Mark B
Zen MBB Master
I received my Buycyling Magazine yesterday and splashed across the front cover was the statement, "Reviewed, 2010's Most Revolutionary Bike". Excitedly thinking the editors had finally seen the light and embraced all that is great about recumbent bikes, I nervously flipped through the pages, anxiously looking for page 85. I struggled to maintain composure a few seconds, then burst out in laughter when the contents of page 85 revealed themselves to me.
What is this I see? Is it the latest offering from Cruzbike, Rans, or Bachetta? No, it certainly isn't. Is it some new frame material that is somehow magicaly different from any other materials? Once again, no. What, pray tell, could the wise folks at Buycycling magazine deem to be the most revolutionary? Why, nothing less than a Carbon Fiber Madone frame with, gasp, a Gates belt drive!! Wow! None of that has ever been done before! OK, OK, maybe nobody has mated the single speed belt drive to a high tech CF frame, but so what?
Upon closer inspection, I note that this bike has the same crappy Bontrager wheels they spec on many bikes. Better not weigh much over a buck twenty if you want to ride this. Once the wheels go, you'll need to find another hub with the fancy Gates drive on it that will let you build a real wheel, because this one won't cut it.
Revolutionary? Hardly. More of the same old, same old, just wrapped a little differently.
Good ol' Buycycling Magazine
What is this I see? Is it the latest offering from Cruzbike, Rans, or Bachetta? No, it certainly isn't. Is it some new frame material that is somehow magicaly different from any other materials? Once again, no. What, pray tell, could the wise folks at Buycycling magazine deem to be the most revolutionary? Why, nothing less than a Carbon Fiber Madone frame with, gasp, a Gates belt drive!! Wow! None of that has ever been done before! OK, OK, maybe nobody has mated the single speed belt drive to a high tech CF frame, but so what?
Upon closer inspection, I note that this bike has the same crappy Bontrager wheels they spec on many bikes. Better not weigh much over a buck twenty if you want to ride this. Once the wheels go, you'll need to find another hub with the fancy Gates drive on it that will let you build a real wheel, because this one won't cut it.
Revolutionary? Hardly. More of the same old, same old, just wrapped a little differently.
Good ol' Buycycling Magazine
