Re: [CR]Hot Rodding and Good Ol' Reality

(Example: Framebuilders:Jack Taylor)

Comment: DomainKeys? See http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 07:12:09 -0800 (PST)
From: "r garni" <crispyflotilla@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Hot Rodding and Good Ol' Reality
To: tsan7759142@comcast.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <MONKEYFOODIqpFuiHV50000068d@monkeyfood.nt.phred.org>


Dear Everybody,

I haven't read the complete thread here (that would take a lot, we all seem to have a lot of energy and emotion on this subject) but there is, if it hasn't already been mentioned, the practical considerations of riding.

I recently posted a request for 6 speed freewheels and chainrings. I agree with Tom that it is simply nicer to your body to go index or ergo level with long rides, and I do. But it is also more practical: if any of us use these bikes for consistent, long riding, it means part replacement, and often, beloved part replacement, and sometimes, frustration. Some of the group loves the hunt, I do not, particularly. Beyond the ease of riding aspect, the ease of replacement appeals to me, too.

For those reasons (both) I tend to divide my bikes up into three and four figure bikes. Three of them, modern and they will remain nameless (like Pegoretti) I put 1000+ miles on a piece. The others, such as the Tesch or Mercian or Colnago Mexico, a few hundred miles a piece. These are the bikes that I ride like I would when I was a kid, to the store, down the street, maybe 5 miles, usually not more than ten, and it's all pleasure. That and with the knowledge that I am not wearing the hell out of parts that I might be able to replace only and if so at ridiculous modern prices, I keep happy. I put 300 miles on the Mexico last year, 200 on the Tesch, etc. Fine, and Dandy.

Now here's the funny thing about practical considerations: OK, tragic thing: when inquiring about 6 sp freewheels/chainrings, I decided, just for the hell of it, to stock up on the same for the modern bikes. For those of you who ride 9 and 10 speed numbers, I think it is a sobering moment. The availability of 9 speed cassettes, for example, is, FROM MY EXPERIENCE, already starting to dwindle. The big two are pushing towards conversion to 10 for the universe (of riders who ride a lot.) Fine, I guess, if you want to spend hundreds, and hundreds, just to convert, if you don't mind spending $120-$250 on a cassette, and if ten is not pushed, in a year or so, and in grand Spinal Tap style, to eleven. Let us pray.

But frankly, even though we all adore and wax nostalgiaisimo about the old stuff, don't we all, or some of us at least, remember a time when we were all saying God, if only it had six gears instead of five?

Remember? We had freckles then and ate a lot more goobers and lemonheads at the movie theatres.

But nine to ten? Who cares? OK, but those people have funny names, like "Lance."

Ricky Garni
Carrboro, NC
not really athletic
likes cushy


--- Tom Sanders wrote:


> I think one's use of components should reflect the
> purpose of the bike. I
> have a few semi wall hangers...these are bikes I
> ride only occasionally, and
> am likely to bring to shows, etc. I love these
> bikes and spend a lot of
> time working on them and detailing them. They all
> get ridden. I don't grab
> them them for a 60 mile ride, however. For a bike
> that I put lots of miles
> on over the nice riding season I grab a bike with
> indexing and perhaps Ergo
> shifting. I get back less tired, I ride faster and
> I enjoy the longer rides
> a lot more with them. Head winds are terrible on
> the older friction
> shifting bikes for these old legs. Modern
> components often keep me in the
> right gear, miss less shifts, require a lot less
> trimming, and the more
> modern dual pivot brakes are a gift from God, in my
> scheme of things. A
> heavily ridden bike requires the components that
> make my longer distance
> riding more enjoyable. For me this usually means C
> Record or newer. This
> is not the dark side...this is what makes cycling
> more enjoyable for me.
> I have no interest in owning a bike that I can't
> ride, but the ones that get
> a whole lot of mileage need to be set up to reflect
> my needs and
> preferences. I have nothing but admiration for
> folks like Chuck or Mike
> Wilkinson (this guy does it in the Rocky Mountains!)
> that can take off on a
> 60 or 100 mile fixed gear ride...but it ain't me
> babe, as Dylan once
> crooned.
> I think hot rodding on a vintage bike you want to
> put heavy mileage on is
> very cool, and for a modern KOF bike it seems to
> make little sense to me to
> put parts on it that don't get the utmost out of the
> potential that folks
> like E-Ritchie work so hard to build into them.
> Like I say, it all seems to me to be a matter of
> what you want the bike to
> do.
> Tom Sanders
> Lansing, Mi
>
>
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