All bikes are beautiful (Re: [CR] New list member profile: now frame material)

(Example: Framebuilders:Rene Herse)

In-Reply-To: <17.2a205857.2a472b11@cs.com>
References: <17.2a205857.2a472b11@cs.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 08:43:43 -0700
To: GPVB1@cs.com, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Brandon Ives" <monkeylad@mac.com>
Subject: All bikes are beautiful (Re: [CR] New list member profile: now frame material)


At 9:45 AM -0400 6/23/02, GPVB1@cs.com wrote:
>The "styles" change frequently, thereby obsoleting last year's model. Open a
>Performance Bicycle catalog these days for example, and you will rarely find
>even a single steel frameset available for purchase. Does that make Titanium,
>aluminum, and plastic "classic?" I think not....

Here we go again. "Classic" is NOT about a material it's about and aesthetic look and historical feelings about certain bikes. As evidence I use yesterdays thread on the seatpost size of the Teledyne Titan. The Titan is a tig welded oversized titanium and everyone seems to think it's a classic bike. The Exxon Graftex has it's own page on the CR list, so that must make it "classic" worthy. The list also talks about Vitus' and Alan's pretty regularly. I've got to ask Greg would you pass up a Pino Morrini Ti frame if it came to you?

I sometimes feel that the list is really schizophrenic and can't decide what's "classic" or not. If we can talk about "classic" bikes made from alternative materials, and steel bikes made after '85. Why not all bikes of a "classic" look, whatever that is. I know all the debates of either side of the fence and they're well founded and we've debated them all many times in the past. Most of the things we think are "classic" are creeping back into the modern cycling world and most people don't see it. This is because most list members are too busy looking at the past to see the future. I LOVE BIKES, wether it's UCSB student's 90% rust beach cruiser, one of Chuck's marvels from the basement, or the bike Lance uses to crush the Pyrenees. They are all wonderful and suit the purposes they were built for. Remember it's about the bike.

enjoy,
Brandon"monkeyman"Ives
Heading out to go surfing on
my 3rd wedding anniversary
in Santa Barbara, Calif.
because my wife is the best.