I don't want to prolong this thread and anger our list-manager any more (sorry Dale), but surely there is a difference between building a bike to period correct for show and producing something that we are comfortable riding. Surely it comes down to an issue of what feels safe and comfortable to each and everyone one of us. I switched to clipless last year after using toeclips my whole cycling life. Having got used to them, I am not going back. Does it really affect the quality of the ride? I don't know. Does it affect the look of the bike? Probably. However, the important thing is that I am back to riding bikes - and classic bikes at that which every other way are as close to period- and component-correct as I can afford to make them. After a decade away from cycling, surely this is a good thing. Maybe this is heretical and maybe, I stand to be castigated by the purists among us. However, to be quite honest I feel safer with clipless - and my knees thank me - than I did strapped in. That is my personal preference.
If I had the good fortune (money really) to get to C de. C or one of the other great classic events I may very well pack a pair of quills with toeclips and my old pair of Adidas Eddy Merckx. However, for my riding comfort I now prefer clipless in the same way that I prefer my Pearl Izumi shorts (or Giordana bibs) to my old Gianni wool shorts; I am more comfortable with my Louis Garneau gloves than I was with my old leather and mesh jobs that seemed to get smaller after every wet ride. I have also worn a proper helmet since my teens (1977 to be exact) and will continue to protect my head and hence my livelihood - academic research - with the best and safest product that I can buy. Yes, I would love to spin out with one of my old Campy caps but I have never felt secure without the hard-lid. Having been in a nasty car-accident while travelling in a cab this past week and come out of it unscathed - thanks to wearing a seatbelt (which I don't always do in a cab), I am even more cognizant of my own safety.
I have refound my interest in building bikes, and I am fussy about period-correct, but, within reason. Should I put an AVA stem and bars on the 1970 PX10 which is coming my way ?? Yes, if it is for display, but no if I follow the advice in Sheldon's website. But would it then be period-correct or true to the spirit of French bikes? Maybe not, but it may be safer. Go on fire away :^)
Paul Williams,
Ottawa, ON, Canada