My 19yr old sweetheart of a daughter brought her new boyfriend out to the house to meet us. A fine looking young man, studying psych at Kent State. She walked him around our lovely rural ranch setting before coming in. She took him into the shop to show him my bikes. Later in our discussion he says, "your bikes are beautiful". Give him points for that. I then asked him if he was a "roadie". He said he is. Give him points for that.

Then he asked me if I ever heard of a fixed gear bike. Take points away for that question.

Made me wonder if he was eyeing my gorgeous vintage bikes like a wolf eyes the next kill.

Overall? Good kid and I like him. His eyes lit up when I told him he can ride one of my bikes with me anytime.

Just don't let him get near your bikes with any tools, or a hack saw.

A Dremel is fair game though.

If his name is DREW, double the locks on your shop!

brave daughter. hope you see him again. nice you had some common ground.

Oldscool, do you live near Boyne or Traverse City? Just take him up and down some of those rolling hills. He'll learn the value of a geared road rig fast.

We live just outside Boyne City, just past Whiting Park

I absolutely love the hills here. Aint no fixies in this area. Well, maybe one or two.

He asked me if I'd tried one and I told him "my entire childhood until I bought a Motobecane in '73". Fixies? Really?? Those are a step down for me.

He is a fine young man. I hope to get him out on the fogline this summer.

Or...go west on Grace Rd. (1 mile south of Benzonia), from US 31 to Lake Michigan.
Awesome long hill, with a spectacular beach at the end of the road.

I am the guy who converted a Swedish track back, received as a wedding present in 1973, into a 4-speed freewheeled rig by adding brakes and machining a SunTour derailleur claw to work backward for track dropouts. I, too, consider fixed gear a big technological step backward, although I do find the newly resurrected Sturmey Archer 3-speed fixie hub intriguing.

Fixies, like tattoos, are a fad with the youngsters these days. It's just that they often forget the difference between 'now' and 'permanently.'

I've probably gone by that a couple 3 times. ***scrambling for road map***

Funny, I've been considering a couple of the images from the Lascaux caves from my next tattoo. Maybe I'll put it next to my fixie tattoo.

When I see a young person on a fixie, I am filled with joy. "one less car"
When I see a young person with tattoos, I am relieved. "one less square"

Hey, fixed gear is "old school." Pre-dates multiple gears, in fact.

Sure he was... dreaming of neon green chains, pink 700c tires and 1/8" 5 bolt Dakine BMX chain rings!

Better bequeath your bikes to worthy C & V members lest your (future) son in law starts Dremeling and hacking away...

"the horror...the horror". (Brando in Apocalypse Now)

You could do a lot worse. At the very least that would be semi-original.
Or one more hipster conformist. I guess it depends on what the norm is. Having a completely unmarked body seems a bit outré these days.

I like this!!!

This year finished up my 20th year in the classroom and for any and all knocking that the youth get, some more deserving than others, they are inheriting today's problems. I'll give them this though, they are much more plugged in and aware of social and global issues than most I was in school with back in the 70's and 80's aside from the more socially conscious punkers (but I'm biased since I was one of those punks).

Cobrabyte, I've enjoyed the photos of your tats and your bikes, you are one creative cat!!!

Peace,

-D-

Actually you may be right I did see a statistic that said over 50% of people under 30 are tattooed or something like that

I wonder what the old folks homes will look like with the effects of septums, guages, tats and piercings in rather odd places...in another 50yrs.

So I figure if I don't get a tattoo, I'm being a rebel. I'll have to get out my Doc Martins and leather jacket again.

Yes, in some circles I'm indeed the odd one out at 24 and completely free of ink and metal. I'm somewhat partial to Adolf Loos's view that tattoos in the developed world are for criminals or degenerate aristocrats, and I'm neither

fixed gears and wonderful daughters however... I'm very happy with my fixie and consider myself extremely blessed with my gf!

I once had a GF (fantastic body) who said she was thinking about getting a tat - this was back in the 80's, when the hip kids who are now 50 were starting to get tats (something for today's hipsters to consider), I said "Please don't. That would be like having a Ferrari and tagging it with a rattlecan."

She accepted the complement and also refrained from getting a tat, at least as long as I knew her.

That your daughter chose a boy with the same interest as yours is a big compliment.

That's OK, I guess, if having tats arrests the ageing process at 30.