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Have you looked at your bike(s) lately?
A neighbor was visiting the other day. He was in our sun room where I keep four of my bikes. He was asking about tires to replace worn ones on his bike. As he looked at my tires he noticed that on my Colnago MXL the rubber had almost no wear. He commented, "Doesn't look like your ride this one much." I acknowledged that it's only ridden a few times a year. He asked why I keep it. I responded, "Dan, have you looked at it?" He smiled and nodded his head saying, "Oh, yeah, I forget sometimes that they are things of beauty."
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NOS,
Both you and your friend have really good taste in bicycles. I tend to view everything from an engineering standpoint as that is my life career. Bicycles , with a very few exceptions are, what you used to hear a lot in engineering as simple elegance. They are not complicated machines, when built and outfitted right, with even a low level components, say to me exactly what its purpose is with out any extra fluff. The top of this to me is a top level fixed gear track bike with any frame material you wish, I am partial to Columbus or Reynolds tubing, doesn't really matter though, CF frames can have the simple complete package for the purpose. I generally try to not say this as I get some strange looks from non-engineering types. Bill |
I look at my machines all the time. Sometimes with a cigar and cognac in hand. I can just sit and look at my Ducati, Masi and Raleigh cross bike. The way the parts all come together and create a form in space is extraordinary.
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I agree about the simple elegance of a bicycle, especially a classic steel bicycle. But I wouldn't keep one I didn't ride just to look at it. They're for riding.
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Originally Posted by chasm54
(Post 14963314)
I agree about the simple elegance of a bicycle, especially a classic steel bicycle. But I wouldn't keep one I didn't ride just to look at it. They're for riding.
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Originally Posted by qcpmsame
(Post 14963286)
NOS,
Both you and your friend have really good taste in bicycles. I tend to view everything from an engineering standpoint as that is my life career. Bicycles , with a very few exceptions are, what you used to hear a lot in engineering as simple elegance. They are not complicated machines, when built and outfitted right, with even a low level components, say to me exactly what its purpose is with out any extra fluff. The top of this to me is a top level fixed gear track bike with any frame material you wish, I am partial to Columbus or Reynolds tubing, doesn't really matter though, CF frames can have the simple complete package for the purpose. I generally try to not say this as I get some strange looks from non-engineering types. Bill |
Guilty. My bikes are [mostly] in the finished walk-up basement. Saturday morning as the early sun was streaming in the doorway, a beam fell on one bike where a little spider had made a beautiful web in the main triangle overnight. I sat with my coffee and just looked at that little guy. He liked my bike, too! I'm leaving him there until I ride that one next. Maybe he'll catch a meal.
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I only have the one bicycle, but I do spend a lot of time just looking at it, or wiping it down with a wet cloth to get the mud, dust, and grit off it.
I don't count the two big-box, high-tensile-steel, steel-rimmed-wheel thingies that are in various stages of rustication in the shed. I think the AMF Pursuit has corroded into one single immobile lump of iron oxide, covered in dust, webs, and dauber's nests... |
Having a bike and not riding it is lke having an easy chair and not sitting in it.
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Originally Posted by zonatandem
(Post 14964010)
Having a bike and not riding it is lke having an easy chair and not sitting in it.
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Now that I'm up to four bicycles, I wonder whether I will ride them all. I have a plan, with each one filling a different niche for different kinds of rides and seasons. But if that plan doesn't work, I will likely get rid of the ones that aren't ridden. The bicycle space in the basement is kind of cramped.
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Originally Posted by GeorgeBMac
(Post 14963453)
If it is true that "Form follows Function" then how can one separate or attribute the beauty into one or the other?
You are going to have to forgive me but, I don't understand what you asked about my reply. I am a bit dense and not really very bright or intelligent (I just deal with this and use little crutches and aides) so your reply went over my head completely. I was just saying that I like bikes because they are simply elegant in the engineering sense. Some other things seem this way too. Just my backwards way I suppose, Marines are not known for being Einstein we deal with things like staying alive and keeping the Gunny from eating us for lunch and spitting out the hard parts. Bill |
I'm really over the staring at my bikes thing. If I had a big expanse of wall where I could hang them when not in use, sure. I just want them to work when I go for a ride. After owning several very nice bikes, I've realized that my greatest enjoyment is riding a bike perfectly in tune with my body. If I've got that, I really don't care what the bike looks like.
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1. When I read this the first time, I though you had ridden 2.7 million miles. It might be better to omit some of those decimal points. They are what as known as insignificant figures.
2. Maybe you should outfit one of your mtbs for winter riding - then there will be fewer times when the weather is too crappy to ride. 3. Four bikes after just a year and a half of riding! You'll go far in this community. 4. Yeah, I go downstairs to gaze at my bikes, too.
Originally Posted by Gnosis
(Post 14964884)
When the weather’s too crappy to go riding, I’ll often venture downstairs to spend a little time looking at my bicycles while savoring the next time that we’ll get to assault some pavement or I’ll simply reflect back on some of the fun rides they’ve made possible.
I ride my hilly centuries alternately on my 35 pound Trek Wahoo 29er hardtail (no lockout, but I have no need for this feature) and my 32 pound 1995 Giant Rincon 26er with rigid steel alloy frame. Since I only commenced bicycling in April of 2011 (at age 55) as a means by which to recover from my near fatal heart attack incurred at age 53, I deem it immensely gratifying to know that I can pedal over 100 miles under my own bio-power and upon my return, I rarely feel wiped out. The one exception was the sweltering 101° heat and humidity of July 13, 2012, as I consumed over 3 times as much fluid on that hilly century ride and still ran out of fluid prior to arriving home. I weighed 9.2 pound less upon arriving home even though I drank at least 105 ounces of fluid (6.5 pounds worth) and ate at two points. Thus far, I’ve pedaled a total of 2,792.492 miles. 35 pound 24-speed 2012 Trek Wahoo 29er hardtail – 1,094.3 miles 32 pound 24-speed 1995 Giant Rincon 26er – 1,093.0 miles 21.4 pound 30-speed 2011 Trek 2.1 road bike – 330.76 miles 36 pound 21-speed RoadMaster 26er – 274.432 miles |
1 Attachment(s)
Originally Posted by Terex
(Post 14965157)
I'm really over the staring at my bikes thing. If I had a big expanse of wall where I could hang them when not in use, sure. I just want them to work when I go for a ride. After owning several very nice bikes, I've realized that my greatest enjoyment is riding a bike perfectly in tune with my body. If I've got that, I really don't care what the bike looks like.
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I like to see the front wheel spinning right in front of me.
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Originally Posted by qcpmsame
(Post 14964332)
George,
You are going to have to forgive me but, I don't understand what you asked about my reply. I am a bit dense and not really very bright or intelligent (I just deal with this and use little crutches and aides) so your reply went over my head completely. I was just saying that I like bikes because they are simply elegant in the engineering sense. Some other things seem this way too. Just my backwards way I suppose, Marines are not known for being Einstein we deal with things like staying alive and keeping the Gunny from eating us for lunch and spitting out the hard parts. Bill When I was racing, I always considered a bike to be just another tool. You took good care of it, kept it clean & well-lubed, but you seldom just sat there & admired it. You didn't want to develop any sentimental attachment that would prevent you from risking overcooking a fast turn just to preserve the bike. If it gets damagaed in a crash, you just get another one and continue racing. Now that I'm not racing, I still like to regard the bike as a tool, but I like to see it get used. I'm usually admiring the sweeping lines of the Campag dual-pivot front brake as I'm climbing a long hill out of the saddle. I value every dent in the steel frame, as it gives a richer history to the bike. The more it's used, the more I admire it. I look beyond the physical frame to the history of where the frame has been, pretty much like looking at the bikes the long-ago pro's rode in past years. Luis |
Too much drivel.
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Originally Posted by chasm54
(Post 14963314)
I agree about the simple elegance of a bicycle, especially a classic steel bicycle. But I wouldn't keep one I didn't ride just to look at it. They're for riding.
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Originally Posted by lhbernhardt
(Post 14965572)
Man, I wish I were capable of crafting a reply so diplomatic.
Luis |
Originally Posted by NOS88
(Post 14965513)
Even if I never ride it again, which I hope is a LONG way off, I'm likely to still like looking at this.
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Originally Posted by qcpmsame
(Post 14964332)
George,
You are going to have to forgive me but, I don't understand what you asked about my reply. I am a bit dense and not really very bright or intelligent (I just deal with this and use little crutches and aides) so your reply went over my head completely. I was just saying that I like bikes because they are simply elegant in the engineering sense. Some other things seem this way too. Just my backwards way I suppose, Marines are not known for being Einstein we deal with things like staying alive and keeping the Gunny from eating us for lunch and spitting out the hard parts. Bill |
While we were first in and last out:thumb: we weren't doing much calculus or literature:rolleyes: Priorities you know.
Eja, I was just being sincere He lost me and I'll admit it. Bill |
I often look at Boreas and try to work out why it works so well for me. Tried to set the TCR up to feel and work the same but it never quite got there. I rode the TCR most of the time before I got th Pinnie and it is not a bike to look at too closely. Too many chips in the gel coat and scratches from rising it. Bit of rust on th brake springs and bolts aswell but that bike works.
Boreas only does the important rides now and the TCR is set up for hills. But Both are used and both have their purpose.. However the Pinnie is beginning to look shabby now. It is the bike I use most but also the one that takes the punishment being used on most rides as with the gearing set up it does local hills with ease and has turned into the foul weather bike. Seems that we have a lot of foul weather this year. But to me a bike is to be used. In using it I will get stone chips- I will get it scratched and it isn't always cleaned after every ride. |
I often look at my bikes. Sometimes I look and start thinking about what is working well and what I might want to adjust, repair or change. Other times I just look and smile.
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