BoTM Jan 2011 Pre' 90 Special - The Poll

[GoldenEraMTB]

Regarding the thread I made last night:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... c&start=15

John, it was a bit tongue in cheek, but I thought it was a good opportunity to address the end of the of the BoTM poll, especially with such a close vote, and many members on the West coast of the US. Why not end it at midnight for all the members.

Anyway, cheers to the participants, and the winners.

 

[makster]

I do agree though that the poll should have stayed open until the end of the month on a global level. This is a site with many overseas members now and as many like to wait until the last moment, they should have been allowed to vote.

Just my 2p

Looks like we have a volunteer to stay up and follow the sun at the end of each month

 

[makster]

Opinions are like hair growth in strange places, we've all got them, but not everyone needs to know about them.

Using what I can remember of my photography course and Art & design course, these are my own opinions on both the bike and the pictures. To be taken with a pinch of salt if you dont handle constructive criticism too well.

Looking at each bike individually:

Legrandfromage's Green Bicycle of Quality / Mystery - cack grainy photo, but then the bike was being used - no effort to make it 'period' as only the frame and wheels were original - the colour, however, screams 1980's.

Jerky's Pace RC100 - crap picture! No effort made whatsoever, is it even 1980's? right at the extreme end of the decade but evocative of the early 1990's.

bduc61's Ferraroli California - yet another poor quality picture lets down a quality entry from right splat bang in the MTB boom of the mid/ late 1980's.

kirbdug's 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - Shame its a small pic, evocative 'paper round class' iconic paint Saracen that would appeal to those of us of a certain 'age' thumbing through early MBUKs and hanging around a bicycle shop wondering when the Christmas club starts.

Sithlord's 1988 Fisher Mt Tam - good pic and no effort spared to make this an excellent entry.

Crantinope's Kona Explosif - good quality pic, bright, shows off the colours and the condition perfectly. About as period as it can get.

oneschnark's 1989 Grove Hard Core - excellent bike but groupset makes it look too 1990's. Shame pic is cropped.

Gravy Monster's 1989 Raleigh Avanti - good quality pic, bike is a perfect demonstration of what can still be found out there.

GoldenEraMTB's 1988 Fat Chance Wicked - dark pic of a dark and rather anonymous bicycle. If it wasnt for the decals, nobody would know what it was. The casual voter would just skip this with barely a glance.

Makster's 1988 Jamis Dakota Competition - well thought composition, except, we cant see any of the frame detail! Light is from the wrong direction which means those over bright tyres take over the shot.

bmx4130cromo's 1985 GT Timberline - A big bright pic of a big bright bicycle. Spot on.

doctor-bond's 1989 Roberts Peugeot - a good set up spoilt by fussy detailed background obscuring details of the bike itself

landsbee's 1988 Kuwahara Cascade Cross - good detailed shot showing off some nice 1980's period parts like lugs and the bull bars.

Ductape's Ritchey Timber Comp - Another good compostion making the most of the dirt drops with a hint of rollercam spoilt by cropped bike and flash flare from the shiny bits.

skolioza's 1989 Scott Boulder - a bright bike spoilt by poor lighting and small pic.

Dr S' 1983 Specialized Stumpjumper - An excellent 'flat' picture showing just about as much frame detail as you could want but shame it doesnt show off the bull bars and big wide cantis

beavis' 1989 Marin Palisades Trail - theres a bike in there somewhere but all that sun flaring on the lens (dirty lens?) obscures a bright flouro end of decade iconic paint job.

wired99's 1985 Claud Butler Canyon - good large shot spoilt by the angle. Gives a quite rare bike the look of a childs bike.

kaytronika's Saracen Tufftrax - what a shame! Near perfect light to show off the Saracens' blue and all we get is a squashed face on pose.

kaiser's KHS Montana XT - excellent composition showing detail of the 1st generation indexed thumbies, hite-rite and so on - bike let down by bloody awful tyres! What were you thinking!

bushpig's 1988 Cunningham Racer - good composition, shows all the details, hint of rollercam, good frame detailing - bike let down by Cunningham decal (original or not, it spoils the whole look).

garethl's Pinarello - evocative 1980's detailing let down by piss poor pic and modern saddle. no effort made to show it off.

hollister's Bontrager - grainy pic and odd composition spoils what should have been a better represented bicycle.

This was BOTM right, and not POTM?? I take zero notice of the photography when looking at an entry (oo err ).
Its all about the bike and how much I'd like to own/ride it.
I'm a simple lad with simple tastes...and thats just how I is

 

[kaiser]

Have to say the pic does play a significant part in my appraisal of the bike. Needs to be presented well to grab my attention.


FWIW talk of conspiracy and the like is unfounded, I think it shows a lack of understanding of the British mentality and why the Kona won.

 

[mfh126]

Congrats, Nick! I guess I'll need to build a Kona if I want to win BoTM.

 

[legrandefromage]

GoldenEraMTB's 1988 Fat Chance Wicked - dark pic of a dark and rather anonymous bicycle. If it wasnt for the decals, nobody would know what it was. The casual voter would just skip this with barely a glance.

I'll only address your comments on my bike.

"nobody" should be changed to "I", and then you would be right.
You would not know what it was, and might be better served by speaking for yourself, unless you really believe you speak for everybody. I have a link to many bright pics of the bike in my sig, not that hard to see more of it, and get a better idea.
As for it being "anonymous", again, a rather foolish opinion. The only "anonymous" bike in this poll was your own.
The "casual voter" is who exactly? Can you name one? This site is geared to old mtb enthusiasts, so I fail to see where someone who would bother to make an account and participate would be "casual" about these bikes. They don't have to be fanatical, but casual, nah.

You actually seem serious in making these remarks, otherwise I would've taken it as I do most of your comments, as light, with a fair amount of cheekiness.

To be taken with a pinch of salt if you dont handle constructive criticism too well.

Looking at each bike individually:

See above - there are many registered users that dont contribute regularly and not everybody would instantly recognise your bike as a Fat, especially looking as it does in the picture that you chose as a representation of your bike. It was constructive criticism, not a stab at you or the brand. I included my wholly anonymous bike as it perfectly represented what the UK MTB scene was back then, it was either follow the Ritchey design or branch out on your own. Clearly the designer followed the latter with an eye on UK conditions rather follow sheep like as nearly all others did at the time.

To everybody - If you are going to post pics of your bikes and you want them taken seriously, why not take some time with the photo. After all, its your hard work that you want to show off. It harms no-one.

 

[legrandefromage]

This was BOTM right, and not POTM?? I take zero notice of the photography when looking at an entry (oo err ).
Its all about the bike and how much I'd like to own/ride it.
I'm a simple lad with simple tastes...and thats just how I is

You know how many people view the site without joining - the BoTM is the Retrobike shop window. A good picture sells the site and your efforts. A crap picture doesnt.

I regret my entry.

 

[legrandefromage]

GoldenEraMTB's 1988 Fat Chance Wicked - dark pic of a dark and rather anonymous bicycle. If it wasnt for the decals, nobody would know what it was. The casual voter would just skip this with barely a glance.

I'll only address your comments on my bike.

"nobody" should be changed to "I", and then you would be right.
You would not know what it was, and might be better served by speaking for yourself, unless you really believe you speak for everybody. I have a link to many bright pics of the bike in my sig, not that hard to see more of it, and get a better idea.
As for it being "anonymous", again, a rather foolish opinion. The only "anonymous" bike in this poll was your own.
The "casual voter" is who exactly? Can you name one? This site is geared to old mtb enthusiasts, so I fail to see where someone who would bother to make an account and participate would be "casual" about these bikes. They don't have to be fanatical, but casual, nah.

You actually seem serious in making these remarks, otherwise I would've taken it as I do most of your comments, as light, with a fair amount of cheekiness.

To be taken with a pinch of salt if you dont handle constructive criticism too well.

Looking at each bike individually:

See above - there are many registered users that dont contribute regularly and not everybody would instantly recognise your bike as a Fat, especially looking as it does in the picture that you chose as a representation of your bike. It was constructive criticism, not a stab at you or the brand. I included my wholly anonymous bike as it perfectly represented what the UK MTB scene was back then, it was either follow the Ritchey design or branch out on your own. Clearly the designer followed the latter with an eye on UK conditions rather follow sheep like as nearly all others did at the time.


*EDIT - the irony is not lost on me that we both garnered the same amount of votes...

To everybody - If you are going to post pics of your bikes and you want them taken seriously, why not take some time with the photo. After all, its your hard work that you want to show off. It harms no-one.

 

[orange71]

Regarding the thread I made last night:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... c&start=15

John, it was a bit tongue in cheek, but I thought it was a good opportunity to address the end of the of the BoTM poll, especially with such a close vote, and many members on the West coast of the US. Why not end it at midnight for all the members.

Anyway, cheers to the participants, and the winners.

Am I missing something - why would you leave your vote until the last minute? You have a month to vote. So what if it's a close vote near the end - would tactics come into which bike you voted for rather than the one you liked the most? Shame if it does.

Don't take this the wrong way, I just don't understand why this is an issue.

 

[legrandefromage]

HA! The Fat and the Green thing - 5 votes each.

The public has spoken, my bikes as good as a fat chance.

Fact.


















I'll get my coat...