Seen On The WWW

Saw this little nugget of wordage out there on the WWW concerning a certain $7,000+ full suspension bike that was shown at Interbike:

"team bikes are 200g lighter still with special lay-ups that put
a higher premium on performance and less on long-term durability."

WHAT?

I'm sorry, let me re-phrase that- WHAT THE F*CK?

While it's no secret that "light and durable" really don't go together the way "light and freaking fast" go together, it's still amazing to me that a product of such expense is produced and its eventual failure is accepted so easily for the sake of few hundred grams of weight. I know I sure wouldn't want to be heading down a rocky descent and have to think about whether my carbon frame was going to unravel under me.

I know what you're going to say... "but the races that this bike would be used in aren't that technical, and so that is not really an issue." And to you I say- If the course isn't technical then you could probably just ride a hard tail built a little stronger, that would still be as light or lighter and lose the worry all together. AND save yourself (or the team/mfg.) a few thousand dollars in the process. Which in turn would save customers across the board cash allowing them to race more, ride, more and need more stuff. I also recognize that it's a "team bike" and that means that team riders are getting these bikes, most likely on a Pro sponsorship deal, and won't be on the floor at your LBS, but it still seems a bit extreme, costly and to be honest a bit dangerous.

But then again, what I know? My knowledge of a successful business, and being fast on bike could fit with room to spare on the head of a pin.

Later