Re: I: [CR]When do you say no to riding a classic

(Example: Racing:Wayne Stetina)

In-Reply-To: <051801c25537$a3e43740$a8102d44@mtlrel01.nj.comcast.net>
References: <051801c25537$a3e43740$a8102d44@mtlrel01.nj.comcast.net>
To: The Maaslands <TheMaaslands@comcast.net>, Classic Rendezvous <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Brandon Ives" <monkeylad@mac.com>
Subject: Re: I: [CR]When do you say no to riding a classic
Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 17:41:22 -0700

At 6:54 PM -0500 9/5/02, The Maaslands wrote:
>All steel bicycles, on the other hand, do not suffer the same deterioration
>and can actually benefit from use. Oxidation occurs much more readily on
>inanimate objects, therefore all elements prone to oxidation can benefit
>from use.

Um. . . . . I don't think so. A well ridden or even not well ridden bike will deteriorate much faster than a bike displayed well in an environmentally controlled space or just a dry basement. There is no item on a bike that breaks down slower when ridden. You are right about bikes tossed in fields or the trash, but we're not talking about those bikes here. How many time have you asked yourself, "I wish I could see a. . . .?" Well you can't because people didn't think about the bikes a pieces of history, they thought about them as tools. . . or toys. I know I'm not going to change anyone's mind about riding or not riding, but that's my goal. My goal is to have people rethink what to do with the six-day bike that got passed to them from their grandfather. Or to think about why keeping the original patina of wear on a bike instead of restoring it. I want people to think more about their bikes than as tools and to think about displaying them for others to enjoy.
>Lastly, regarding the display of bikes. In Europe I have seen quite a few
>nice collections on public display. They are however almost always combined
>with cars or motorcycles and are always the lesser of the two collections.

You're right and it's kind of a bummer, but we don't even have that here in the US. I remember going to a local history museum in Antwerp and they had a nice small wing with all kinds of bike stuff, including a well ridden bike of Merckx's. I'd love to see any local museum have anything about the local cycling history. Cycling is so important in a historical perspective on so many fronts that any displays would be welcome. It was seeing these collections in Europe that made me wonder why we don't have it in the US. What really got me asking the question why is the Mountain Cycles San Andreas full suspension bike that is in SFMOMA's permanent exhibit. In 50 years when people are looking at that bike thinking about bicycle design they're be thinking about how engineers in the 1990 did it. Not how Oscar Wastyn did it in the 1930 because nobody thought it was worth putting on display back then.
>my vision would be to build a single 'great' collection of bicycles
>that could tour the various car
>museums as a moving show.

WONDERFUL. . . . this is the attitude I'm looking for. I think the Pryor Dodge collection falls into this category, there are a couple more out there too but they rarely make it to the US.
>We do however have to realize that to your general viewer, a bike is
>a bike and
>only visibly different styles or bikes with noteworthy history attract any
>attention.

I see it as my job to change this impression. I remember the Oakland show and the tons of folks that were there and many of them most likely not cyclists. This is where we stop looking at bikes as tools and start looking at them as historical objects. Yea people are going to be really bored with the "look" of a bike but the sport and social history they'll love. Most of the exhibits I've seen weigh heavy on the history and light on the design. Ciao, Brandon"monkeyman"Ives SB, CA --
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