HOY Bikes at Evans

So you fell off your bike and buckled your wheel then. Hardly proves a point.

yes come get your hoy bikes in may

maddy you plonker

hahaha rep 4 madz

We're mugs if we give a toss about something as base as going faster than the other guy, basically. Like fucking animals, neanderthals. It makes me shocked just how much importance 'sporting prowess' is given by our consciousnesses.

I disagree if you are talking about generally going faster. Understanding and pushing the limits (in this case) of human physiology is interesting to me. Striving to improve is fundamental regardless if it is physics, TdF, medicine, manufacturing, or even CPU speeds. It seems to me that measurement (by competition?) is a pretty good way of quantifying this.

Sure genes, circumstance, and money enable some individuals to picked up by the 'system'. But I rarely give a monkey's about the individual, and am more interested in the result... can a human run 100m in under 9secs?

That said, I think you have a point when it comes to football.

My 2p .. they may be the next step up from a BSO, who knows until they're available, but let's put into perspective he is not the first cyclist to put his name to a brand and even the cyclists who've started their own brands are cashing on the name they made, otherwise they'd name the brand something else instead of Hampstead, Lemond, Merckx etc. Also remember it is well documented Merckx needed De Rosa as technical consultant at start up of his brand ..

Not that Hoy's in the same division as Merckx in my opinion ..

^this

I think they look pretty good for entry level (although I wouldn't buy one).

No track bike tho? That I would like to see.

Oh skully playing up to being a retrogrouch again. No-one has a problem with Merckx or whoever making bikes (though hoy making one track bike would have been nice)

'I’m really enjoying** building my brand** from scratch,' Hoy added.

From the photos it looks like Mssr Hoy is doing a Falcon--- the maker of the first Merckx branded bicycles. The Hoys look not unlike what Lidl or Aldi might sell...

With Falcon Merckx just licensed his name. It was a time when cyclist income was comparatively modest. He might have been amongst the higher earners but he never earned anything like Armstrong, LeMond or probably even what Hoy is now earning in advertising revenue. Merckx probably made more money riding 6 days...

When Merckx opened his factory he wanted to make good bicycles. His bicycles had some success because they were very good. Being "Merckx" did not hurt getting people to look but he backed it up with substance. (its also no wonder with the changing market structure and demand for Chinese carbon that he sold the brandname and closed his company)

I would suggest that people will idol worship whomever they can, and at I'd prefer that to be Hoy, rather than some C-list celeb. I actually agree with most of your points, although I think the cause is the opposite, just felt this wasn't the place for the discussion and that Hoy was being singled out. Apologies for ranting.

@Branwen
I'm not suggesting banning anything. I'm suggesting it's not entertaining, or harmless fun, but a kind if insidious disease. I think there are better things for us to think about, write about, make tv about, write books about, hell, even name bicycles after, than some meathead adrenaline junkies who won some races. Much, much better. I think our society is the poorer for loving, idolising, worshipping people who are marginally better at doing something fast, because they get loads of privelege and attention and support to do that, than some other similarly priveleged and physically apt people, all in the name of 'national pride'.

We're mugs if we give a toss about something as base as going faster than the other guy, basically. Like fucking animals, neanderthals. It makes me shocked just how much importance 'sporting prowess' is given by our consciousnesses.

Also remember it is well documented Merckx needed De Rosa as technical consultant at start up of his brand ..

If I'm not mistaken the company was started with Ugo DeRosa as partner. I would not be surprized if DeRosa had a share until the very end.
Since the barn was primarily focused on making steel some Merckx Alu frames were said to have been made in Italy (probably by DeRosa) to Merckx specs.

Os Mutantes - Panis Et Circenses [HD] - YouTube

That recorder solo's fucking brilliant! I've got some Oz Mutantes, will have to give it another listen.

Re: the man-mountain. Good luck to him.

I love this shit. Chris Hoy kicks ass, for years, constantly, grinding out pro level training on a crazy tight budget, with a wife and people to support. And people hate on him because he brings out a bike range and uses a massive chain such as Evans to sell them because he wants to earn a living?

Would it be more acceptable if he sat in his shed, brazing every single last part himself and to then sell on a market stall in some dismal town?

He's an ass kicker, and he's doing what he can. I doubt anyone here would do any differently given the chance.

Fuck Yeah, Sir Chris Hoy. Keep doing your thing.

'Crazy tight budget' - what the fuck are you talking about? Your normal levels of no bullshit perception have deserted you.

Would it be more acceptable if he sat in his shed, brazing every single last part himself and to then sell on a market stall in some dismal town?.

yes. preferably with a large and very itchy beard.

Swedish philosopher Torborn Tannsjo talks of the innate elitism within sport being a function of a 'fascistoid' ideology. I'm driving at something similar, I guess.

@Branwen
I guess you're right, this may not be the place.

Where's that picture of Chugit hanging out with Thatcher?!?

I'm imagining skully as the geeky kid in an american teen film who's always getting beaten up by 'the jocks'.

I actually own (not through choice, the selection was very poor) an Anthony Worrall Thompson digital scale. What is the point of this? I almost purposefully didn't buy it because it had his stupid fat face beaming out at me on the box.

Don't you like any sports Skully? It's just a bit of fun

I am ashamed to say I own a James Martin hand blender. Everytime I use it I feel the need to curse his pig faced image on the box.

spits

I don't mind him launching his own bikes but it's the Evans bit that rankles with me.

Good luck to anyone who buys one when they realise they aren't fit for purpose/break - Evans won't want to know.

He could at least have distributed them via independents, instead of putting another nail in the coffin of local bike shops.

You just want a Hoy audax bike though...

From the Evans blog regarding future bikes in the range.......

"A steel Keirin bike is a possibility too…"

I'm calling bollocks on that one.