09-04-2017, 02:31 PM
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]I will respectfully disagree with your assessment of CR because I don’t think your decision to cancel your CR subscription took into consideration who is their intended audience. Out of ALL the bicycle owners in America, what percentage of them are professional bike racers? I have no idea and don’t care to look it up, but would guess that the percentage number is a single digit. And that population was NOT the audience at which CR aimed their report.
They were talking to the big box store buyers that buy bikes for their kids and maybe themselves for weekend jaunts around the park. And for that audience, their advice was adequate and on point. Professional sports people of any sport are not likely to seek out CR for reviews of the equipment they use in pursuit of the sport.
So, from a standpoint of what the masses need to know to give a few dollars of chump change to any given charity, then the CR ratings of charities are as good as any and will give you enough information to make a somewhat wise decision on who to give to for any given worthwhile cause.
And for what it’s worth, CR did NOT make recommendations based on their own research; they used research from who they believe are 3 of the best watchdog groups available to the general public and their report table was based on information from those 3 groups.
Does CR hit the nail on the head with every report they publish? No! Do they provide information that is useful to make decisions when making major purchases of normal goods and services? Absolutely; yes! Are they the go to source for professional bike racers for professional equipment? Not hardly. I have had a subscription for about 40 years now and will continue to use them in the future. I have learned to read and understand their reports and read the FULL report and I look for those report factors that are important for MY intended use of a given product. And I don’t always find that the top-rated product will best suit my needs. But the reports do make my decision-making process more intelligent.
And for what it’s worth, my charity of choice for disaster relief will ALWAYS be the Salvation Army over the Red Cross. I’ve seen both in action personally and the Red Cross sucks at it.[/#][/font]
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They were talking to the big box store buyers that buy bikes for their kids and maybe themselves for weekend jaunts around the park. And for that audience, their advice was adequate and on point. Professional sports people of any sport are not likely to seek out CR for reviews of the equipment they use in pursuit of the sport.
So, from a standpoint of what the masses need to know to give a few dollars of chump change to any given charity, then the CR ratings of charities are as good as any and will give you enough information to make a somewhat wise decision on who to give to for any given worthwhile cause.
And for what it’s worth, CR did NOT make recommendations based on their own research; they used research from who they believe are 3 of the best watchdog groups available to the general public and their report table was based on information from those 3 groups.
Does CR hit the nail on the head with every report they publish? No! Do they provide information that is useful to make decisions when making major purchases of normal goods and services? Absolutely; yes! Are they the go to source for professional bike racers for professional equipment? Not hardly. I have had a subscription for about 40 years now and will continue to use them in the future. I have learned to read and understand their reports and read the FULL report and I look for those report factors that are important for MY intended use of a given product. And I don’t always find that the top-rated product will best suit my needs. But the reports do make my decision-making process more intelligent.
And for what it’s worth, my charity of choice for disaster relief will ALWAYS be the Salvation Army over the Red Cross. I’ve seen both in action personally and the Red Cross sucks at it.[/#][/font]
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Bob Hicks, from Utah
I'm 83 years young and going as hard as I can for as long as I can.
"Free men do not ask permission to bear arms."
I'm 83 years young and going as hard as I can for as long as I can.
"Free men do not ask permission to bear arms."