So, which UCI pro tour team kits does he own, has he been convicted of wearing the bibs outside his jersey, and did he want to become an Iron Man until learning how much a full tri bike costs?
His particular brand of strange went in other directions...
- he rode an admittedly-pretty purple w/yellow graphics Spec. Hard Rock w/the factory-issued plastic flats 'cause A) more expensive bikes were "...a stupid waste of money..." since they all did the same thing, and B) flat pedals were "safer"; as for them being plastic, read A again. We'd put two or three pair a year on for him.
- he rode in a pair of those horrible dbl-knit coach's shorts (the ones that high-school football coaches wear, made by Champion I think), white hi-top Chucks, and a fanny-pack. Period. No jersey/shirt/etc ("..the solar energy's GOOD for you, man..."), no socks that we could tell, definitely no gloves or helmet. He had a DEEP dark tan (he was Caucasian and mid/late 30's) and I'd hate to think what he must look like now, or how much skin cancer he may have now (haven't seen him in a LONG time).
- He did put Avocet slicks on the bike and ran them up to about 80psi tho, and he
could ride, by himself anyway - we'd be up way in the mountains above Fresno (where I started in the industry) and see him out there also, spinning along at about 10/12 mph and, as he didn't own a car as far as we could tell, he had to have gotten himself up there on the bike.
- he was
anal about taking care of the bike - we'd have it in once a month or so for a tune-up 'cause he "...heard a noise...". My boss tried a number of times to politely tell him that he was essentially wasting his money bringing it in so often, but he didn't care. Jon finally gave up on that and told us to tune the bike...by far, the easiest bike we'd have to work on, as either Matt or I had done the same thing a few weeks ago. His 'tune' eventually evolved into basically a 10-minute check over, lube the chain (and replace it once or twice a year), and maybe touch up his wheels. Even better was that he
insisted on paying for a full basic tune ($40) 'cause "...that way I know it's been done right...". He did respect our work tho (we had a local rep for
good repair/builds/etc), and sent more than one person to us for stuff or labor, at least up until he tried to sue us over the Powerbars. After that, he pretty much stayed out of the shop and we eventually lost track of him, aside from seeing him out on the road at times.
WEIRD dude...
