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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!decwrl!amd!fortune!wdl1!jbn
From: jbn@wdl1.UUCP (jbn )
Newsgroups: net.bicycle
Subject: Re: Mountain Bikes
Message-ID: <401@wdl1.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 7-Sep-84 21:21:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: wdl1.401
Posted: Fri Sep  7 21:21:25 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 16-Sep-84 06:24:28 EDT
Lines: 20
Nf-ID: #R:ccieng5:-50500:wdl1:3000003:000:868
Nf-From: wdl1!jbn    Sep  7 14:28:00 1984


     No, a mountain bike is not basically an old American bike with ten-
speed goodies, although that is how it started up in Marin.  Try this test:

    1.  Go to a bike shop that carries either Richey Mountain Bikes or the
	Specialized Stumpjumper.  Hold one at arm's length for one minute.

    2.  Now go to a Schwinn dealer and try that with a Schwinn Heavy Duty.

See the difference? 

     Nominally, a good mountain bike has about 80% of the efficiency of a
good 10-speed, in return for which you get much greater ruggedness.  Or
so I'm told; the distance you can coast on the the flat is far greater on
a good 10-speed than on a good mountain bike.  But this may be a bad measure.

     What I really like about mountain bikes is that they have decent brakes.
Brakes have always been the weak point of the modern bicycle, and those
big cantilevers feel nice.