Foldable Bikes Party: How complaining about new standards says more about you than the industry

Tuesday, 3 May 2016

How complaining about new standards says more about you than the industry

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For a sport with a reputation of risk-taking, adventure and competitiveness, mountain biking has an oddly conservative streak. And nowhere is this better displayed than the constant rage against new 'standards'. Want stiffer, stronger, lighter and faster bikes? Then dimensions and materials are going to have to change. Some may say 'marketing conspiracy', but I say 'physics'.

When 29in wheels finally caught on, and then 650b emerged in their wake, what was the most common refrain? Was it, "Maybe in a few years, when I buy a new bike, I’ll try one of those"? When wider-spaced hub flanges emerged to make those bigger wheels stiffer, was the reaction, "Yeah, greater triangulation makes obvious sense"?

No. It was a Big Bang of complaining and conspiracy theory, the echoes of which can still be heard on the internet, and the trails, and in the cafes today. You’d think 26in wheels had been forced to stop rotating completely. New standards are, according to some very loud people, nothing but a hateful way for companies to smash open our wallets and make our precious stuff instantly obsolete because, oh God, everything’s getting worse and the whole world’s going to hell and it’s not like it was in the old days.

It’s not not about the bike

In fact, the new stuff is often worse than the old… 26 for life! Wake up sheeple, it's a marketing conspiracy.

If you breathe into a paper (or perhaps plastic) bag long enough to calm down and think about it, there’s plenty of evidence for this not being the case. First, though, I need to cover a few bases:

Yes, marketing exists
No, not all change is progress
Yes, they want you to buy more stuff
No, your existing bike is not obsolete – if it was good yesterday, it’s good today
Yes, but what are you really angry about?

Nonstandard standards

The biggest real charge that can be levelled against ‘the industry’ is the widespread mistake of calling every new measurement a standard. Created a bottom bracket that’s 3mm wider than all the others? It’s misleading and inaccurate to tell everyone this is a revolutionary new standard. It is, in fact, an awkward new measurement.