I'm flying off to Las Vegas for Interbike later today. That means e-mail responses to technical questions may be delayed a few days. I spend 2-4 hours a day answering e-mails so there simply won't be time to get to all of them while at Interbike. Orders will still go out in a timely manner though. And I'll try to post from the show about neat new bikes, components and accessories.
By the way, why is North America's largest bike show held in a city where the main sports are leaning on a bar or playing a slot machine? Why not is San Francisco or Portland or Boston or Denver?
Since we haven't had a good off-topic conversation for a while, I'll offer a link to this piece, entitled Eco-Junk by George Monboit. Another column I recommend is, How Did We get Into This Mess; it's about neoliberlism (The British use the term "liberal" primarily to identify free market advocates, not political progressives as we do here.) You may agree with Monboit or not, but you must admit that his columns are usually fascinating and always fodder for a lively discussion.
25 September, 2007
Interbike, E-mails, Eco-Junk, and Neoliberalism
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17 comments:
Um, orders will go out in a timely manner, but some items will be backordered, as our fabricator will be leaning on a bar somewhere in LV...
Leaning? I rather hoped that he would be helping to prop it up...
Ganbatte!
Monbiot hits it on the head, as he often does. However, the book to read is Naomi Klien's The Shock Doctrine. So much for being "free"...
Yes, "there's a sucker born every minute" - and reader (or, rather, consumer), the sucker is you.
Still...I do hope that my order goes out quickly...
matta!
"Ganbatte", what a great name for the less expensive line of VO bikes. Thanks Ernest. I was also thinking of "Takuan", as in Takuan Soho.
While you are discussing global economic collapse and other pressing events, you will be glad to learn that I've been focussing on the REAL issues, namely, where to find those oh-so-cool rollers for your Mafac brake straddle cables.
Bought the $80 Toei ones from Jitensha, they are awesome, but found THESE on Ebay for much less. Ya gotta love 'em!
Ebay Item # 290157232217
Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA
MAFAC "Mon Accoutrements Fait un Atroce Cacophone"
Good find Mark. I just bought some, but he has more.
I hope to get samples of the VO version rollers at Interbike.
Las Vegas on/near the strip. Ugh! Went twice. Once was enough. Soul-sucking place. Nicotine, alcohol, sad copies of real places, overeating, conspicuous consumption nirvana. In the middle of a drought fountains and water works galore. Locals say it's all recycled water. Chamber sez now it's family friendly and devoid of corruptive influences. Unbelievable. Spend money there - not me. I hold out faint hope Interbike will leave LV for a more humane local. In the interim it's only the smaller bike events for me. Skip the strip and see the Grand Canyon (again).
I don't get the rollers. What's the advantage, other than neat little bits of shiney mechanicalness? (Which I admittedly love.)
well said BG and agree on all but when you're careening down the road to serfdom and you clamp on the binders, those roller brake straddles are just the ticket!
Seriously, they just look SO COOL. Chris, I'll order a set of the V-O rollers too. Any chance of getting some with ceramic bearings?
There's s simple reason why Interbike is in Vegas: cost.
Vegas has sunk a lot of money into catering to really huge mega-conferences. By comparison, San Francisco and Boston are too expensive in terms of convention centers and hotels. Portland would be too expensive since it's not a major hub for any airline and it has somewhat limited hotel/convention spaces for a show the size of Interbike. Denver would probably be a good site since the airport is a major hub and it's reasonably affordable. I think the Interbike people were actually looking at it at one point. Seattle would also be good though convention space is a bit limited.
Of course Vegas is very quickly becoming very expensive. I thought about going to Interbike a couple of years ago but decided not to when I had a hard time finding a hotel room that was affordable enough to make the trip worthwhile.
Also don't forget the handmade bike show in Portland this year. For this crowd it's probably a more worthwhile show. Also a lot smaller and easier to take in. I'm planning to ride down to it from Seattle and then take the train home.
"There's s simple reason why Interbike is in Vegas: cost"
I for one realize that.
You know the Portland show is invite only - right?
Portland is a place I can feel comfortable with, and maybe Bruce Gordon will be nice to everyone - on second thought, not!
NAHBS in Portland is trade-only for Friday but public on Saturday/Sunday.
Thanks for the information "C"!
I've a yin for nice bikes and good seafood. Maybe I'll go to Portland this year.
'Neoliberlism'
Now, I know there are differences between Canadian and American spelling, but I think the above word from the title of this post is misspelled. Unless it is a phonetic representation of the type of drawl we Canadians think all Americans speak.
M Burdge
to comment on the Vegas thingy.
Went to the show last year. It is always interesting to see what others are creating in terms of 2 wheel transportation. Nice to see a lot of stell frames making thier way back too.
As for the expense we stayed a little off the main strip at Circus Circus for $79.00 a night. Yeah it's the not the best spot but a decent bed, hot shower and pretty clean is really all ya need.
That's my 2 cents. I did pick up a cool sticker for my kid, she loves bike stickers, that read" Vegas sucks, move Interbike to Colorado". Well said.....
Err, it's in LV because they have the largest convention facilities in the USA. Oh, rhetorical question?
Gotta say, I think that liberalism, in the classic sense of the word, is the reason why Velo Orange can exist and thrive. You provide a service and products that we want, and the government steps out of our way.
People like Monbiot confuse free markets with markets in which the gov'ment actively helps out the fatcats. Walmart, the airlines, big-(fill in the blank) wouldn't exist without their helpful friends on both sides of the aisle.
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