I am sure that the new bikes will be collectible to some people in the
future. I have thought at times about trying one, but the only appeal
would be enhanced performance, surely not beauty. The front ends of the
new bikes look kind of like Star Wars battle 'droids to me. They are a
far cry from the graceful stems and bars of the Classic Era. But, I'm
sure they have their appeal. There is an artistic beauty to steel frames
with lugs, a certain sleekness that just can't be captured with the
grossly oversized tubes of the frames made with the new materials. The
new stuff may outperform and last just as long as the classic stuff if
the owner is a good maintenance type, but the stuff is still ugly. The
new bikes with tiny frames and seatposts a yard long just look like some
kind of wierd insect. I think of that beautiful green bike that Brian B.
made and posted pictures of not too long ago. That thing took my breath
away. Lugs, steel. Beautiful. I doubt if there is an aluminum, titanium,
or carbon fiber frame that can look as lovingly crafted as a lugged steel
frame can. Something that is so hand made gives off something that just
can't be captured by the high performance techno machines. Sure, sure,
bikes are to ride, I know that, but I'm on this list about the classic
bikes because they have an appeal that goes a little beyond just riding.
They are beautiful. Robo bikes are not. They don't have that graceful
sleek look. Another point. Robo shifters work with razor sharp efficiency
when in tune. Just click away. To me there's something cool about
mastering the art of friction shifting. It's a skill to acquire, yet it
seems the derailleur always gets the blame for the lack of said skill.
I'm sure that there are riders that just don't want to be bothered with
the archaic form of shifting and that's fine, but not all of us want to
eliminate the need for a little finesse and skill to operate stuff. Some
of us get enjoyment out of the mastery of synchronizing pedals, lever
speed and lever travel to produce a perfect shift instead of having it
done mechanically for us.(Kind of like banging gears in the old muscle
car with the four speed instead of just putting your foot down and
letting the 727 TorqueFlite do the work).
Lastly, I do wonder this. If I could race a new 9 or 10 speed Trek OCLV
whatever against me on my old classic mount 10 miles up Mt. Lemmon here
in Tucson, how much faster would me on the OCLV complete the distance
than me on the classic race Peugeot I have? How much improvement is
really built into the new bike? I wonder.
Well, no intent to bash new bikes. I might own one some day, but it will
be like taking the medicine that is good for you but tastes terrible.
All The Best,
Don Walter
Tucson, AZ