Where are we headed and is it the wrong way ……… or not?
In addition to being an over the top bike guy I’m also a car guy………..maybe what I really am is an ‘anything with wheels guy’. In any case I’m very passionate about cycling and the bike business and I’m also a sports car lover. I bring this up because of an article I just read in my favorite sports car rag, EVO magazine.
Now I should say early on that I’m about to ask more questions than I have answers to and that this is really a bit of self-indulgent navel gazing. With that said –
The latest issue of EVO compares the 4 previous generations of the Porsche 911 GT3. The article compares and contrasts the 4 latest versions of the 911 GT3 in preparation for the newest version that is about to be released. What I realized was that when the first version was put out there it was loved for its simple and analog nature. It was a true driver’s car and to get the most out of it the driver needed to have real skills behind the wheel. The first gen GT3 did not suffer fools and I’m sure more than a few ended up stuffed backward into ditches. But this was part of the joy and challenge of the car………it rewarded driver skill and that act of being rewarded was huge fun.
When the next version of the GT3 came along it of course had more power, was heavier and faster, and had more electronic ‘aides’. When it was being introduced you could hear the moans out there in car-land. Many thought it had gotten too heavy and full of ‘stuff’ that the real driver didn’t need. The press was not trilled about a GT3 with so many electronic nannies to take care of the driver and that demanded less of the driver to get the most out of the car. It was of course faster and easier to drive at the same time and one would think this would be good and I’m not saying it isn’t but the enthusiasm at the time of the release was muted.
But looking back I see a pattern — whenever a new GT3 is introduced it is of course compared to the older version and it is usually derided for being too soft/fat/complex/easy…..etc compared to the previous version. Despite this the new car sells well and owners love them. Then the next new version comes out and it is now too full of stuff and complexity and it is now derided and the previous version (which was too soft on introduction) is just right………in other words the old car was just right and the new one not so. Lather, rinse, repeat. With each new version we tend to rewrite the list of things that are acceptable and make a GT3 a desirable car.
The new and about to be launched 911 GT3 will not be available with a stick shift and it has rear wheel steering to help keep the rear end of the car behind the front and out of the shrubbery and EVO is skeptical. Me too. But I bet folks will love it and in a few years time, when a newer version is launched we will lather, rinse and repeat.
On the other hand we have a company like Lotus. I am a Lotus owner and feel very fortunate to own my 2005 Elise. It is simple and nearly analog. It has antilock brakes (a good thing IMO) but that is it. No traction or stability control, no SATNAV, no power steering, etc………..the rear wheels push the car, the front wheels steer it and all four slow it down. It’s as basic as a riding mower and really rewarding to drive. And…………..wait for it………….Lotus can’t sell enough of them to make any money. Is it too simple and stark? May be. Lotus the company is trying to reinvent itself and a big part of that will be with cars that are bigger/heavier/more powerful/faster and full of electronic stuff to keep you from stuffing your shiny new toy. Will it work? The existing customer base of Lotus is begging them to keep the cars simple and light but that path has not worked financially so Lotus needs to change direction and appeal to a greater number of people. Only time will tell but history says things will work out if they can change quickly enough and get the plan into potential buyers heads. The Lotus situation makes me wonder if trying to keep things light and simple is what we really want. Many say they want it and then they go out and buy a car with all the bells and whistles.
So what the hell does this all have to do with bicycles I can hear you asking? I realize I’ve lost most of the non-car audience by now and I appreciate your sticking with me. I think I see a parallel developing between the bike and car world with the high tech changes we’ve been seeing over the past few years. Ceramic bearings, electronic shifting, disc brakes, hydraulic brakes, 11 speed cassettes, and exotic materials have all become commonplace and I don’t know that this is a bad thing. But is the same pattern that besets the sports car world may be taking place in our bike world. If I had a nickel for every time I heard “no one needs electronic shifting” I might be able to afford the new Shimano 9070 Di2 kit. But the fact that ‘no one needs it’ seems to matter little. The stuff is very expensive and yet they can’t keep it on the shelf. For something no one ‘needs’ I’d say it’s doing pretty well.
Looking at the patents being filed tells me more changes are coming and most will be greeted with a jaundiced eye and some rightfully so………..and at the same time many will work and sell well. Will we, a few years down the road, be saying ‘sure electronic shifting is cool, I need that, but this automatic transmission is a step too far”? I guess it wouldn’t surprise me.
I like much of this new stuff that no one needs. The Di2 stuff flat out works and is fun to use. I like my light carbon aero wheels. I like having 11 speed cassettes. I like most all of it. What I don’t know is if I enjoy cycling more because of it. I’m certain it takes nothing away from the experience for me but I don’t know that this new stuff allows me to enjoy the ride any more than my Suntour Superbe stuff did back in the day. Does the fact that I no longer need to be good at the act of shifting mean I’m less skilled and get less reward? Do my 1300 gram everyday wheels mean I need less fitness and skill to get them over the hill and down the other side? I honestly don’t know.
I guess in the end I’ve dragged you this far into the weeds because I feel like there is a pattern to this product development and change and if we see it for what it is we might be less nervous about those changes ruining the sport we all love so much. After all, when I was a kid working in a shop I can well remember wrenching bikes with the new 6 speed freewheels in place of the normal 5 speeders and recall some of the sage shop guys saying “What’s next? Bikes that pedal themselves?”
Thanks for reading.
Dave
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WOW Dave. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this BLOG. I’ll bet if you ever want to change to a sit-down job, you could start writing for Scientific American Magazine.
Dave very cool and well thought out post. I may be totally off base and wrong for saying this but I believe that the same things you’ve written can and are said about most any activity or interest. Cameras, AV gear, stereo stuff, golf clubs, baseball bats, etc, etc, etc.
There will also always be the people who will need to be the first on their block with the newest toy and his neighbor who’s the opposite side of that coin. Most will fall somewhere in the middle and actually figure out what of the new is worthy and what is fluff. New and cool or old and proven the stuff that works is all good.
Nice prose, Boss…………
And that’s from a guy with a Chevy pickup with 277,00mi & who loves building one speeds.
One Speeders always seem stoked – coincidence? Hhmmmmmmm?
I hear you – that’s one of the cool things about this deal – there are many ways to go and no one best way. Thanks for chiming in.
Well said. For all of the stuff that I’ve accumulated and will continue to accumulate it hasn’t really given me more enjoyment. I recently built a 2-speed from spare parts and must admit I like getting back to basics. Sure I want Di2 but for now I think I’ll embrace the feeling of the wind in my face and stop worrying about the newest gizmo.
A good read Dave, as a relative follower of car stuff, and certainly been known to bemoan certain new technologies on bikes, I hear where you’re coming from. When it comes to the GT3, there just seems to be far more people who want the car to look the ‘hard core racer’ than will ever take it to the track, let alone spend enough time there to learn how to get the most out of a truly stripped down drivers car. Which is why Lotus needs to at least introduce more ‘friendly’ versions of their striped down drivers cars. The money is in the masses, not the connoisseur, as much as it pains me to say it.
As far as the bike side goes, I’ve yet to desire the electronic groups or the carbon wheels, though I do understand the advantages they provide. Maybe because I can’t rationalize the price vs the advantages over mechanical brakes, or that I don’t ride fast enough to really warrant carbon wheels at their price either. Then again, maybe it’s because I work with computers every day and when I wrench on my bikes I don’t want anything to do with electronics or other bits I can’t work on myself. On the flip side though, I did sell my vintage Nuovo Record equipped bike because I wasn’t riding it, spoiled by Ergo shifting at last…