Mes amis, (After all, let's keep this in the French vein...)
I was really struck by Norris Lockley's reference to Marcel Proust, most especially so because I had made a similar reference to his work in an off-list message concerning Pletscher racks.
Here's Norris of classic bikes in general: "...My explanation is that it is something to do with Proust and his novel "A La Recherche du Temps Perdu" (forgive me if Proust wasn't the author)..something to do with not being able to obtain a bit of history..."
Here's Fred on Pletscher racks: "In some ways, for me, the attraction for Pletscher carriers is like Marcel Proust and the Medeleine cookies. That is, they're really not so great... But I well remember buying my first Pletscher at the American Youth Hostels office in Greenwhich Village..."
Anyway, that brings me to the real question. In many cases, are bikes being restored or re-assembled to an idealized condition we wish they had, rather than to a state that was truly typical of the period? I started thinking about this in earnest the other day when Pletscher carriers were discussed.
In the 1960s and early '70s, my friends and I toured and raced on the same bicycles. We simply installed a Pletscher rack, sometimes changed wheels, and then mounted a set of the canvas panniers that were sold by America Youth Hostels. So as I work on the restoration of one of these bikes today, do I use a Pletscher rack or something nicer that might still have a classic look? (The Velo-Orange and Nitto racks come to mind.)
It's not as if I never saw a bike with proper - perhaps even "bespoke" (here's that word again :-D ) - racks and/or a triple crankset. It's just that, where I lived, those were very special bikes ridden by older, wealthier, and probably more knowledgeable riders. Really, the only bikes I saw with truly good touring equipment were the small number of Herse, Singer and Bob Jacksons that turned up for the AYH Bear Mountain Century. Well, to be honest, I know I also met a few folks on extraordinary constructeur bikes at the youth hostels in Montreal and Quebec.
But this was not the norm. So if tomorrow, one were setting up a racing (or fast touring) bike from that period for non-competative riding; and were going to use one of those large Carradice or old Brooks bags; is it actually preferable to use a Pletscher rack to keep it from rubbing your rear tire, or some modern piece of equipment? I suppose it wouldn't have to be an actual rack. I remember a support like this one:
http://www.carradice.co.uk/
But it seems to me that we're now so afraid of scratching the paint (this goes for me too) that we eschew many of the authentic bits that were used, "back in the day."
But before I re-read Proust to get some ideas for the answer, let me ask this. Does anyone have a time line for the various Carradice supports and/or the Jim Blackburn racks? Cheers, Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)
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