Don't see anything that stands out or is unique there...

Since you seem familiar with CR...you should use the search utility more. Not everyone is very impressed with Confente's work...wasn't making that up.

=8-)

Now here's a couple standouts...


https://www.yellowjersey.org/konno3.html

https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Jap.../Zunow%201.htm


=8-)

Or like taking the transmission out of a BMW.

I dont think your really going to do it.I think you just want to get a rise from some members of the forum.It seems to be working.

^ Dutch style city bikes are in vogue. Touring bikes seem to be in high demand too.

Has the OP even checked back in??

No kidding, yikes

That's not the worst of it. Look!



Hmm, green cable

That is utterly disgusting - right down to the shifter nuts pulled out of the hardware store.

That qualifies for being a Drew. Big time.

-Kurt

Combo breaker!

I'm hopefully staying on topic, although I see a few discussions going on in here.

If a person wants to go on and modify their frame I'm all for it. It's their property and their right. HOWEVER, it really does pain me to see a good bike become permanently marred and most times is not reversible.

I can only speak from personal experience. My Nishiki frame is setup as a fixed gear. I had no attraction to the fixed gears that were available at the time and steel+lugged is beautiful to me. Riding fixed gear is fun, but an acquired taste. When I first started I was told on a weekly basis, "Hey you know you could probably dremel those cable things off. Make it look cleaner." I actually did think about this for a little while and decided not to because;

A) wasn't that big of a deal. They never bothered me.
B) what if I decided I wanted to stop riding fixed gear? I'd be stuck with a frame that I could not convert.

Well I'm glad I didn't do anything to the bike as after my accident it's going to be restored into a touring bike that I can take on BBQ rides to the park.

The best comparison I can come up with is... It's like those Jackass movies (no insult to the OP or those who modify their bikes). The guy is doing something that does not affect me in anyway, but it makes me cringe in pain at the sight/thought of it.

Was looking at the spokes...

Is there even a brand stamp?

Are they even quality spokes?

Are they original?

=8-|

Eh?

What's up with the forest green chainring bolt? Is that a real thing?

This thread sucks like troll.

Ok, ok. If this fixie trend hadn't happened maybe the whole purpose of fixed gears wouldn't be as well known. But what about the people who only really found out about it because of the trend? Like me? I want a fixed gear (preferably a track bike) so I can actually work on improving some of my cycling skills as well as losing weight. You see, I have a hard time maintaining my cadence for long periods. I simply coast too much. I want to fix that, and having a bike that won't let me coast just seems like a logical conclusion to me. Does me wanting a fixed gear make me a hipster because I'm trying to do a build when most are just catching up? If it does, well, sorry... I'm not. I want one for me, damn anyone who says otherwise. This thread has incited some dark sides to you all, my friends. It seems like even a non-permanent change sparks some holy war...
-Gene-

I read somewhere...

"It can be restored a hundred times but it can only be original once. There is value in leaving the bicycle in original condition. However, if you do not damage (cut off, grind, drill or modify the frame set in some irreversible fashion) the frame set, hang what ever components you want on the bicycle and enjoy the ride. But keep in mind that, someday, you just might want to put the bicycle back into original condition. Or, should you decide to sell the bike, the next guy or gal might want to put it back into "as issued" shape. Why not maintain the option?

Your insistence on squeezing things to one side or another of a gap with socialism on one side and the laissez-est of faire on the other is pretty interesting. I guess us preservationists are basically Stalinists in sheep's (wool) jerseys. I live in an area of great historical importance and beauty that has been, and is being, destroyed by people doing what they want with their property, which almost always boils down to making as much money as they can without regard for the consequences. I don't personally find this attitude any less harmful, on the one hand, then the strictures of, say, your average Scandinavian form of government on the other. So I'm rejecting the particular brand of slippery slope you're selling. I'm glad there are folks trying to preserve the agricultural character and culture of Lancaster County, even though I'm afraid they're trying to close the barn door after the horse is, quite literally, gone. I also have no problem whatsoever with historical districts in cities that attempt to preserve some of the character and history of place, which is especially important in a society defined in so many ways by both transience and disposability. The folks on historical commissions do tend to be quite zealous, sometimes overly so. Then again, the forces of avarice that insist on wrapping themselves in the shroud of Liberty with a capital "L" are pretty zealous, too. I generally have no problem with folks with old bikes doing what they want with them, and I certainly don't think we need to create any formal committees. But I also have no problem with a collective sensibility among the folks with a more passionate interest in old bikes expressing itself. There's always someone willing to cry "repression!" because their club membership doesn't include an open bar.

+1 I rode my Raleigh as a fixed gear for 25 years, then one day decided to hang the gears back on it. I was very happy to have the option.

[edit] I should add that my decision to switch back to gears was inspired by many of the bikes I've seen posted on this forum, and had nothing to do with feeling like it was somehow wrong to ride the frame as a fixed gear. IMHO, as long as the frame hasn't been maligned, there's no logical distinction between making it a fixed gear or hanging a modern 10-speed drive train and brifters on it.

I don't know, I think it's been a pretty decent discussion so far. The fact is we all have different opinions and we all have the right to them.

"My friends", who are you... John McCain?

1. I'm not insisting...merely pointing out and analysing the behavior of the lamenters...
2. ...who could solve most of the perceived "slight" by stepping up with their own rescue money instead of "whining"...
3. ...and who of course in some instances such as with historical commisions try to use the public till against the very taxpayer who paid into it to control their property.

In a free society, put your money where your mouth is - or don't whine. And if you are a so-called "Steward" of such historical treasure already - don't sell it - cause you only have yourself to blame if you do.

Seriously, how hard is that?

=8-)

The OP asked for our opinion, so I he got it. In a free society we are able to whine on internet forums until the cows come home.

I think, as a fad, FG has run it's course. I say this mostly because the bike companies have hopped on the wagon, and just about every single one now has a "track" bike for sale. Mostly cheap, mass produced things. I've nothing against them, I'm sure some are fine rides, and in twenty years the Bianchi Pistas will probably be as fondly recalled as the Peugeot UO8.
I recall when it started-- mostly because I began helping people, mostly VCU students, build up fixed gears back in the late nineties. At that point, it was mostly folks finding an old bike and converting it, usually building up a wheel around cheap Suzue track hubs (Deep V's I never saw). It seemed a little more real to me then (at that point I'd been riding fixed I don't know how long) and I liked the DIY attitude of most of the fixed riders I met. I also recall going into a local bike shop at one point in the nineties, asking for a track cog, and having no one in the shop even know what one was.
But with time and marketing, it's turned into a fad. I see so many riders who have never learned to ride them right-- no idea how to stop, no idea how to skid, no idea how to trackstand (not that that's limited to FGs), riding simply for style points. I believe some of them will slowly morph into regular riders, though I have no idea how many. The Fad isn't bad, though if I see one more fixed/ss rider in town with a back brake only, I may have to poke my eyes out.
Next fad? Utility/City bikes. They're already pushing them. I kidded my GF when I got her an old Raleigh sports (which she rides regular and loves) that she was getting a fashion model bike. At first she didn't believe me, but now that she's seen a steady stream of them in the backgrounds of the clothing catalogs she gets, she believes me...

I converted my '88 Paramount to fixed (kept the Superbe Pro parts, didn't alter the frame). Why? To make something very different from my other bikes. It didn't make sense to me to have several bikes that are set up the same way. It was just gathering dust in the garage until I converted it. Now it gets ridden frequently. I think you can convert an old bike and still retain it's character.

I agree with what you're saying about the fad. The fact that something becomes a fad doesn't negate the positive attributes of the thing itself. I still occasionally enjoy the music of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, notwithstanding the fact that if you saw Johnny and Joey on the street today you'd just assume they were baristas or, well, bike messengers.

Really, we in the C&V area (when we're here) need to look at how some racers in the C&V days did things when they were pre-professional. A bike was expensive back in the old days. If they didn't have big sponsorship they didn't have multiple bicycles. The same bike that was used to commute to work at the meat shop was used to race. Being a commuter, it may have had mudguards that went on and off. This also facilitated maintaining a training schedule over most of the year, since the approach to training was "Ride Lots."

Winter training was on fixed gear, just read CONI. Again, the same bike for a poor racer would have the geared systems removed and the fixed wheel attached.

So using a vintage road frame set up as a fixed gear is potentially correct, historically.

What such a rider would not do is to cut off any of the brazed on features that made it possible to ride it as a road bike, or that compromised rust protection. You cut off your rear derailleur hanger, you need a new frame for road racing. That's worth a lot of overtime at the meat shop, and cuts into your training time.

Road Fan

I'm definitely against the destructiveness that Bikerosity is describing, but the OP didn't suggest he would do any such things. Many of us are unfairly stereotyping him as a careless twit, but worse, stereotyping ourselves as biased, prejudiced curmudgeons who can't get beyond our own points of view. We need to give the OP the simple human respect of just listening to the question that was actually verbalized and giving him the answer.

If we don't, we deserve whatever might be said about us over at "those other" forums.

Road Fan