[CR]to ride or not to ride (was: nice colnago on ebay)

(Example: Production Builders:Peugeot:PY-10)

From: "C. Andrews" <chasds@mindspring.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 07:37:37 -0700
Subject: [CR]to ride or not to ride (was: nice colnago on ebay)

I used to have a problem owning a wall-hanger.

Not anymore. By osmosis more than anything else, I seem to have a few pure wall-hangers. My size, perfectly rideable. But why should I ride them? They give me more pleasure in their pristine state. And a few of them are hard enough to find that I'd just as soon admire them without riding them.

For those who have never tried it: a rare, pristine bike is a thing of beauty in itself, and can give much pleasure even if it never goes further than your office wall.

As for the Colnago on ebay that Ken is selling, I'd never ride it. It will give far more pleasure as it is, unridden. I'd just find another one, well-used, and ride that. The experience in the riding will be exactly the same, and you still get the pleasure of the pristine bike.

(A warning though: I've done this, and in one case the "rider" turned out so nicely that I almost never ride *it* either..<g> Best to find a true beater version of your wall-hanger; I've done that too, and it's quite satisfying to get the beater functional. You can ride it all you want and never worry about it)

(In the case of Colnagos like the Super Pantografata though, even the beaters are going for huge bucks..a genuine beater version of this bike recently sold on ebay for more than 3K!)

A NOS or near-NOS wall-hanger can bring back all the joys of your first visit to a pro-bike shop, and your first glimpse of that pro-bike you've lusted after ever since. A NOS or near-NOS bike makes the experience that much more authentic. Which is a pleasure in itself.

Charles "nothing wrong with wall-hangers, and many things right about them" Andrews SoCal

"What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are."

- Epictitus