I wasn't paying much attention to fixed gear bike sales 20 years ago, but 30 years ago, when I bought my Raleigh Pro track, the prevailing excuse we were using to justify these purchases was that fixed gears were good for early season training in the northeast, where most of us stopped riding when it started to snow. Track bikes were also supposed to be the best choice for winter roller training, which was a good excuse to buy rollers also. I won't say that any of this logic was sound, especially since I neglected to swap out the 14t rear cog for a more sane 16 or 18, and had lots of hills on which to blow out my early season knees, but it was a great excuse to buy more bikes and stuff, so it was popular reasoning in the Albany, NY area. We actually used to stock track bikes, even though the nearest track was hundreds of miles away.
Once I had my track bike, I realized that it was the ideal urban warrior machine. I crossed Albany on city streets twice each day, and the track bike was great for those light-to-light sprints, I could do a track stand, waiting for the traffic to clear, then sprint to the next corner. The lack of shifting freed me to concentrate on all the hazards--cars, pedestrians, road hazards, glass. Everything was a sprint--there was just nothing else like it. It had nothing to do with rejecting complexity, it was all about suitability for purpose and fun. The track bike was the wrong choice for a club ride into the mountains.
So, now I still have the track bike (which my wife won't let me take out of the house--for good cause), two full-Campy NR/SR road bikes, a touring Paramount, a steel Italian Bianchi club racer (for communting), a 20 year old Fat Chance mountain bike (hey, I live on a mountain in Vermont, after all), and an oddball, sub-40 lb. 531 tandem. I also have over 20 other pedestrian-class bikes stretching back to 1893 that I try not to think too much about. Then there's the Huffy Pile, which gets a little smaller every time I need to make a trip to the dump.
I ride every one of my "good" bikes (except the tandem, alas) on a regular basis. Why? Because they ride every bit as nice as they did when they were brand new. They are all fantastic fun, each to it's own purpose. They all have toeclips, which is fine by me--toe clips work, I like Campy NR pedals, and Baron Corpuz has sold me a lifetime supply of cleats, cheap. The Bianchi is the only one with click-shift--it's nice, but Campy NR & SR derailleurs shift fine as well. They take a little more finesse, but that is a skill I have mastered over the years. The fact is, I really enjoy riding these bikes, I already own them, and I still like looking down at a handmade full Campy bike when I am chugging along. I have ridden with many different riders this year, most on newer bikes, and I have been faster than many and slower than others. I really don't care, as long as I am having the same fun I have always had.
I remember the experience that I felt when I graduated to my first top-shelf bike 30 years ago, a Schwinn Paramount. It was a completely different riding experience than I had felt before. I still enjoy that same experience when I ride my bikes, just because they are really great rides. I have never enjoyed racing, but I am sure that if I were to take it up I would buy a newer bike, better suited for modern competition. Again, it is just a matter of suitability for purpose. Oh, and I would hate to take a chance on denting one of my "classics."
Steve Barner, keeping the flame alive in beautiful Bolton, Vermont
> From: "David Feldman" <feldmans1@earthlink.net>
> To: <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Subject: Re: [CR] To ride or not
> Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2002 16:29:04 -0500
>
> Twenty years ago, the only people who rode single speed bikes were track
> racers and Schwinn cruiser collectors; there are cyclists now who don't
care
> about anything made before 1995, couldn't give a damn about Mario
Confente,
> Claud Butler, or Rene Herse--but they ride a single speed part of the time
> because they feel like their road bikes have become parts garbage
disposals
> due to finicky high maintainance drive trains. This might just be a
> Northwestern, rainy-ride thing but something tells me not. There would
> otherwise be no point in companies like Surly or Spot even existing
> otherwise.
> David Feldman
> Vancouver, WA