staehpj1

I haven't followed what they are up to in years, but I doubt I'll ever "get" him/them. I figure they are the very definition of hype, just a retro flavor of it. I remember the whole you don't need to wear a uniform to ride deal, followed immediately with "buy our uniform". I think they were hawking $$$ seersucker shirts and $$$ Musa pants and shorts. These "regular clothes" they proposed seemed to me as if they'd stick out as being out of place and weird on a bike tour most places I tour too, they just wouldn't be identified as bike clothes. So to me it seems like you'd looks like a weirdo for no apparent reason vs looking like a cyclist which might make you look like a weirdo to a lot of non cyclists. Personally I find bike clothes more comfortable, but that is debatable I guess.

Weren't they also the ones hawking some $150 hand axes for touring? To me that is the height of ridiculous. I am sure they are nice hand axes, but in what universe does it make any sense to carry one on tour? And in that universe do you really need to carry a $150 one? I am guessing it is intended to process firewood, but maybe it is more about dreaming about campcraft and days long gone by. Obviously we shouldn't be engaged in campcraft while touring or probably anytime, but a lot of this stuff is more about remembering the "good old days" than it is about doing stuff for a big segment of their customer base.

I am sure they sell a quality product, but it always seemed to me as if their big claim to fame was more about rejecting "all that newfangled stuff" than anything else. Grant's pitches on most things were and probably still are (haven't looked in years) like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. I am about to hit my 69th birthday, so pretty old now and that hasn't changed.