Yeah, see, I don't know if a guy like me really deserves a bike like this. I'm brutal at maintaining my own bikes, and worse at keeping them clean. Once a year or so, when I bring the bike back to Sixty for maintenance, it gets a good cleaning too. This pic must've been partway between oil changes.

Oh, to be so blissfully indifferent to people's opinion of me.

You're right. You don't deserve it. Send it to me and you will sleep better at night. You have my address. I promise not to put animal heads on it.

The Italian Trek? That is a not..

I do find it hilarious when people go gaga over a Bianchi. It's like when people discover Aperol Spritz for the first time.

An NSU Fahrrad I can understand, a Bianchi not so much. Maybe it's the same people who buy "Italian" shoes.

https://www.google.com/search?q=nsu+...w=1280&bih=622

1. Beer.
2. Food.
3. Music.

PS: Most of the world finds the use of "America" as a term for the United States to be demeaning.

beer ... those are fighting words ... anyone who drinks "coffee" flavoured beer should be shot on sight.

food is debatable ... German cuisine is great but very limited

i agree with music but Scorpions are quite good, no?

most of the world uses "the states" most, "America" quite a bit (especially in the context of American) and no one (in English at least) says United States. in other languages most spell "U", "S" and "A"

1. Beer..there are some miro-brews in the States that are really awesome but generally no.
2. Food..meh in traditional dishes it's a toss-up, in what people actually eat it goes to Germany, and German baking is better than 99% of the world
3. Music..I listen to punk so yea that goes tips to the USA..

Now I've had limited experience in central America and none in South America other that dating an Argentine 20 years ago but if were are going to encompass all the Americas it changes the food, not the beer, and not the music.

Definitely hot!

Glad to see the thread back on track too.

I do what I can.

1. When I travel in Germany (or the UK) the thing I miss the most is the diversity of beer that is common in the PNW. Even dive bars in PDX often have a dozen beers on tap. Moreover, there are entire categories of ale that are simply not to be found in Europe (unless imported). When it comes to beer innovation and variety there is no place in the world that is the equal of the PNW.

http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps...4206542969&z=6

2. While I agree that USAnian fast food sucks, the USA is nation of large cities with some of the best food in the world. IMO, the best examples of syncretism in Europe pale in comparison to the way USAnians have adopted and adapted chinese, mexican, salvadorian, japanese, korean, thai, lebanese, vietnamese, cuban, etc. And then there are the great regional cuisines of the USA (e.g new mexican, tex-mex, creole, deep south, SF chinese, north east italian, "kali"fornian etc). Try telling the average euro that the burrito is a purely USAnian food...

A specific example:
When I have lived or travelled in Europe for a period, the very first thing I do when I return to the USA is pig out on Thai. There are 5 Thai restaurants within a 10 minute walk of my home that are far better than any I've been to in Europe. There are dozens of Thai restaurants within walking distance of my home.

So you are going to open it up, then I'll say food here is better. No I cannot get as good Mexican food here that would be the end. Asian food here is better not by a little bit, the African foods here are better not by just a little bit, and that doesn't eve speak of central Asia and the former Soviet satellites.

Beers in the states are variations on beers here on the continent. If there is a beer style your feel your missing when you come here then you're not looking hard enough. In one respect you are correct Germans tend to drink local, very local and it seems to span the generations. If I bring a Winkler Bräu home to Frankonia I'll be the only one who drinks it.

quick thoughts:

i am not interested in different beer. i don't want diversity, i want high quality.

i feel the same way about food. it's great that you have 5 thai places within walking distance. if it's not street food quality made correctly, i'm not interested.

i'd sacrifice convenience every day of the week and twice on sunday for high-quality results.

example: i don't drink wheat beer outside of Bavaria, why, because it usually sucks. even in Frankfurt it's piss poor and that's only a few 100km away. in America, you guys still drink Blue Moon and pay for it :lol:

this is what makes me that saddest about america :(

it was so great at so many things and now it's just mediocre at a huge battery of things ... whatever happened to sticking with your core competencies. the space race! the big3 in Detroit! the best universities on the planet! :( it just makes me sad (and most of the rest of the world).

We still have the hottest bikes:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps1c11658f.jpg

seriously, that thing is working way too hard to be cool

just be cool ... don't work so hard.

and grab some break at the nice, albeit slightly commercial/trendy, bakery next to my CPH flat.

cool is a state of mind, not a successful attempt at "coolness"

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=335917

:blink:
You do realize there are about as many asians in the greater LA as in all of Germany.

Styles of beer that are pretty much unique to the states: Cascadian dark ale (CDA), India red ale (IRA, a new style!), and rye pale ales (RPAs). Its now possible to find a few APAs and ASAs (the USA's most well known styles) in europe but every one I've tasted has been mediocre, at best.

:bleh:

trying too hard to be trendy.

as far as asians go, one of the largest populations of Japanese outside of Japan is in Düsseldorf, Germany. They have the best Okinomiyaki places outside of Japan. Cali is way overhyped. Should have sunk into the ocean by now.

You understand that more does not equal better and that's only Asians were talking about and of those Asians whats there ethnic breakout and how many per relation to non asians...there more to this then we got lots of um and they make good food. I like American pizza better than Italian pizza that doesn't make Italian pizza bad. I like pizza from Chicago better than NYC neither is bad because I like prefer the dough from Chicago

A CDA is a Dark IPA a derivative of an English beer

IRA another derivative of an IPA

Rye's of all sorts are bit hard to get ahold of in the north of Europe but not in Spain Greece and Turkey..

Like I said many posts ago US micro brews are great, I don't think they're "better" than here. I love Bell's and Founders in all they're varied seasonal varieties but I like them because they in many way symbolize my past.

As a rule, I never trust anyone that says "Asians." If they can't specifically break it down by country :(

there are dozens of thai restaurants within walking distance of my home.

here are a few of the best:

http://www.pokpokpdx.com/
2 restaurants (pok, pok and sen yai)
NYT review of the NYC outpost:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/di...nt-review.html


http://www.chiangmaipdx.com/
(Like eating at a very good restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand.)


variety is the spice of life...

no one goes to Chiang Mai, or Thailand for the matter anymore unless they're on a super budget trip or on their way to Burma.

it's great that you have a few restaurants, but they're all imported, which is what you're missing. bringing good food is OK, not having the culture that developed it is kinda sad.

mediocre variety is the not the spice of any sensible person's life.

edit: i don't hate PDX or the pacific northwest at all. by US standards it's quite interesting. however comparing it to a Munich (with it's beer history) or Stuttgart (with it's automotive prowess and current political strife) is kind of naïve, at best. those are two southern German examples similar in size to PDX.

This applies until you find what you like, try lots of crap when you've picked you poisons seek quality.

I like Ti bikes I've ridden many of them from different manufacturers my next one will be bespoke.

i hate to pop your bubble, but germany is no culinary mecca. if i had to rate the best place to eat in europe right now, i would pick london.


except that they use different malts, different yeasts, and different hops.

With a 40% non German population in Stuttgart it's far more diverse than you give it credit for and I've yet to meet a Londoner or Brit in general that doesn't like German sweets.

All derivitives use a bit different stuff than the original hence the derivative, you won't find two weizen's, keller biers, or pils that use the same hops malts and yeasts. Beer here varies town to town let alone region to region. What you will find is though is standards ~2000 years of brewing beer will give you that.

yes...its sad that singapore, hong kong, and tokyo did not have the "culture" to develop all of the food they have imported and intermingled.
:rolleyes:

which is hilarious and exactly my point.

London, and the UK, has almost no native cuisine, even less than Germany, and yet, you select London, it's all imported again like PDX.

why the hell would I go to a Tapas place in London when I go to southern Spain? Why would I eat Indian/Pakistani in London, when a Frankfurt to London flight costs as much as a Frankfurt to Mumbai flight?

seriously? bringing up London is one of the worst choices for authentic food. might as well fly to Munich/Stuttgart rent a BMW/Audi (or take a 200mph train, if that's your thing) over the Alps and eat your way through the Dolomites and into Toscana.

London ...

:lol:

Tokyo was the most diverse "city" I have been to in years.

Every sub-street had authentic food. If you hang in tourist areas, sure, you have all kinds of crap.

Hang out in the small streets where you get local food. Even better, do a "home stay" which is what we always do while traveling.

Singapore is very synthetic and not so impressive in my opinion ... honestly, what cuisine is Singapore known for? And, is it different than what you'd get in KL?

Sorry man, but you need to travel (correctly) more often.

The big deal is acidfast has a history of pulling this kind of thing. It gets old.

The problem is in your perception. I don't see someone trying to be cool with the zebra bike, I see someone trying to bring a little whimsy to the world and put a smile on people's faces.

But you are so hide-bound and so very enamored with Germany, I'm not surprised at your view. You're wrong though. If it were a spare, unadorned fixie, then you'd be right, that's someone trying to be cool.