Posted by Rick Denney on June 17, 2002 at 13:03:56:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: The best Tuba posted by cyclista on June 17, 2002 at 12:11:15:
Off topic warning!
He rides the bike his sponsors give him. For the last few years, that has been a Trek OCLV road-race bike, which is very nice, light, and stiff. But it is not the most fun bike to ride, in my opinion, and I'm sure he would share that opinion over a beer. But he would rightly insist that it is the legs that propel the bike, not the frame material. He isn't there to have fun, and it's a completely competent bicycle (I know--I have one).
It happens to be made in the U.S., which is a huge attack on the heritage of this tradition-bound European sport. Let's say he did refuse to ride a bike made in Taiwan (which makes the majority of the world's bikes for export), he would only get away with it if the bike was not of top quality (there are a few excellent Taiwanese bikes). Then, they would call him a chauvinist. If he used the term "slant-eye" or mocked the name of someone from Taiwan, he would probably be called a racist. It wouldn't come to that, however. He'd quietly express his displeasure, and his Taiwanese sponsor would find him a bike of his choosing, slap their own label on it, and that would be the end of it.
Rick "thinking that knowing when to keeps one's mouth shut is part of being a champion--or a pro" Denney