Additional to yesterday’s publish, the response to Basic Cycle Thursdays Giveaway Wednesday, Sponsored by Basic Cycle Thursdays was whelming:

In case you assume you’ve got nowhere to place a motorcycle you’re not attempting laborious sufficient, however the sender assured me his bathtub is already stuffed with bikes. I’m certain the Softride would have match properly on the fireplace escape however I didn’t press. Look, I get it, some individuals are simply in it for the joys of the hunt.

Right here, by the best way, is the advert, which I’ve now taken down now that re-homing preparations are underway (extra on that later):

Consider it or not, I didn’t obtain a single honest supply from any unwitting Craigslist buyers. It was the one Softride on there, too, that means it was one of the best deal within the tri-state space by default–to say nothing of the whole absence of them on The Professional’s Closet:

$68 million in funding and no Softrides?

Pathetic.

There have been loads of Normcore Bikes on Craigslist although:

I assume a few of these are repeat postings, however at first look you may’t even inform, as a result of if you happen to’ve seen one Normcore Bike you’ve seen all of them.

Additionally, if you happen to had been partaking within the scavenger hunt and had by no means visited New York Metropolis Craigslist earlier than, you’ll have seen that individuals ask some huge cash for his or her bikes. That is for 2 causes:

1. Costs are typically inflated in New York Metropolis
2. Egos are additionally inflated. Individuals who dwell in New York Metropolis have a bloated sense of their very own significance and assume issues are price extra for mere advantage of their having owned it

Each of those clarify why a publish asking $5,900 for an previous Softride was not flagged instantly.

However there may be hope for the dogged discount hunter. Usually talking the asking costs lower as you progress out into the suburbs, the place they’re largely seen as storage litter versus important hipster equipment–therefore the Normcore Bike in Bronxville going for means lower than those in Ditmas Park:

It even comes with a Zefal pump, although they weren’t fairly in a position to hit that pump peg:

Good job demonstrating the chain hanger although:

I’ve had a number of bikes with chain hangers over time and never as soon as have I ever remembered to make use of them.

Anyway, get it now earlier than Ditmas Park grabs it, pumps up the tires, and re-lists it for $450. In truth it’s most likely price it for the pump alone. Now that they’re being discontinued it’ll quickly be extra helpful than the bike.

And no, you may’t get one from The Professional’s Closet:

What the hell? It’s just like the “Cheese Store” sketch from Monty Python! Do they even have any bikes price proudly owning in any respect?

Anyway, ought to the winner of the Softride choose to make use of it as a gravel bike, right here’s one one that would approve:

I do know in search of sense in a BikeRadar publish is like attempting to order a bagel at McDonald’s, however I can’t assist being stunned that there are individuals who nonetheless don’t get why the entire garvel bike factor has occurred:

Garvel bikes don’t exist regardless of the proliferation of mountain bike tech; they exist due to it. On the leisure rider stage, a gravel bike is what a mountain bike was once–a sturdy bike with wide-range gearing and clearance for knobby tires that allowed you to enterprise offroad:

Although they weren’t totally restricted to offroad use, as they usually additionally included provisions for racks and stuff like that which allowed folks to configure them for touring, or for different extra sensible functions:

After awhile, although, the mountain bike turned this:

And ultimately what folks name “mountain biking” went from using your bike on trails to an excessive sport based mostly on utilizing large shocks with wheels hooked up to them that loosely resemble bicycles:

However imagine it or not, regardless of what the magazines inform you, not everyone who enjoys using on trails is concerned with going up within the air whereas using a bicycle:

I imply definitely there are individuals who do need to go up within the air, and there’s completely nothing fallacious with that, however I believe far more don’t–but there’s no query in my thoughts that at a sure level mountain biking determined to go along with the path riders who need to “ship it” and determined to disregard the many individuals preferring to “maintain it.” However the “maintain it” folks by no means went away, they usually nonetheless needed a sporty bike you might journey on a path, or on a street to a path, and that was fairly rugged but wasn’t so sophisticated and ponderous on pavement that you just’d reasonably cling it off the again of your truck than journey it on clean terrain:

And there’s your gravel bike:

Principally, the bike business took one thing away from folks, they usually needed it again. So the bike business gave it to them. However the bike business being the bike business, and the bike media being folks like the one who wrote this BikeRadar factor, they’re already taking it away once more and turning the gravel bikes again into mountain bikes:

Which means some new sort of motorcycle will ultimately come alongside that restores simplicity to the gravel bike, and the cycle will start anew.

The suspension gravel bike of at this time is the Softride of tomorrow.