The technological conservatism of bicycle

[patanjali.purpose]

The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers is a reflection of the kinds of demand they are trying to meet. The only cyclists seriously interested in innovation and willing to pay for it are bicycle racers. Therefore, innovation in bicycle technology is limited by what authorities will accept as standard for purposes of competition in bicycle races.

Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?

(A) The market for cheap, traditional bicycles cannot expand unless the market for high-performance competition bicycles expands.
(B) High-performance bicycles are likely to be improved more as a result of technological innovations developed in small workshops than as a result of technological innovations developed in major manufacturing concerns.
(C) Bicycle racers do not generate a strong demand for innovations that fall
outside what is officially recognized as standard for purposes of competition.
(D) The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers results primarily from their desire to manufacture a product that can be sold without being altered to suit different national markets.
(E) The authorities who set standards for high-performance bicycle racing do not keep informed about innovative bicycle design.

Pls share your insight for each option.

Will appreciate if you can also compare the followings with your pick and share how they are different:

1) Non racers do buy bicycles that racing authorities consider standard
2) Non racers do not buy bicycle that racing authorities consider standard

[Neo Anderson]

(A) The market for cheap, traditional bicycles cannot expand unless the market for high-performance competition bicycles expands. In the argument there is no discussion about expansion of market for high performance bicycles thus irrelevant!!

(B) High-performance bicycles are likely to be improved more as a result of technological innovations developed in small workshops than as a result of technological innovations developed in major manufacturing concerns.In the argument there is no discussion about developing high performance bicycles in small or bi manufacturing workshops, thus irrelevant!!

(C) Bicycle racers do not generate a strong demand for innovations that fall outside what is officially recognized as standard for purposes of competition. This appears to be the correct assumption because this tends to fill in the logic gap between the premise'The only cyclists seriously interested in innovation and willing to pay for it are bicycle racers' and the conclusion 'innovation in bicycle technology is limited by what authorities will accept as standard for purposes of competition in bicycle races'

(D) The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers results primarily from their desire to manufacture a product that can be sold without being altered to suit different national markets This appears to be the strong contender to option C, however does not add on to the stated premise to arrive at the conclusion

(E) The authorities who set standards for high-performance bicycle racing do not keep informed about innovative bicycle design.irrelevant

Thus IMO C.

[amit2k9]

The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers is a reflection of the kinds of demand they are trying to meet. The only cyclists seriously interested in innovation and willing to pay for it are bicycle racers. Therefore, innovation in bicycle technology is limited by what authorities will accept as standard for purposes of competition in bicycle races.

paraphrase : innovation is limited by racing authorities.

Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?

(A) The market for cheap, traditional bicycles cannot expand unless the market for high-performance competition bicycles expands.-- out of scope.
(B) High-performance bicycles are likely to be improved more as a result of technological innovations developed in small workshops than as a result of technological innovations developed in major manufacturing concerns.-- not mentioned.
(C) Bicycle racers do not generate a strong demand for innovations that fall
outside what is officially recognized as standard for purposes of competition.-- gives a reason for the paraphrase. Negating this,crashes the paraphrase too.
(D) The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers results primarily from their desire to manufacture a product that can be sold without being altered to suit different national markets.-- different markets is out of scope again.
(E) The authorities who set standards for high-performance bicycle racing do not keep informed about innovative bicycle design. -- may be may not be.Neutral answer.

Pls share your insight for each option.

Will appreciate if you can also compare the followings with your pick and share how they are different:

1) Non racers do buy bicycles that racing authorities consider standard -- this may or may not increase the demand of innovation depending upon the market size.
2) Non racers do not buy bicycle that racing authorities consider standard -- out of scope wrt paraphrase. no change in demand too.

[HSPA]

+1 for C.. D is out of scope

[GMATGuruNY]

The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers is a reflection of the kinds of demand they are trying to meet. The only cyclists seriously interested in innovation and willing to pay for it are bicycle racers. Therefore, innovation in bicycle technology is limited by what authorities will accept as standard for purposes of competition in bicycle races.

Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?

(A) The market for cheap, traditional bicycles cannot expand unless the market for high-performance competition bicycles expands.
(B) High-performance bicycles are likely to be improved more as a result of technological innovations developed in small workshops than as a result of technological innovations developed in major manufacturing concerns.
(C) Bicycle racers do not generate a strong demand for innovations that fall
outside what is officially recognized as standard for purposes of competition.
(D) The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers results primarily from their desire to manufacture a product that can be sold without being altered to suit different national markets.
(E) The authorities who set standards for high-performance bicycle racing do not keep informed about innovative bicycle design.

Pls share your insight for each option.

Will appreciate if you can also compare the followings with your pick and share how they are different:

1) Non racers do buy bicycles that racing authorities consider standard
2) Non racers do not buy bicycle that racing authorities consider standard

This CR exhibits a language shift.

The premise is about X: BICYCLE RACERS.
The conclusion is about Y: COMPETITION.

The assumption is that X is connected to Y: that BICYCLE RACERS care only about innovation that is accepted as standard for purposes of COMPETITION.

Only answer choice C links BICYCLE RACERS to COMPETITION:
The argument assumes that BICYCLE RACERS do not generate a strong demand for innovations that fall outside what is officially recognized as standard for purposes of COMPETITION.

The correct answer is C.

[teal]

How can we get rid of choice (e)? Wouldn't choice (e) mean to convey that the authorities are not up to date with the innovations in bicycle design and so they approve only the limited set of innovations that they are aware of.....hence resulting in limited set of innovations in bicycle technology?

(e) was a sort of trap for me.

[ArunangsuSahu]

OG Question

(C)

[[email protected]]

Yes OG question... also for your further information this was basically supporter assumption question. Pretty much easy to identify as when u negate the option C, immediately the conclusion gets negated...

Hope this explanation really helped!!!

[Neilsheth2]

The best way to go about this one is personalising!

Imagine yourself to be the bike racer- You know companies are going to make bicycles only for competition.(Indirectly the company might be assuming that you the biker only care for the Race. But if I am a Biker who not only cares for the race but also cares for extra additional INNOVATIVE features for e.g.:-You the BIKER needs a bike that folds so that you may take it anywhere and practice.-As soon you think about this then the company's plan of action won't work!-

Personalising is indeed a great strategy for tackling CRs

This much personalising will take you to solve the answer,which is Clearly C!

[Anaira Mitch]

The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers is a reflection of the kinds of demand they are trying to meet. The only cyclists seriously interested in innovation and willing to pay for it are bicycle racers. Therefore, innovation in bicycle technology is limited by what authorities will accept as standard for purposes of competition in bicycle races.

Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?

(A) The market for cheap, traditional bicycles cannot expand unless the market for high-performance competition bicycles expands.
(B) High-performance bicycles are likely to be improved more as a result of technological innovations developed in small workshops than as a result of technological innovations developed in major manufacturing concerns.
(C) Bicycle racers do not generate a strong demand for innovations that fall
outside what is officially recognized as standard for purposes of competition.
(D) The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers results primarily from their desire to manufacture a product that can be sold without being altered to suit different national markets.
(E) The authorities who set standards for high-performance bicycle racing do not keep informed about innovative bicycle design.

Pls share your insight for each option.

Will appreciate if you can also compare the followings with your pick and share how they are different:

1) Non racers do buy bicycles that racing authorities consider standard
2) Non racers do not buy bicycle that racing authorities consider standard

This CR exhibits a language shift.

The premise is about X: BICYCLE RACERS.
The conclusion is about Y: COMPETITION.

The assumption is that X is connected to Y: that BICYCLE RACERS care only about innovation that is accepted as standard for purposes of COMPETITION.

Only answer choice C links BICYCLE RACERS to COMPETITION:
The argument assumes that BICYCLE RACERS do not generate a strong demand for innovations that fall outside what is officially recognized as standard for purposes of COMPETITION.

The correct answer is C.

Hello Mitch,

Is negation technique not possible for this problem?

[GMATGuruNY]

Hello Mitch,

Is negation technique not possible for this problem?

The negation test works well here.
C, negated:
Bicycle racers generate a strong demand for innovations that fall outside what is officially recognized as standard for purposes of competition.
Here, bike racers demand innovations wholly unrelated to the standards in competition, invalidating the conclusion that innovation in bicycle technology is limited by what authorities will accept as standard for purposes of competition in bicycle races.
Since the negation of C invalidates the conclusion, C is an assumption: a statement that MUST BE TRUE for the conclusion to hold.

The correct answer is C.