In addition to purchasing the last few 46R Members only jackets, le Tigre shirts, a fedora, Scarface belt buckles and memorabilia---has anyone noted that the seller bought 2 sets of Pog decals in the last few months as well as the un-Testored seat post. Perhaps we can term this the 'Bad 80's Members' Only Edition Pog'. Imagine seeing a dude out on the town Member' s Onlying it with a fedora, El Tigre shirt collar turned up and his plaid pants held up by his Miami style scareface buckle....
On 10/11/07, Tom Dalton <tom_s_dalton@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> A wonderful thing about CR is that the list welcomes all comers, and as a
> result we see expressed a great range of opinions and tastes. Because of
> this, it should not surprise me that the recently-outed Pogliaghi has fou
nd
> as many supporters as detractors. Yet this does come as a
> surprise. Looking at that unfortunate bike, and considering what I know
> about the membership of this list, I'd expect the negative comments to
> outnumber the positive by at least five to one. Maybe we're collectively
> doing a good job remembering what momma said to do when you have nothing
> nice to say. Well, sorry momma, but that Pog is the equivalent of a vint
age
> Ferrari with 20-inch chrome spinners, and I can't keep quiet about it.
>
> I found it odd that someone selling a bike like this on Ebay, and using
> the Ebay name of 1375bikes, would feel a need to say, "I DON'T KNOW TOO M
UCH
> ABOUT BIKES BUT\u2026"
>
> But, once I looked at the bike, in all its cheesiness, with its mangled
> rear caliper, misaligned brake shoes, and missing headset spacer, I had t
o
> agree. And what's going on with the multiple sections of chrome on the
> drive side chainstay?
>
> IT DOES NOT GET BETTER THAN THIS\u2026
>
> Really? That's a little depressing
>
> One member, a man of normally excellent tastes (that is, his tastes are
> normally similar to my own) commented:
>
> "The wheels are hideous, but, hey, you can't have everything."
>
> And yet nobody told the owner. Just look at the parts on this
> bike. Sure, the wheels are hideous, but what about the fact that it has
> parts ranging from open-C shifters (bent) to late 80's C-record pedals to
> 1990's wheels and tires? The whole thing just makes me itch.
>
>
> Another member commented, "Okay, the bike is not to my taste, but the
> owner certainly maintained his singular vision throughout."
>
>
>
> This is a singular vision of what, extreme eclecticism? This is a 1980's
> bike with parts from a three decade time window. It reminds me of my
> four-year old-nephew on Christmas morning, running around the house with
his
> new soccer shirt, hockey gloves, and Darth Vader helmet.
>
>
>
> Yes, there was a time when color matching cables and painting in flutes
> and logos was the cool thing to do. The frame, and some of the parts,
> appears to be from this era. Assembled with all the correct vintage part
s,
> a little, or even a lot of infilling could be quaint. This bike, with it
s
> yellow rubber and not-seen-in-the-era anodized chainring bolts is just so
me
> sort of modern bastardization of the 80's fad. This bike is a grim remin
der
> to me of all the questionable things I did to my bikes as a teenager with
> too much time to kill and an excess of Testor's, World Champion stickers,
> and Semichrome (Did he polish the anodizing right off those handlebars?)
>
>
>
> The same member added , "Perhaps we should remember some of the 1980s
> Baylis bikes... pink with polka dots?"
>
>
>
> Yes, we should. But really, I'd rather see a frame with a distinctive
> paintjob that makes a real statement that can then be set up with a
> selection of parts that don't upstage the frame. Or, I'd like to see a
> frame and parts that work together, with elaborate pantographing. Model
> paint in panto'd parts is cool. Pantographing highlights the brand or the
> frame and paint can tie things together color-wise. What we have on the
Pog
> is a poorly selected and poorly installed bunch of mush, slapped on a nic
e
> and reasonably restrained frame, and then given the stockings-on-a-pig
> treatment in an attempt to tart things up. There's good gaudy and bad
> gaudy. This bike is bad gaudy. It's not even a good example of a dubiou
s
> 1980's fad.
>
>
>
> And speaking of the 80's, I think the seller is a big fan of the
> decade. Notice in one of the pictures his red and white checkerboard "Je
ff
> Spicoli" Van's sneakers. In the last 90 days he has purchased, among oth
er
> items, two Members Only jackets, a La Tigre polo shirt, a Scar Face doll
> (NIP!), a Scar Face belt buckle, and a Cadillac hood ornament
> necklace. Wow, he's a genuine 80's fanatic! He also scored a set of flo
or
> mats for a Nissan Murano, so I guess his bad taste extends to things
> automotive.
>
>
> Finally, there were these comments, the only ones that I think are
> actually objectionable:
>
>
>
> "A Pimpin', Bitchin' Pog\u2026 I want to buy this pup and ride it in next
> year's Eroica, girls like this like to be slapped around and a few coats
of
> strada bianca might do her some good\u2026I am going to appreciate all the m
ore
> my latest acquisition when my Gilles Bertraud racing frame arrives. She's
> 1980ish, too, but a shy French girl of quality with "G. Bertraud" on the
> down tube and that's all need be said. But compared to this Pog, she's go
ing
> to be all alone on the street corner at 1.15 am."
>
> It's annoying enough when people refer to bikes as "she" and "her," so ca
n
> you spare us the expansive, and painfully adolescent analogies? Bikes ar
e
> not women, they are objects. Women are not objects, they are people. Ha
ve
> you ever known a woman who likes to be slapped around? Actually, reading
> into the tortured erotic associations you are drawing between bikes and
> women, the better question might be whether you have ever known a woman.
>
> Tom Dalton
> Bethlehem, PA USA
>
>
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--
Sadiq Gill
Richmond, VA