Tom, I have always been in favor of riding, although I think your bikes are all prettier than mine. The biggest change for me was to stop buying bikes that were close to the right size, but not a great fit, just because they were available, and a reasonable deal. I have gotten rid of bikes that I don't ride and frames that I will never build up, and I am glad to have done it. I have three bikes, which for me is plenty. I ride them all. I do occasionally feel that even three is a lot. Certainly if I was once again the kid working at the bike store and dreaming of a pro bike, I would shake my head at someone who had three. Any one of these bikes would have been so great to own. How could I even think of wanting more than one? On the other hand, they are so beautiful, so ignored by the masses, so affordable (relatively) and available (again, relatively) that the temptation to expand the collection is certainly there, and easy to rationalize.
I sometimes go down to the basement to grab a bike to ride, and the Masi will say "let's go. I am the best bike you have ever ridden." The Sachs says "I am beautiful, and you have never given me the credit I deserve. The Brooks is beginning to get more comfortable. Maybe this ride will be the one when it finally gives in just the right way." The Cinelli calls out "What about me? Let's ride fixed today. I am still new here. We have so much to learn about each other." I do not ride them in strict rotation, but I do try to treat them somewhat equally. I may be anthropomorphizing too much, but I am also the guy who worries that his daughter's American Girl dolls will come to life and murder us in our sleep.
Once, when my son was younger we bought him a pair of sneakers that he thought were the very coolest things on earth. He rarely wore them because he was saving them and didn't want to get them dirty. One day he found that his feet had grown, and he could no longer fit into the sneakers, which were still in almost new condition. He was so sad. Part of having something wonderful is in the acquiring of it. But for me, another part has to be experiencing the very thing that makes it wonderful, which in this case means getting out on the road. What am I saving it for?
Rode the Sachs last night and this morning. Cinelli tomorrow. Probably. Marcus Helman Huntington Woods, MI
Tom Sanders wrote:
We have had the ride it or not ride it so many times that I hesitated to
jump in here. I want to come at this from a little different angle.
Years ago I would have said either way was fine...ride it or not ride it.
I
still would say that for other folks, however I find my own attitude on
this
changing of late. When I get out a bike to ride and time after time I just
leave some gleaming beauty hanging and ride one of my regular riders I soon
come to have much less of a bond with the non-rider. I no longer care to
have bikes I don't ride. No doubt one of the reasons I sell so many nice
bikes. Talking with others on the list, I find them expressing a similar
sentiment.
Now, I am not at all sure whether it is a function of growing older, of
more
experience as a collector of bikes, or some individual peculiarity (which
my
friends will attest I have in no short supply...No comment is needed here,
Bob :^)...) but I have less and less willingness to give space to bikes I
don't use. It is this change I wanted to comment on.
I'm not sure if the others who have expressed a similar attitude to me have
similar reasons for this shifting in collecting strategy or not, but if
your
attitude has changed on this, also, I think it would be interesting to hear
a little of the thought process behind your present take on collecting
bikes.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi USA