RE: [CR]youth! + what Dale hath wrought

(Example: Bike Shops:R.E.W. Reynolds)

In-Reply-To: <779093150606131447v75462d09q441f758e837b8fe7@mail.gmail.com>
From: "dan polito" <thepandle@hotmail.com>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: RE: [CR]youth! + what Dale hath wrought
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 18:17:16 -0400


vive le jeunesse!

while i've been planning to attend the cirque three years in a row now, i've not been able to make it any. i thought this year was going to be for sure, but with an upcoming move to brooklyn i just couldn't afford to take the time off of work. blast it all.

as one of these alleged young upstarts i can tell you that younger kids, specifically messengers, are really getting into classic bikes. funnily enough, an ex-messenger i used to know who ragged on me for riding a 53 claud butler track bike sent me an email asking me if he could buy the very same bike several months ago. how the tables do turn.

personally, i think that the kids who consider themselves true "track" heads are fed up with the increasing popularity and availability of modern, convenient street-style production track bikes. they want something to distinguish them from the new-school track riders. in many of my friends' opinions there are two ways to go: get a custom track bike from one of the amazing young builders out there (read: $$$$), or go old-school and get high quality for comparitively cheaper.

i'm not really one to generalize or extrapolate trends to explain what's "cool" to the youth, but i guess this is something i know a little bit about.

function over fashion though- all you old folks need to make sure that you're giving us whippersnappers the history, and the context, rather than trying to make a few dollars. there's really no difference between hetchins curly track and a khs flight if the only concern is the "hip-factor" of the style.

dan polito on break at the restaurant in bloomington, indiana
>
>I also share or echo the appreciation that there seems to be a core of
>younger folk becoming interested and loving the stuff we like. I noticed
>this at several Trexlertown Swap Meets, and that they would make the trek
>to
>North Carolina demonstrates a passion for the stuff. In addition, those
>from California and Colorado, England, Canada, certainly demonstrate a
>passion for bikes by simply making the trip.