brilliant

its actually brilliant, Carelman's Coffee Pot for Anarchists, it takes a second, but if you let it soak in you will get it! I was kicking back reading one of my new favorite books DIET..Design of Everyday Things..and came across this illustration. The author was making a point, that bad design is often accepted by the end user and the resulting poor performance or failure to understand how to work the damn thing as being user error...think about it! Those god damn morons that design road shifters...really? just because you can train someone to do things 'your way' doesn't matter, that is design dictating function! Folks, SRAM is a classic example. First off, any rich asshole can buy up all the manufacturers out there and start churning out product. Remember all those horrible grip shit..I mean 'grip shift' shifters? I remember being one of those sponsorship crazed racers that accepted a pair of x-rays (gee, brilliant..you can see thru the body!) anyhow, because of the muddy joy that IS New England racing, the damn things wouldn't let you shift if you grabbed them when wet! Solution? zip tie with the ugly and sharp little tab sticking out to get some grip on! folks, people were racing world cup with this! but I digress. At some point, SRAM swallows up Sachs and bang! now we make chains! then they buy up Rockshox! Bang, we make forks! then...Bang! we make road shifters....uh, in case you are coming in late to the scene, there was a time when Sachs (pre- Sram) made a shifter that was just like the Campy stuff, but priced for shop lackeys and rock solid (no cross bike was complete without a Sachs shifter!)

My point? simple, if I was the only guy making everything you used, don't you think I would have monopoly on things? Just because some world cup lycra clad weenie uses it, doesn't make it right, they got a habit to support!

So next time you are riding, and get pissed because you ended up cross chaining, or forgot to lock out your 3500 dollar full suspension (god, don't get me f-ing started on that stupidity) don't blame yourself, blame the 'system' and demand shit that works man!

out!