Devil's Advocate

I love Toronto's scene. That's why I'm always critical, because I want to see it back at the lofty heights it reached before. If I come off as being overly harsh to Dropmachine or Pinkbike, so be it, I want things to change.

By extension, I want to support Canada's small-time bike scene in any and every way possible. I'm waiting for the day I can proudly say I bought a local frame. As some of you know, all of my life I've been riding Specializeds. I love the feel, and with the most recent iteration, I feel like I'm riding the best street...er....streat frame out there today. But come on, I'm riding a frame designed in California and welded in Taiwan. Hard to be proud of that.

Enter Dobermann bikes. They founded their company on the premise of not being a big guy, like Specialized is. They brought with them the new school of street geo, high BB, tiny back ends, and steep head angles. Really continuing where Norco left off with their Reynolds frames. But front and centre was the idea of customer service. You bust their shit? OK, they'll weld it up. Alain and Gabo prowl Pinkbike, looking for their beloved Dobermann name. They do custom shizz, if you so desire it. This, to be perfectly honest, is the frame I'd like to be riding. Specialized geo made in Canada. Perfect.

Look around online. No, look at Pinkbike. The Dobermann riders are essentiall an army of yes-men, and ANY criticism of the company or frames, no matter how trifling, and you are swarmed with angry Dobermann riders. This is where I come in. It's come to my attention that Alain wants to discuss my Dober-hating. Well then...

I want to see Dobermann progress into more than just "the next .243". I choose to criticize because I want to see them move forward. If no-one lights a fire under their asses, they'll get lazy and stop progressing, only to become stagnant like .243. Are they even still in business? Who knows?! That's my point. Don't want to see another promising Canadian brand go down the tubes. Yes, I am very often hard on them, but someone has to be. Not everyone has the online confidence or online eloquence (if I do say so myself) to speak against them like I do. So obviously I have to be the Devil's Advocate in almost every case.

Alain, ya dig?