Ride, Wrench, Swap, Race
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 9,200
Bikes: Cheltenham-Pedersen racer, Boulder F/S Paris-Roubaix, Varsity racer, '52 Christophe, '62 Continental, '92 Merckx, '75 Limongi, '76 Presto, '72 Gitane SC, '71 Schwinn SS, etc.
Mentioned: 132 Post(s)
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Quoted: 1566 Post(s)
Many of us will remember not being spendy enough to be riding a newer bike among potentially judgemental others such as in a club.
So it was important to keep the old bike looking fresh, with fresh-looking cabling, tape and tires, and with matching rims, etc.
Also, many of us have chosen to keep our bikes fresh and original-looking, in the hopes of maintaining it's resale value.
Such thrifty and maybe aesthetic values tend to accumulate over time, until a bike looks right only when it's kept well-sorted, so can become obsessive just as a bike's functional performance can become.
And so we do as we do, right down to using just the right cable housing ferrule or the right, minimalist valve stem length.