Grant,
There is a lot to be said for riding older bikes. I'm not exactly sure why one must have the most effecient or latest gear to enjoy riding a bike. Riding is more a state of mind than a physical sensation to me. Having a relationship with each bike is part of ownership in my opinion. If that relationship is strictly looking at and admiring the bike then so be it; some objects are better off that way perhaps. I have a fair number of bikes that are in "project" form at this time. Most I will make roadworthy eventually. A few will get passed on. The rest get ridden in "rotation" primarily on account of our numerous gatherings and vintage rides here in SoCal. Each time I ride a new bike in our group there is a special feeling and a new learning experience that comes with it. Others get to enjoy my collection that way as well. There is one bike I own that I have treated as a "non rider" on account of its condition and what it is. Ironically, it's the same bike eRichie owns, a 1971 Masi GC in lt. metallic blue. Mine is all original right down to the factory white cloth handlebar tape. The original owner took meticulous care of the bike and it has probably 2000 miles on it or less! The bike came with the original spare 220gm Clement seta tire that was never used or mounted. I have been reluctant to ride it or even replace the "melted" gum hoods because it would involve disturbing the original cable ends, etc. The problem is that it is aging as it sets. Soon I will have to take it out and ride it and do some basic preservation moves or it will rot. I have resisted doing this on account of the condition the bike is in. It is now the only bike I own that I don't ride. The time is near for me to take it out and see how it rides in comparisson to my other two Masis, my three Colnagos, my Lippy, Sachs, old and new Hetchins, Flying Scot, numerous Baylises, etc. I find on account of the company I keep while riding these oldies that my time on the bike is always enjoyable (even when I'm gagging like a maggot on the climbs). A smooth running bike is enjoyable to ride even if you have to actually think about what you're doing while shifting and so on. If anything it adds to the sensation. It's like driving an old sports car. You don't enter it into a modern race; you drive it with your friends who also enjoy their vintage machines. It is a state of mind. Cycling is cycling; wheather you are having a good time or not is a mental thing. I'm sure I'd have just as much fun on a modern machine. I just can't get used to the look of modern components; threadless headsets and the like. The "classic" look still turns me on; just like an old Buick. Modern bikes look and feel "disposable" to me and even though I appreciate some of them in some respects; I can not get myself to embrace them. If you race then disposable is fine; otherwise it does not make sense to me. A classic bike should last at least one lifetime in full service and still have value both in function and style at the end.
Ride everything. There is much to be learned from riding older bikes; the more the better. Vintage bikes are good value for the money and with proper care will not likely lose any value over the years even if you use them. I've yet to see a vintage bike that was so incredable to look at that it was a crime to ride it. They were all built originally to be used and their greatest value is in rolling down the road under your butt. It's like the P-38, watching it take up space in the museum is boring; the machine is in its element when it is in flight. Bicycles are the same; otherwise they would come with wall hooks as standard equiptment like a picture frame. I don't think anyone here would pass judgement if one chooses not to ride any particular bike for whatever reason; but 2/3 of the fun goes out the window with it. Why miss the party? Besides, there just isn't that big a differance between the two, and it's almost entirely in the wheels.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
If I were you Richie, I'd be looking for a pre-1976 Colnago Super to
beat around on. Great bike, reasonably priced, plentiful(relativly),
easily restored if neccessary. You might be surprised how much fun it
would be to ride, seriously!
>
> >e-RICHIE wrote in part:
> >I have a modern bicycle that I like and I wouldn't enjoy my cycling as much
> on a bicycle with less efficient parts, or on one at weighed 4 pounds
> more...
>
> my reply,
>
> As someone working extra hours on the weekends to make the $$ to buy a
> Richard Sachs (oops, I guess I should get back to really working...) I
> agree, and also ride expensive modern stuff, and mostly admire my vintage
> gear, but I had an interesting experience last summer.
>
> My preferred ride is titanium, and I have a couple of nice Ti bikes. For
> whatever reason, last fall I began riding my older Serotta steel bike,
> which I consider vastly inferior to modern Ti bikes I own. Fall riding is
> great here in Toronto, all coloured leaves, lots of parks and path trails.
> Feeling like this older bike owes me nothing, it's well worn, and has done
> it's duty, I give the bike no thought while riding it, and rode places I'd
> never take a "good" bike. Mud, dirt, gravel roads, rain, snow, whatever.
> I ended up riding that bike all last season, about another 10K. and loving
> it.
>
> So there's some in-escapable irony here.... If the best bikes "disappear"
> from consciousness by design in performance, what about when they cost 25%
> of a year's salary, or are so pristine vintage, and irreplaceable?
>
> Grant McLean
>
> Toronto, Canada