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Owning a grail bike : Are they too good to ride?
Do you own a bike that due to extraordinary condition and scarcity that is to good to ride?
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Not I says this guy!
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Originally Posted by Barrettscv
(Post 18457853)
Do you own a bike that due to extraordinary condition and scarcity that is to good to ride?
Scarcity qualifies it, so does condition. McLean Fonvielle died young and there are very, very few of these lying about. My Kvales are going to be in the same place to me. He simply hasn't built that many to date. Neat bikes for sure and I love to ride them. |
no.
yes. no... |
Yes, I have a 1984 Lino Messori, repainted by Joe Bell. It is flawless, mostly NOS Campy Super Record. It is a sight to behold!
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I ride my grail bike
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None of my bikes are scarce enough and none of them are in near NOS condition. I'm not sure I could own a bike that is too good to ride. But I'm thinking about it.
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After a few rides in the rain it's yours to enjoy
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No.
It is scarce. |
Nope. I ride my "grails"
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I ride my grail bikes too, but I don't ride the rarest one I have except around my immediate neighborhood.....
Just too irreplaceable to risk anything happening to it. Having Fiamme Ergal rims that don't want to stay true helps out in not tempting me to go to far away with it anyway..... |
How you do you know if it's a grail bike you if never ride it? I guess that's a part of the grail part for me is the ride is incredible along with it's looks or history. Life's too short not to ride every bike you possibly can.
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I ride mine but it is hardly in extraordinary condition.
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I sorta do. I've got a wonderful NOS Italian 20 year old frame in shipment to me right now. Still trying to decide how to build it up but I guarantee it will be ridden.
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Originally Posted by jamesdak
(Post 18457985)
I've got a wonderful NOS Italian 20 year old frame in shipment to me right now.
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If I don't ride it, its the first to go.
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Bikes are meant to be ridden . Not hang on a wall ....
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Originally Posted by Kactus
(Post 18457996)
You can't leave it there. Details man, details! (and photos)
1990s Giordana Superleggero - Made with Excell Podium tubeset. A little over 3 1/2 lbs for the frame supposedly. I already have an older Giordana bike that's made with the "lower-end" Columbus Cromor and yet its soooooo sweet. I can't wait to get the new one in and built up. |
This thread desperately needs pictures of people riding their grail bikes...
I have a few fancy, but not quite 'grail,' bikes - I ride them of course, but on the other hand I'll opt for something less pretty to ride when rain, snow, or mud are involved. |
I admit, I don't know enough about or have access to, fine or "Grail" bikes. Therefore I don't have a Grail bike. However I imagine that if I had a real fine bike part of the beauty of it is the ride quality. I wouldn't want to miss that, especially if I had to wait patiently for a long time to get it. I imagine that if I had one I would be mindful about where I was riding and parking the bike (prolly wouldn't leave my side).
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I started a thread about this very topic one year and 10 days ago.
Here's my initial post: Just musing... A lot of people use the term "grail" to mean a cool bike they've been kinda looking for. To me, using that word in that way really does water it down from what it was meant to be. IMO, a true "grail-worthy" bike has to be elusive, rare, coveted, competed for, and there really has to be a search with effort and doubt and difficulty. I don't expect everyone to agree. To me a "grail" would be a Rene Herse. Or maybe an Alex Singer or Jo Routens... The beauty, the 1930's-y French art deco aesthetic, the hand-made uniqueness, the function, the mythology, the hand lettering and lining, the novelty, the unobtainability- to me that's unsurpassed- that's what makes a "grail." There's a Herse on the eBay right now- a 53 that's just my size. So, of course, I'm all drooling over it- but then I was thinking- well... I'd have to change the shifters... if I'm going to change the shifters, I should probably change that rear derailleur- and since I'm changing that I'd really like to have a 6 speed rear end, but then that would probably mean cold setting and a new wheel and ... I don't want this bike. I appreciate that this bike is what it is, and something like this, especially in the shape it's in should not be messed with. I want a bike that has *that* but something I can mess with... something I can kind of manipulate into mine, to hang my favorite stuff off of. IMO, that's not something you do with a 40 year old stock Rene Herse. Yes, it's a bike- but when you get to this "grail" level, even with it's use- it's a museum piece that you and other people can appreciate into the future. I guess I want a bike I can ride, a bike I can appreciate, something I'm not afraid of damaging other people's appreciation into the future by changing the bar tape... Just some random rambling... That thread was dragged all over the place by arguments over the semantics of the word "grail" or that the concept doesn't exist or that you can use any word to mean whatever you think you want it to mean or whatever... |
To me, the definition of "grail bike" is simple; if you could only have one bike, what would it be?
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When I used to work in a shop, I'd tell customers that if they couldn't handle the idea of their bike getting destroyed, they might as well buy a cheaper one. Bikes are made to be used. I've almost kind of followed that advice over the years. Almost all of my bikes are riders and they all have their imperfections, some more than others. I do have a custom Melton touring bike which looks immaculate and I've only ridden a few times. But that's it. I ride my other bikes.
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Grails get ridden, but not parked out of sight.
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Sorry it's all I could find of me on the bike. It's nothing crazy. Just a late 70's Guerciotti with full SR and well patina'd. But it's special to me.
https://img0.etsystatic.com/134/0/74...00066_s2j1.jpg |
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