Friday, April 10, 2015

And what if the new Madone was really...a reptile?

You guys ever seen Ancient Aliens? It's one of my favorite TV shows not in small part due to the fact that they take Giorgio A. Tsoukalos seriously.
This guy

Among many other things, he's an ex-bodybuilding promoter. His degree (bachelor's, mind you) is in "Sports Information." Annnd...he's the authority on ancient history as it relates to extraterrestrials and their communication with our ancestors and what information was passed? Meh...I'll allow it. Check him out, he's awesome.

Back to Ancient Aliens, every episode and then every sub-topic within the episode uses the same set 'em up, knock 'em down approach: here's a subject, here's what we "know" about that subject, but is it possible that this subject exists because of aliens? Man, Ancient Aliens, even though you just theorized the same thing 10 minutes ago about crystal skulls, and now you're talking about the ark of the covenant, you got me again (and I've even seen all of the Indiana Jones moves). Mind officially blown.

The answer to what they propose, of course, is always, "Yes. It is possible that all of this stuff came from aliens. Anything is possible, even if it's highly improbable." They know that, so that's your show.

I didn't know they had The History Channel in England, but this article from BikeRadar.com suggests they might (damn satellites).

I'm banking on a new "everyday Tri bike." For sure.
You don't have to read it, all they're saying is: we know the Madone exists and is due for a redesign from TREK soon. We have no other information. Is it possible that the new Madone is going to be a super slick aero machine with little concern for weight reduction?

Absolutely that is possible, gents. It's equally possible that since TREK now has the superlight and stiff Emonda, and multiple geometry options in the extremely-compliant and well-received Domane, and all of the aero technology one could want in the Speed Concept, that they combine all three things together into one super-bike.

Or maybe they think the name "Madone" has been tarnished by all of those titles being stripped and no longer see a need to continue with it. Maybe they'll introduce a completely new name and concept. Anything's possible, but the point is that you don't know, and I don't know. Given that we don't know, and this isn't a TV show, and BikeRadar is the largest, most supported bike-related website out there, these "hype" articles disguised as "speculation" pieces leave a bad taste in my mouth. The message, I think, ends up being distilled down to the Kool Aid "that conspiracy guy with too much bronzer and crazy hair" drinks.

We'll see something new from TREK in late May (and trust me, it will have a disc brake option), but before that we have a big social media/bike superfan weekend upon us right now, kids. In store we have Trek Fest, and in France there's Paris-Roubaix and the kickoff of the World Cup DH season in Lourdes. It's gonna be sloppy, and between Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and this space you're probably gonna be sick of me if you're not already. Be warned and enjoy.