Re: [CR]Classic Bicycle Spotting at TOSRV.

(Example: Racing:Wayne Stetina)

In-Reply-To: <3CE022A0.C1F23C85@earthlink.net>
References: <56F3C4EF30CC7B458674F15B1584D2B1405EFC@DUBEXCH02.cahapps.net>
Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 12:55:58 -0700
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "joel metz, ifbma/sfbma" <magpie@messengers.org>
Subject: Re: [CR]Classic Bicycle Spotting at TOSRV.


its not just socal, and not just bike shop employees either...

theres more than a few younger types (even i, being a mere 32, can say this) keen on older, lugged steel frames - theyve been a standby of messengers for ages now... just that i can think of, at my company, weve got a bianchi, a ciocc, a couple merckx, a bertoni, a de rosa, and a couple others in various assortments of vintage (and some not-so-vintage) componentry... track bikes are especially popular (as im sure everyone has noticed lately), and thats spreading out beyond the messenger clique for some years now...

me, im spearheading my own little private trend towards hub gears... :)

watch what some of the 20-something (and early 30-something), not so lycra-clad set are buying at bike swaps next time youre at one...

while flash parts may hit big, older, simpler things that just work and *last* (and sell for cheaper!) are a mainstay of messenger bikes...

though the downside is that i sometimes am horrified to see some bikes being taken to work... the 60s ideor track frame a friend of mine destroyed some years back still haunts me... its why my early 80s guerciotti track frame isnt gonna get sold to a local messenger - i dont think i could bear to see it on the road as a work bike...

-joel
> > I saw hope for the future of vintage bicycles: a teenager on a
>metallic green Raleigh Super Course. It was sparkling clean and in
>fine working order. I talked to his mom who told me that when he
>decided he wanted to take up cycling he didn't want to spend the
>kind of money his parents had on a bike. He found this bike at a
>garage sale, replaced the rims and tires, and was perfectly happy
>with his new ride. I saw another high schooler on a Bridgestone. I
>wondered if his parents were aware that their kid was wandering
>dangerously close to a bicycle cult group.
>
>
>I have noticed a tread with young bike shop employees in some of the
>local shops in SoCal. An interest in finding a lugged steel bike to
>ride just to have something different from the ubiquitous tig'd aluminum
>that they sell in their shop. Just a ripple right now; soon to be
>swell? Don't underestimate the urge to be different in the species.
>
>Chuck Schmidt
>SoPas, SoCal
>http://www.velo-retro.com (Campagnolo Timeline, reprints and T-shirts)
>_______________________________________________

--
joel metz : magpie@messengers.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
bike messengers worldwide : ifbma : http://www.messengers.org/
po box 191443 san francisco ca 94119-1443 usa
==
i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
after she got that bicycle...