14 September

Stuff. Too much stuff.

I just left my favorite bike shop. And even there there are so many different kinds of bikes that it just makes you want to leave and go into the woods. Bikes don't even look like they're supposed to look or like they used to look. there are 500 different kinds of them.

No wonder the ridng seems to be going crazy! The bikes are 2 times as big as they used to be- with so much suspension  you should be able to comfortably jump off a house. I fail to understand why we need three different kinds of wheel sizes and plus (fat) sizes of those wheel sizes.

Unless of course we don't, and the bike manufacturers are just making them available because they need to make money. And why do they need to make money? so they can stay in business? No. so that they can always grow- constantly. At least the Treks and Specializeds.

And it isn't just cycling. It's happening everywhere. 15 types of Oreos. Whole aisles of toothpaste. And don't get me started about bibles. Check out the number of ice cream flavors at your local supermarket. Why? Are vanilla and chocolate not enough? How perfectly tailored does ice cream need to be, anyway?

All of this points to the same fact about the modern world. What makes us feel that we need/deserve the PERFECT experience? Not just a bike ride but one perfectly suited to us. Not just a snack partway through, but the precise flavor we crave. To relax we listen to streaming music that caters to every whim.

An aside: The bike company Yeti released 3 new full suspension bikes this summer. The first has 100 millimeters of spring. About 3.94". The second arrived a few months later, with 150 mms, or about 5.9". Yesterday, they released a 130mm bike. (5.12") REALLY? So, basically, you want me to believe that there's enough of a difference between 4, 5, and 6" of travel, that it justifies making all three? Any of us could probably feel the difference between 4 and 6, but between either one and that inbetween model? I call BS.

And that's all fine. Whatever. But are we losing some resiliency from all this choice? Are we unable to enjoy simple vanilla or a random bryan Adams song anymore because we're so pampered and catered to?

Maybe that's why we can't get along with each other.



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