Dan Polito wrote:
> 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
Gene Pitney, who died recently, said something that resonates:
"I'm constantly playing to a demographically diverse audience... one generation is driven by nostalgia, the next by curiosity."
Chuck "driven by nostalgia AND curiosity" Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
.