Call me crazy, but don't you think the makers of "Ghost" bicycles and their Canadian reseller, MEC, might want to do a little re-branding? I mean, would you buy a Ghost brand bike? I'm not normally superstitious, but I suspect that there is a certain amount of "punitive irony" in the cosmos with my name on it.
Buying a Ghost bike seems like a surefire way to test that belief. Not gonna do it. Uh uh. Just sayin'.
Of course, most consumers of bicycles don't feed on a steady diet of bike stuff off the Internet and elsewhere and thus would not know that the white-painted memorials to fallen cyclists are also called "ghost bikes".
I did a little googlifying and it would seem MEC is fully aware of the unfortunate name but has to live with it or drop this supplier of what they consider good stuff from Germany, which they aren't planning on.
Article with MECs "response" here.
They say the brand has not been affected in Europe, but still, who's to know? The company's web site didn't say when they were founded, but I wikipediafied that the company was founded in 1993, which I am pretty sure pre-dates the "ghost bike" memorial movement. It would seem they are the victims of chance on this one. I'll bet they're none too happy, but don't want to abandon the brand recognition they have achieved.
Damn it, I started this post wanting to poke fun at the unfortunate name, but instead what has happened is that now I'm feeling sorry for the company and jonesing for a nice modern mountain bike. I haven't owned one in a long time and the bikes I just saw have me all worked up. Damn Ghosts! Get out of my mind!
Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K