Re: [CR]"team issue" bikes and worthiness

(Example: Events:Eroica)

To: jaysports@lycos.com
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 23:00:44 -0400
Subject: Re: [CR]"team issue" bikes and worthiness
From: "Richard M Sachs" <richardsachs@juno.com>
cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

huh? e-RICHIE chester, ct

<jaysports@lycos.com> writes: --You mean to tell me there are poseurs here? Shocked, I tell you. I am shocked! Jay Van De Velde Seal Beach, CA

On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 21:24:43 Richard M Sachs wrote:
>i grew up going to kopp's and consider fritz an early mentor.
>i think that bit about the cinellis is blown out of proportion.
>e-RICHIE
>formerly hightstown, nj
>
>
>On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 18:14:51 -0700 "Jay Van De Velde"
><jaysports@lycos.com> writes:
>>
>> On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 15:32:58
>> Chuck Schmidt wrote:
>> >What I have heard repeatedly from guys in Europe about the old days
>> is
>> >that you wouldn't even dream of riding a pro bike (team-like model)
>> if
>> >you weren't a racer. The idea was that that bike would only be used
>> for
>> >racing and nothing but racing. You know, "I'm unworthy!"
>>
>> The idea that pro race bikes should only be ridden by the worthy was
>> shared by some shop owners in the US as well. Fred Kuhn of Kopps
>> Cyclery in Princeton NJ would not sell Cinelli Special Corsas to
>> anyone who walked in off the street. One had to prove to Fred their
>> worthiness, usually done by showing their prowess in the local
>> Sunday peleton. Or he could be coaxed into selling a Cinelli if one
>> proved to him to be an exemplary caretaker of the bike. This was
>> related to me by a shop mechanic who worked at Kopps while going to
>> school from '70-'73. He was able to buy a Cinelli because he met the
>> second standard, but because he had legs of pasta, he felt unworthy
>> of the bike. He rode it less than 400 miles before hanging above the
>> fireplace, where it would only came down for a fresh coat of wax
>> until it was sold to one lucky guy in California ;-)
>>
>> Jay Van De Velde
>> Seal Beach, CA