I got thinking

Scanning the headlines this morning I noticed the BB30 standard stuff popping up over on BikeRadar.com. Makes sense. And. Well when it comes down to it, it sure as hell seems to be identical to the Klein BB of the past.

Ya know. The straight BB spindle and the green locktited on pressed in bearing that lasts for EVER. Still light strong.

And ever since I adjusted my brand new 9 speed Dura-Ace BB in my Q-pro back in 1998 I've been wondering if it wouldn't be possible to make that work in the MT bike somehow, or machine the BB in the Q-Pro to fit some special bearings.

Now I take a closer look at the BB30 standard (down load the PDF if you are curious about the specs) and think, now that's cool. I wonder, i wonder how close the Adroit is to being able to make use of that.

But what I see is Gary Klein (pre-Trek neutering of the line) being so far ahead of the curve that people forget.

Bottom bracket...
Minimalistic Dropouts... (so what, rear entry ones are a pain but not that bad and are predecessors to other little ones)
And the big one...

Headset. Check it. People RAILED AND RANTED and Bitched and whined and carried on about how STUPID it was to be tied to ONE fork the whole life of the bike, not being able to put a chris king in there was sacrilege. But. Now it seems bikes are designed for a specific fork (sounds familiar) and use proprietary headsets. Wow.

Not to mention the fact that the lower bearing is bigger than the top (where have I seen that recently).

Ya know, when it comes right down to it. My Bike frame and fork with 1991 technology is still as advanced if not more so than some of these fancy 2008 models. Sure it is a bit heavier, but I'm heavier now than I was in 1991...

Like the 29" wheel pioneers, the guys who thought of stuff first often get overlooked as progress eventually catches up to them.

I guess the funniest thing is, when you look at who "owns" the BB30 web page...

It is cannondale.

Once again. They aren't smart enough, talented enough, innovative enough, to come up with really good ideas on their own.

did they wait for Trek to totally stop selling Kleins in the US before launching that page?

I wonder.

Sometimes I think they should have stuck to making cool panniers and bike bags and what ever they did those first handful of years before copying Cunningham and Klein... and copying both badly...

me?

biased?

never... and yes i've owned and ridden cannondales... sold them too...

I guess selling a bike is a great way to learn about the company. You get fed all the sales 'secrets' the key points that separates the bikes from others.

Not just bikes. Microscopes, cars, people need catch phrases to differentiate themselves.

Funniest thing I witness is when a company one year is hard selling a very specific feature that only they offer. Convincingly and intensely selling that feature. Only. In the next new product revision to do things the say way their competitors do. Absolutely hysterical. I've had so much fun with that, getting them to argue against their old arguments. It is very funny to watch them flinch in face of their own arguments that they used "on me" a year or more ago.

Things change. That's cool. reasons are often good ones.

I dunno where the hell i'm going right now with this.

Should can it.

siesta anyone?
heddwch
G