Given all the wailing and worry this week about the myth of the disappearance of traditional bikes...
This post from the iBOB list was just tooooo good not to repost to the CR list: ======================================================================== ======= Hey all,
Tonight I was over on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, California and stopped into Montano Velo with my kids. I'd been there once before, but this time I was particularly impressed. Several shelves of Brooks. Wooden fenders. Wool jerseys. They had these drop-dead gorgeous track bikes: Nagasawas with gold Nitto gruppos, Gamwells, and then there were the Pegorettis. Jeez. I think a few may have come from the handbuilt show. There was one with beautiful curvy lugs, twin-plate fork crown, and yet, a threadless stem. Stunning nonetheless.
The atmosphere was very down-to-earth. Another dad watched his toddler stumble about the shop, chased by playful Australian Sheperd. Then a guy with a mohawk walked in with a Cinelli track bike, and we all drooled. The sinking sun was casting the room in gold, the kids were laughing, and I found myself unable to leave, though a dinner party was calling.
Outside, another Cinelli trackie was chained to a parking meter. A Nagasawa was chained to another. Two dudes, both with Giants caps and tattoos crawling up their necks, emerged, one with set of wheels, the other with a frame on his shoulder. "Did you see the lugs on that Nagasawa?" I heard him ask his friend.
And then it struck me what beautiful thing this fixie craze is. Call it trendy, arty, pretentious, impractical, it's all those things. But it's returning a hip, youthful vigor to the sport from a place way outside the mainstream. It's reviving an interest in these classic steel bikes, in lugs, and lore. Maybe I'm preaching to the choir, but I see this as a very good thing.
Now if I could only find a deal on one of dem Pegorettis...
Matt Isaacs Walnut Creek, CA ======================================================================== =======
But maybe California is the only place on the face of the earth where this is going on? Naaaawwww, I don't think so!
Chuck Schmidt
South Pasadena, CA USA
http://www.velo-retro.com (reprints, t-shirts & timelines)