The real truth lies here.
Modern society is pretty much fucked. The world is made up of vacuous, self-centered morons brainwashed by the internet and mainstream media, who in turn are no more than puppets of .ooo1% of the population who own 99% of the wealth and pull the strings of every major government, bank, business and institution. 1984 is a reality, we just don’t realise and acknowledge it, because if it was made that obvious then we might just say “wait a minute, they’re fucking us!” We are made to believe we have freedom, whereas, in reality, all we actually have is the illusion of freedom.
Cycling may be the only real freedom we have, and even that is surreptitiously controlled for us, and is controlling us. We are told we need the latest carbon frame that looks like dog shit and rides not much better, while a 30 year old steel bike does exactly the same job, which is: to move us across the earth and put a smile on our face, yet we are convinced that we won’t be happy unless our new standard bottom brackets constantly creak and need fortnightly servicing. Mountain bikers are now being cajoled into believing that an extra 6mm of width on a rear hub will change our lives. It’s enough to make me go back to a hardtail. With a longer fork, slacker angles, wider bars, shorter stays, bigger wheels, fatter tyres, less gears, naturally.
Of course, advancements in technology do make a difference to our rides, especially for mountain biking. Road, I’m not as convinced. My Bosomworth, while heavier, with less gears and slower shifting than my Jaegher, is still a great bike to ride and would no doubt make me stronger if it was my only ride. Suspension and dropper posts for the MTB are pretty much essential and improve the experience, but if I lost the rear shock I’m sure I’d still be able to ride most of the terrain I do now, maybe with a bit more discomfort and a little less control, but wouldn’t that put the emphasis back on me to sharpen my skills and pick my lines a little more carefully? Thinking? No, we can’t have that.
Same can be said with the choices we think we make in our everyday lives: we aren’t making them, they are made for us. We don’t need all that shit they are selling us. We have the freedom to think for ourselves and make our own minds up, yet still just go along with the status quo, what the tv tells us to buy, what the corporations tell us to consume, what the 000.1% want us to do. Be good little happy consumers and shut the fuck up. Or go ride your bike, any bike, and use the time to think about what’s real and what we’re told is real. Don’t be afraid, set yourself free. It’s the only truth we can really believe.
Now head over to The Gear page and buy some shit.
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View Comments
@brett
Mountain bikes still looked half decent back in 1992
@Ccos
@Oli
Oh hell no. I give no fucks about swearing, and I'm no SJW, just sensitive to issues that shouldn't even be issues in this day and age.
Nothing I love more than a creative blue streak. Anyone who says I curse like a sailor hasn't met my wife.
@Chipomarc
LOL, looks are deceiving! When is the last time you saw any Suntour parts on any MTB? That front fork had about 35mm of travel and weighed about 4lbs! I would not want to race a hardtail from 2002 never mind 1992! FLEX city!
I have a really old Diamondback from the days before any suspension was used.
The trick to riding a bike that looks good but is shit is to slow down and avoid any kind of trail that my have obstacles and other crap on it.
@Ccos
Many years ago when I first started doing business in the USA we were out at dinner with our hosts and I realised a couple of folk there were watching me eat. So thinking I had breached some local etiquette I stopped and said - sorry have I done something wrong. The response was "No it's just fascinating watching someone use a knife and a fork without changing hands"..........
@Teocalli
In the South you can peg someone's upbringing, from white trash to high Southern, by watching them eat. Here even the high born eat like four year olds with nasal congestion.
@brett
What happened to Ned's mole? Evidently it wasn't the source of his powers.@Michael
Last time I saw Suntour on an MTB was this morning as I looked at my 1993 Trek 8700. Hard front and back and three main tubes pretty much solid carbon.
@Ccos
How about y'all spell pleural "plural." Or is the extra "e" a southern thing y'all do? (Forbidden you know what here).
@Teocalli
Really...maybe they thought you were from Canada because you weren't eating with your hands!!