Re: [CR]Re: Very nice E-Bay Colnago...to ride or not to ride it

(Example: Racing:Wayne Stetina)

Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 23:17:43 -0600
From: "Ed" <edlutz@earthlink.net>
To: Classic Rendezous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: Re: [CR]Re: Very nice E-Bay Colnago...to ride or not to ride it
Resent-From: Ed <edlutz@earthlink.net>
Resent-Message-Id: <20050817051739.06DD15E53@phred.org>
Resent-Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 22:17:39 -0700 (PDT)


Tuesday, August 16, 2005, 5:11:06 PM, you wrote:
> i have an nos 1978 guerciotti ny show bike - the prior owner didn't
> ride it, i've never ridden it in the 14 years that i've owned it, and i
> have no intention of ever riding it. i have plenty of other bikes to
> ride, and i think it deserves to be kept nos.

Snip....

I don't know guys, I have to disagree. This kind of thing comes up in the classic motorcycle world (one of my other vices) on occasion. I have to ask, what would Ernesto Colnago think? Was this bike built to be hung on a wall or was it built by a man who loved bicycling and who would have wanted his masterpiece to be ridden? If I had the money (I don't) I'd buy it and ride it. I always wanted a Colnago but never was able to buy one. If I could now I'd love to buy a "new" one. In my garage I have a motorcycle which is the only one ever built. Its considered special by those who love this type of thing and many people ask me if I ever ride it. Of course I do. I ride it, I ride it fast as it was meant to be ridden and I recently rode it very fast on a race track. Thats what the builder built it for and this kind of functional art is only fully realized if its used as it was designed to be used. Consider that really the reason that a Colnago is considered so special is that it was such a wonderful bike to -ride-. Would any of us really care about a NOS Sears Free Spirit? Not only would I ride this Colnago, I'd hand it over to others so they could experience just how wonderful a bike it is. If someday all the Colnagos (or Laverdas) are stored away in glass cases people will look at them and wonder what all the fuss is as they would have never experienced the true beauty of these mechanical works of art.

Ed Lutz
Loveland, CO.