I like Ann's point. I have to deal with these obessions on a daily basis and maintain a sense of professional dignity, even though there are many of the pusuits with which I take strong exception. i do speak out when possible.
I know our friendly 220lb rasslin' coach is a family friend, and he understands y grimace when he asks me to break out the beam balance for him to weight components. I had a major vistory when I got him on quality tubulars years ago and the wheels and skins have held up well.
The authenticating of specialty tidbits is not ususual to us. It's similar in my circles of automobiles, rvs, motorbikes and high wheelers.
What I have discovered is that I get more oif a charge and a life out of something like a "90 or 95 point" build than a 100 pointer.
like the pursuit of the first million, there's probably not going to be a rest nor a feeling of a point of higher satisfaction at the milestone.
Watching someone unroll 30' of paper towels while de-trailering his restored Model T so the tires don't touch the grass sends chills through me. I hear whispers of'get a life' around me when things like that happen. Some of me says 'whatever floats the boat' and as a retailer, I have to play a careful role, though many appreciate my being a bit cantenkerous and calling clubs clubs.
I can only imagine what people like our esteemed framebuilders and refinishers have to encounter.
I am appreciative that I'm not often on either side of dealing with refinishing.
In the 90-95 point bikes, getting the bike out there for masses to see to me is more of as turn on than seeing who can outrestore whom in the smaller population dot of our group(s)
My late model Highwheel, 1999, gets ridden frequently. The most frequent question, after how do you get off (My answer is "by riding bikes, because I'm now drug-free" and most don't get it) is 'It it original?" My answer is yes, it's original, it's from before the turn of the century' Most don't get that either.
I have an 1886 that's just too much trouble to keep going, it's heavier, and overall just not as much fun.
Most onlookers do not give even a small hoot.
In photo college 35 years ago, we had classmates that were the same way with blacks and whites. I went for content and composition, and had decent blacks and whites that would not offend most other than Ansel Adams.
The irking thing in our presentations that got me starting chain reaction snickering (yes, I was a class clown up through 16th grade) were those students that would have to explain their works before a decent degree of appreciation set in. Would I want some of that crap on my wall? Would the 'arteeest' be there to explain it? I forgot what we said before the 'get a life' catch phrase caught on.
I'll take a Sam Fitsimmoins, Jerry 'never even touch up' Schultz, or Harvey Sachs funkmobile most anyday. 'Take' is the operative, too, as most of these bikes can be used and enjoyed and shared.
This is not to dig up the thread on restored v. original- I like both and have many of each (I'd like to actually cut down to 'many' bikes)Just a short sermon on OCD.
I heard from a family counselor we visited years ago mentioned that when he had people that felt 'disorganized' and that their surroundings seemed out of order and in a tizzy, he recommended trying to attain a 75% level of organization rather than going for the full plan.
By the way, who needed those correct '59 crank bolts? Make sure the dust caps are not installed too tightly, there might be many who want them removed to see the bolts.
Larry ' life's short enough already' Black Mt Airy, Md.
In a message dated 1/29/04 11:02:42 AM Eastern Standard Time, chriseye@comcast.net writes:
I've learned today what I don't have a taste for.
When people start acting as if bicycles and parts are an obsession and start thinking like they are negotiating buying an organ for their treasured great aunt on death's door, well forget 'em.
I listed an item on ebay that was unusual. It had some value, but not to me, so I wanted to pass it on. If everyone who sent me a private email trying to buy the darn thing actually bid a dollar on it, the auction would have gone somewhere. Instead people stopped bidding and sent me emails,
endlessly. I did something that I don't consider necessarily right, it bugs me even this morning, I just closed the auction and sold to the only one of these private offer people who actually made an effort to bid and
meet my reserve. On thinking on what I did, I probably perpetuated the problem by not sticking to the end of the auction. I should have just ignored the whole thing and gone ahead, and if the item went to the only
serious bidder for 1/4 of what he offered me privately, just been happy with that because...
THEY ARE ONLY BIKE PARTS FOR GOD'S SAKE!
Hope I haven't offended anyone with my use of their selected deity's name here, but the point I'd like to make, is we all do this for fun. No one is dying because you didn't get the correct crank bolts for your 1959 and a
1/2, Italian bicycle that Gino Bartali rode for one stage of the Giro and promptly forgot. No one really cares but you, and if someone else says to you, "nice bike, but you have the wrong crank bolts, and it has utterly ruined my enjoyment of your historic bicycle," perhaps they are a bit obsessed, no?
This experience was a dose of reality for me. Maybe because this week I
had some serious vet bills for a loved and elderly pet and I had a moment of remorse watching my money go towards that expense, instead of fun bicycle stuff. I think I'm going to take a page from my ever-wise and sweetly pragmatic boyfriend, Ray, who says, "Heck, I just ride 'em." I'll complete the projects I have, enjoy them, have fun with ya'all at Cirque
and other events and then use my fun money and paint the dining room.
Ann Phillips, Decatur GA