{"id":247291,"date":"2026-06-08T13:40:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/ive-tried-it-and-now-im-knocking-it\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T13:40:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:40:34","slug":"ive-tried-it-and-now-im-knocking-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/ive-tried-it-and-now-im-knocking-it\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve Tried It And Now I\u2019m Knocking It"},"content":{"rendered":"

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What\u2019s better than an early morning ride when you have the roads mostly to yourself?<\/p>\n

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Well, probably plenty of things, but it\u2019s still pretty far up there.<\/p>\n

Sometimes when you ride early you see all the litter people left the night before, but in this case all the detritus was all natural, as a quick and violent storm had torn through the area like a giant weedwacker and left downed trees everywhere:<\/p>\n

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Fortunately there\u2019s sort of a little ditch running along the path and the runner and I were able to scurry chipmunk-like beneath this one\u2026though my scurrying was somewhat limited by the fact that I was wearing road-style clipless shoes for the first time in quite awhile:<\/p>\n

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Notice I continue to employ the much-maligned red hoods on this bike\u2013not because I think they look good, but because I am employing an evolutionary tactic called \u201caposematism<\/a>:\u201d <\/p>\n

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Coupled with the 23mm tires, the effect is that I successfully repel gravelistas, \u201calt\u201d cyclists, PNS jersey-clad n\u00fc-Freds, and any other type of cycling fashion victim I\u2019m likely to encounter. <\/p>\n

In addition to being a mix of unappetizing colors, the Faggin is also a bllend of old and new tech, and hilariously The Guy Who\u2019s Been Reviewing Bikes For 25 Years<\/a> thinks cyclists aren\u2019t treating the latter fairly<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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I realize this is an opinion piece, but there are a lot of problems here. For one thing, yes, he\u2019s right, you don\u2019t have<\/em> to use the new tech\u2026just as long as you\u2019re content with the bike industry constantly phasing out the tech you\u2019re currently using. I can certainly choose to keep riding the Faggin, and used parts that will work with it are not going to disappear within my lifetime, but that does not change the fact that the bike industry has more or less decided not only to stop making bikes like this, but also to stop supporting them, which I\u2019d argue is a net loss for humanity.<\/p>\n

Another issue is that Warren constantly reminds us he\u2019s been testing bikes for 25 years, but here he says he\u2019s been \u201cinvolved with bikes\u201d for nigh-on (that means \u201calmost\u201d) 30 years:<\/p>\n

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It seems nothing has changed in the nigh-on 30 years I\u2019ve been involved with bikes. Every type of new tech introduced has been met with equal parts excitement and disdain from the cycling community.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This means that prior to testing bikes, Warren was involved with them for at most<\/em> 4.9 years\u2026which is really not enough experience to be telling other people what to buy, if you ask me*.<\/p>\n

*[Disclaimer: by reading this blog, you have effectively \u201casked me,\u201d which means you are going to get my opinion on a wide range of subjects, from the merits and drawbacks of various types of shifters to my thoughts on the eternal Kirk vs. Picard debate.**]<\/p>\n

**[Disclaimer: I don\u2019t care about either of them, and if I must choose a captain then my allegiance is with Captain Stubing, or if he is incapacitated, Captain Kangaroo.]<\/p>\n

Warren then proceeds to prove his paucity of proficiency with a procession of profligate pronouncements, such as this one:<\/p>\n

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When suspension started to arrive in mountain bikes, it was decried as a heavyweight, expensive fad, before becoming integral. That pattern has been repeated multiple times over the intervening years.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Good grief Warren, bicycle suspension is<\/em> a heavyweight, expensive fad! Surely you remember this bike from 1999<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Back then it was cutting-edge, and reviewers lauded its performance. One publication even said the following<\/a>:<\/p>\n

This bike is virtually mistake-proof through technical sections.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yet here we are in 2026 and the common wisdom is that this bike is not only obsolete but downright dangerous to ride.<\/p>\n

Oh, sure, you\u2019re going to say suspension isn\u2019t a fad because we\u2019re still using it and the bikes are \u201cdialed in\u201d now. But that\u2019s true until precisely the moment it isn\u2019t anymore and something new comes along. Today\u2019s Pivot\/Transition\/Whatever is tomorrow\u2019s GT iDrive.<\/p>\n

None of this means suspension is bad<\/em>\u2013obviously it makes certain types of bikes better for certain types of riding\u2013but it would be refreshing if people would at least be honest about how its shelf life should be measured in hours just like its service intervals.<\/p>\n

Speaking of mountain bikes:<\/p>\n

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I remember having conversations in the office around\u00a0disc brakes on mountain bikes, arguing we didn\u2019t need them because V-brakes were so good.<\/em><\/p>\n

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But\u2026but\u2026WE DON\u2019T NEED THEM. No, I\u2019m not saying disc brakes are bad. Yes, disc brakes really do make some types of bikes better. But conservatively speaking, 50% of mountain bikes do not need disc brakes, plenty of people would be just as well if not better served by the simplicity of v-brakes, and the fact that they\u2019ve now gone the way of the cantilever is simply astonishing.<\/p>\n

I suppose this is where people like Warren get confused; it\u2019s not that people think the new stuff it\u2019s bad<\/em>, it\u2019s just that they know it means the bike industry will soon completely abandon the \u201cold\u201d stuff, even if it\u2019s still really good. Consider the STI lever:<\/p>\n

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The same happened with STI levers on the road (complex and expensive).<\/em><\/p>\n

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Warren.<\/p>\n

Warren, Warren, Warren.<\/p>\n

THEY ARE COMPLEX AND EXPENSIVE.<\/p>\n

Yes, I like them. Yes, I use them. Yes, they work well and are generally quite reliable:<\/p>\n

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They\u2019re also more expensive, more complicated, less versatile, and conservatively speaking 50% of drop bar bikes don\u2019t need them. Sure, they\u2019re better for race bikes, but does that mean options like this have to completely disappear?<\/p>\n

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I mean I guess if people aren\u2019t buying them they\u2019re not going to keep selling them, but did people really not want them anymore? Or is it because if you were shopping for a bike and you were reading bike reviews they\u2019d make you feel like any bike that didn\u2019t come with STI levers was automatically a piece of crap?<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t get me started on the crabon, Warren. DON\u2019T GET ME STARTED.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, carbon fibre frames were apparently only good for one season and then they\u2019d \u2018go off\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Too late, he got me started.<\/p>\n

Is crabon bad<\/em>?<\/p>\n

No, it\u2019s not bad.<\/p>\n

In fact, depending on what you actually need out of a bike it may be fantastic.<\/p>\n

But crabon absolutely does \u201cgo off:\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

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Sometimes after a single ride!<\/p>\n

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And yes, the anti-crabon propaganda content I\u2019ve linked to is from a company that makes expensive titanium frames, but hey, what\u2019s wrong with a little confirmation bias every now and again?<\/p>\n

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Also, I\u2019m not afraid of crabon bikes. I rode a nearly-40-year old one across Switzerland after packing it a cheap nylon bag<\/a>. If you want a light bike that goes fast then crabon is a good choice\u2013maybe even the best one for you. But you also need to keep in mind that it could very well end up being a one-season bike. Yes, the odds are in your favor that it won\u2019t, but you also can\u2019t get away with treating it the way I\u2019ve treated that poor Faggin.<\/p>\n

As for this one, it hardly even warrants a mention.<\/p>\n

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Electronic gears and\u00a0road disc brakes\u00a0still have their detractors.<\/em><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a shifter\u2026that requires\u2026a battery.<\/p>\n

And this is just crazy:<\/p>\n

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On mountain bikes, it was the\u00a026in wheel versus 29in, and not forgetting 27.5in (650b), wheel wars.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Look, citing the last time people like you have told us a wheel was better only to abandon it completely is not helping your argument.<\/p>\n

And yet\u2026<\/p>\n

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And now we\u2019re going through the same debate with the latest advance in bicycle tech, 32in wheels, which are beginning to appear on mountain and gravel bikes, spurring the vitriol of many commentators.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same old tropes. The \u2018industry\u2019 is seen as forcing something new on the unsuspecting public, as if it\u2019s some singular hive mind. However, that\u2019s far from the truth.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Though even Warren seems to understand how niche this new wheel size is:<\/p>\n

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This isn\u2019t to say 32in wheels don\u2019t have any\u00a0downsides. You need to think about gearing choices, for one thing. But most importantly, because the wheels are significantly larger than\u00a0700c, it\u2019s not a one-size-fits-all proposition either. If you\u2019re shorter than around 5ft 10in, I don\u2019t think the wheel size will be right for you.<\/em><\/p>\n

I think taller riders will embrace it, though. I have a couple of riding friends much taller than me (I\u2019m 6ft 2in), who\u2019ve always struggled to find bikes that fit, and even when they do, they\u2019re not exactly good-looking.<\/em><\/p>\n

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A quick Internet search suggests that a mere 15% of the adult population here in West Greenland is taller than 5\u201910\u201d, and almost all of them are men. (Only something like 2% of women are taller than that.) So sure, it\u2019s not a bad thing that tall guys can opt for a bike with larger wheels, but when you think about it, the fact that they\u2019ve gotten this much attention when such a small number of people will have any use for them is completely insane.<\/p>\n

So to sum up:<\/p>\n

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  • New stuff = good<\/li>\n
  • Choice = good<\/li>\n
  • New stuff completely replacing old stuff that was still really good = bad<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    And finally, speaking of the passage of time, witness the evolution of Manhattan\u2019s fastest bike messenger:<\/p>\n

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