I knew I had to chime-in on this thread. I have a favorite old smell too. It's the Campagnolo grease in the small tub that I bought in 1974/75. It always had a distinct smell, different than other greases. Then when I bought a new Campy grease tub in the late 70's/early 80's, the smell was not the same at all. They must have changed the formula somewhere along that time.
I still have that old 1974 tub, and yep, I open the cap once in a while. Takes me back to working on my first new Campy bike, a Motobecane Le Champion.
Has anyone else noticed a particular smell in early Campy grease? I tell you, only here can we talk about sniffing grease and people will understand (or at least some will understand)!
Mark Winkelman
Dallas, Texas USA
<gstrickler@tulane.edu>; "Jerome & Elizabeth Moos" <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:26 AM Subject: Re: [CR] Bicycle Shop Smells
The bike shop I worked in in the mid 1980's always smelled like tri-flo, which is still one of my favorite smells today...even though I really don't use it anymore.
Stephan Andranian Costa Mesa, CA USA http://www.GitaneUSA.com
_____________________________________
This E-mail is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. ยงยง 2510-2521 and is legally privileged. This information is confidential information and is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.
--- On Wed, 8/12/09, Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> Subject: Re: [CR] Bicycle Shop Smells To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, " George M Jr.Strickler" <gstrickler@tulane.edu> Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2009, 8:01 PM
To me, the smell of Proofide applied to a leather saddle is maybe the most compelling connected with bicycles or any other sport. Don't often smell much of that in a modern shop either.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Strickler, George M Jr. <gstrickler@tulane.edu>
> Subject: [CR] Bicycle Shop Smells
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2009, 9:33 PM
> I apologize for continuing this trip
> down memory lane which must be trying to those who haven't
> hit the half century yet but Michael Allison's memories of
> the smell of rim tape at Mr. Avenia's shop called to mind
> something that has bothered me in recent years. Back
> "in the day" good bike shops, like Mr. Avenia's, tended to
> be dingy, dirty and very cluttered. And they smelled
> of rubber, grease, glue and various unidentified
> combustibles. The Avenia shop was like that and, as I
> remember, the Styvescent (sp?) shop in mid-town also smelled
> pretty good. Today most of the LBS I see are well-lit,
> spacious and CLEAN. There is no discernable
> smell. If it weren't for the bikes, one could mistake
> them for a Scandinavian furniture outlet. There is one
> shop in New Orleans and only one of the old school. I
> sometimes go in just to breath the atmosphere which I fear
> is rapidly disappearing.
>
> George Strickler
> Walden, Vt.
> _______________________________________________
>
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4332 (20090813) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.