Jobst stories

[spoonrobot]

I reference this incredible archive several times a week

https://yarchive.net/bike/index.html

[mcteague]

He was reported to be 6’5” tall. Rec.bicycles.tech was a great newsgroup back in the pre WWW days. Still amazed he did so much off road stuff on skinny tires while wearing standard leather road shoes!

Tim

[EB]

The nostalgia about Jobst is funny. It is totally rad that he inspired Tom Ritchey, yes. And he was a very smart guy. But he was also fairly abrasive on Usenet - sort of an ur-forum bad guy. A sampling:

https://yarchive.net/bike/bicycle_industry.html

This was a classic Usenet "archetype" - the sophisticated curmudgeon. I spent a lot of time on Usenet in the 90s and this sort of thing got pretty old after awhile - I did some of this kind of posting myself, but I was a 16 year old kid and didn't know any better.

The other extremely ironic thing about Jobst and the Radavist is that they're dealing in nostalgia for the time these folks lived and and the equipment that they used, but Jobst was famously hard on equipment, and had almost nothing good to say about the bicycle products of the day. My guess is that if he was around today, doing the same thing, he'd most likely be riding a full suspension e-mtb (and complaining on the Internet about that, too).

[MikeD]

I met Jobst on a ride once (backside of Mt Hamilton/Mines Rd junction cafe). He was riding solo on the Mt Hamilton loop (a 105 mile ride with 8500' of climbing). Nice person. He commented on my low spoke count wheels. I told him they came with the bike and I'll replace them when they break, which, like he said, eventually did.

[Sihardy]

Originally Posted by Eli Bingham

The nostalgia about Jobst is funny. It is totally rad that he inspired Tom Ritchey, yes. And he was a very smart guy. But he was also fairly abrasive on Usenet - sort of an ur-forum bad guy. A sampling:

https://yarchive.net/bike/bicycle_industry.html

This was a classic Usenet "archetype" - the sophisticated curmudgeon. I spent a lot of time on Usenet in the 90s and this sort of thing got pretty old after awhile - I did some of this kind of posting myself, but I was a 16 year old kid and didn't know any better.

The other extremely ironic thing about Jobst and the Radavist is that they're dealing in nostalgia for the time these folks lived and and the equipment that they used, but Jobst was famously hard on equipment, and had almost nothing good to say about the bicycle products of the day. My guess is that if he was around today, doing the same thing, he'd most likely be riding a full suspension e-mtb (and complaining on the Internet about that, too).

He had an engineer's intolerance for bs, which I appreciated:

"The bike industry is low tech and is driven by fads,
personal quirks and marketing."

[d_douglas]

I cannot help but cringe when looking at someone riding on 25mm tires offroad. seems like there were alot of broken wheels and flat tires back in the day.

My commuter is an old timey cyclocross bike that I have used for riding in these environments with 35mm knobbies, and even then, I made some nasty contact with rocks over the years, so 25mm filetreads mustve been very exciting!

[spoonrobot]

Originally Posted by Eli Bingham

My guess is that if he was around today, doing the same thing, he'd most likely be riding a full suspension e-mtb (and complaining on the Internet about that, too).

Considering he completely avoided the MTB-trend and was using almost the same vintage equipment on his last ride where he crashed in 2011, I doubt it.

Jobst at home with his bike

[EB]

Originally Posted by spoonrobot

Considering he completely avoided the MTB-trend and was using almost the same vintage equipment on his last ride where he crashed in 2011, I doubt it.

If he was the same age now. Not literally the same person. But nevermind.

[witcombusa]

Originally Posted by spoonrobot

Considering he completely avoided the MTB-trend and was using almost the same vintage equipment on his last ride where he crashed in 2011, I doubt it.

That's a nice looking Ritchie frame he's got there!
Looks like it's set up as half step gearing too.

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by witcombusa

That's a nice looking Ritchie frame he's got there!
Looks like it's set up as half step gearing too.

And he finally adopted indexed shifting and SPD pedals!

Tim

[crankles]

Originally Posted by witcombusa

That's a nice looking Ritchie frame he's got there!
Looks like it's set up as half step gearing too.

I'm pretty sure that's a Peter Johnson (RIP) Frame, one of the great bay area frame builders who almost never built frames...too busy custom machining new cam shafts for 60 yr old Ferrari 250 GTs or some such. His workshop was some a sight to behold, the campy toolbox being the least interesting thing in it.

[David Benson]

Originally Posted by witcombusa

That's a nice looking Ritchie frame he's got there!
Looks like it's set up as half step gearing too.

The frame in the photos is by Peter Johnson

[fiamme red]

If you're interested in Jobst, you need to read this two-part Q&A with Ray Hosler.

https://www.mamnick.com/blogs/journa...q-a-ray-hosler

https://www.mamnick.com/blogs/journa...ith-ray-hosler

You rode a lot with Jobst Brandt, he had a reputation for straight-talking on rec.bike. What was he like in person?

Jobst was an extremely complex person. In general, you shouldn't pigeon hole people, especially Jobst. People have many sides to them that are not visible until you've spent time with them, and even then they may act differently depending on who they're with. I always got along well with Jobst. He could be harsh in his condemnations, but he was a loyal friend who would do anything to help you with a problem. You'll have to read my book, Once Upon a Ride, to get a better picture.

https://www.magcloud.com/user/rayhosler

He was one in a million, the smartest person I ever knew as a friend.

[jbay]

Originally Posted by David Benson

The frame in the photos is by Peter Johnson

Agreed. The giveaway, from a distance, is that it is wearing a threadless Ritchey stem, which Jobst adopted relatively late on and definitely post-Ritchey frame.

You can see more details on his Peter Johnson frame here:

https://www.bikecult.com/works/archi...hnsonJB04.html

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by jbay

Agreed. The giveaway, from a distance, is that it is wearing a threadless Ritchey stem, which Jobst adopted relatively late on and definitely post-Ritchey frame.

You can see more details on his Peter Johnson frame here:

https://www.bikecult.com/works/archi...hnsonJB04.html

I'm curious how the stem gives way to the frame being made by Peter Johnson?

Thanks