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Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:31:38 -0800
From: "David Ross" <dlr94306@yahoo.com>
To: CR discussion list <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Cc: Chuck Schmidt <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
Subject: [CR] (no subject)


In the flickr album description of my Major Nichols track bike I noted that the fork had been drilled for a brake, and added the usual disclaimer: "... by a previous owner ..." in order to deflect the inevitable criticism that comes with that practice. Chuck sagely pointed out that frame builders themselves weren't so fussy about the practice, even for a "pure" track bike as this one obviously is. Chuck suggested that the hole might have been drilled by Mr. Nichols himself.

I got a chance this morning to take a close look, and sure enough the original paint goes right on through the hole! Confirmation not only that the purist mentality occasionally surfacing here (by "here," I'm including myself) is misguided, but that Mr. Schmidt usually gets things right.

Maybe living near San Francisco (where Kierin standards have merged with bike messenger [non]sensibilities) has influenced my understanding that a real track bike doesn't have a hole for a brake. I feel liberated now, and will no longer discreetly glance away when I see a drilled track fork. Thanks, Chuck.

Dave Ross contemplating blowing off work for a bike ride in sunny Portola Valley, California, USA

PS see the bike at http://www.flickr.com/photos/9466770@N03/sets/72157611436233117/ or the new Major Nichols page on the CR site (thanks, Dale)