Todays New York Times brings us a how-to article with basic advice on buying a bike and riding it from Jonathan Vaughters and Christian Vandevelde.
A few highlights.
On buying a bike? Vaughters advises that a $1500 bike is much better than a $800 bike. But $8000? Not so much. Save your cash, he says, and buy some nice shorts.
Allen Lim gives us recipes for homemade on-the-bike nutrition, involving rice and nutella.
A nice photo of Christian shows us correct bike fit. They give all the standard starter tips, like say, lining up your bars with your hub. There's also a complicated equation for your saddle to bottom bracket position. My brain exploded when they tried to mix inches and road bikes. I think I heard the cosmos crack. But then, plumb line isn't exactly simple-sounding either.
There's stuff about wattage, and how to find some base numbers.
Yet again, Garmin-Chipotle (ha! first use of the new name!) does a super fabulous job of press placement. This article appeared in the first page of the styles section, and a photo appeared in the front page table of contents. Nicely done. There's a surprising amount of information here. A totally new rider could clip and save, head to the bike shop, and have a decent starting point to talk bikes. Yes, the sticklers will argue that the fit information, for example, is hopelessly simplified. And yes, for an experienced rider it is. All the same, if you are new to the sport, you need a starting point, and these traditional "rules" are perfect for establishing a base line fit. You can then work from there to reach fit nirvana. For a styles section article, this one is well done. Indeed, perhaps the Times should have sent this writer to the press conference yesterday. The material is far more interesting than the press conference questions.
Chapeau to Vaughters for another well-placed and well-executed press appearance! And grazie to the New York Times for giving them some ink!
Read the entire article.