreciate the advances in mtb thinking; I really like my new bike!
What was the question?
My career is all about details down to microscopic levels. I wear 4.75 surgical loupes all day and employ a scanner that can enlarge images exponentially beyond what I can manually see. So when it comes to any interests I study and work on knowing all the details as they relate to improving my experience. I try not to prattle on about what may often be useless ephemera to most, but if someone wants to know I will share.