The corollary of Rule #12 is that one focusses the bulk of their energies on upgrading Bike #1 with the result that upgraded gear typically cascades down to Bike #2 and on down through Bike #n. This is The Way of Things; Bike #1 gains the most, but in the end, they all benefit as upgrades trickle through the stable, with the oldest and most worn gear falling from the bottom where they are either discarded or await enough accumulation to justify another build.
There comes a day, however, that we find ourselves needing to inject an upgrade into the hierarchy, an upgrade which disrupts the Natural Order. This was the case when I reluctantly replaced my XL EV2 with my new Soloist frame. My EV2 holds a dear place in my heart. I built her bit by bit, from components scavenged from eBay over the course of an entire winter. She was at my side (under me, actually, if we’re going to pick nit) as I rediscovered La Vie Velominatus. She was built from scratch in homage to one of my all-time favorite cyclists, Pantani, and his elusive 1998 stallion. She was the first bike I owned that fit me the way I wanted. She was the first bike I had with compact geometry, she was the first bike that cleft my heart in two when I crashed during a crit and destroyed the frame. (I quickly replaced hers with another, identical frame, which is the one I have today.)
Suffice it to say, to have her hanging from a nail in my workshop is a dishonor to this beautiful, loyal friend who carried me back to fitness and through some of the greatest ride’s I’ve been on. Never once did she complain that I was too heavy. Never once did she cringe in agony as I pushed harder on the pedals. Never once did she point downhill when the road pointed up. She carried me through the 2003 L’Etape du Tour and up l’Alpe d’Huez on the morning of the stage. She carried me home after bonking in the heat of North Carolina. She guided my rear wheel back to safety as I was slipping to certain death under a passing semi-trailer on a rain-slicked railroad track.
We have been through a lot together; she must be resurrected. But the question is, in what form?
Bikes are meant to be ridden. I have a carbon Bike #1 and a steel Bike #2, both of which are generally ridden in good weather only, although accidents do happen and they do find their way onto wet roads occasionally. I have a sublime Alu Bike #3 which boasts an identical fit to Bike #1 and serves as my rain bike, thereby getting by far the most use. As far as road bikes go; I have the spectrum fairly well covered and I fear that adding another will mean that she lives out her life being overlooked for my daily rides and go largely unridden, a dishonor almost as great as her current state of limbo.
What I don’t have, however, is a commuter bike; a bike to ride to the cafe or farmers market. A bike to hop aboard and pedal to the office. Do I build her into a commuter which gets ridden, if not in the spirit for which she was intended? Or is this a bigger dishonor than not riding her at all? If I do build her into a commuter, do I rider her with drop bars and my old STI shifters, or do I opt for a set of commuter-friendly mustache bars which I’ve fancied ever since I spotted my first Bridgestone X0? Downtube shifters or bar-end shifters? Full funders and wide tires, I think, though how wide is possible on her tight racing geometry?
Or do I build a funeral pire and set her ablaze, allowing her noble soul to return to Merckx on Mount Velomis to be reborn to someone else’s stable?
Fellow Velominati, I submit to your input: how best to honor this noble steed?
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I'm coming late to the discussion, but unless I have not been paying attention, I don't believe that you have any bikes in your stable with 28mm pave friendly tires. If her fork can accomodate such rubber, it would give you a great machine for commuting, and for hitting the occasional gravel Strade Bianca.
I once made the mistake of setting up a bike with moustache bars, and made the further mistake of riding it for about a year. Moustache bars are an abomination, pure jackassery. Now all bikes set up for pavement, pavé, or fire roads have proper drop bars. That includes the commuter/utility bike.
@Semilog
What Jeff in PetroMetro said.
@all
Thanks for all the input, insight, and advice. Here's my plan:
I'll take a two-pronged approach. In the interest of using it in the short-term, I'm going to set the bike up for commuting; drop bars, simple gears (maybe downtube, maybe old STI), a chain protector, pedals with clips, mud guards, the widest tires that the frame will accomodate.
In the long-run, I'll collect an old, inexpensive Campa groupo - Veloce for instance - and build her up in the style in which she was intended, if not with the gear. As a bike that won't get much riding, it doesn't make sense to build her with Record from an investment standpoint, but the idea of having her as closely as is reasonably built to her original specs makes sense. I will certainly use a dt shifter on the left, Ergo on the right. Just because it's fucking cool.
@DerHoggz
Quite an entrance. At this point, I'm just not feeling quite ready to part with her. She'll continue to be well-cared for and if I ever do feel she's in need of a new home, I'll keep you in consideration. Cheers.
@Scaler911 - embrace the japanese duds on an Italian frame. Wonderful combination.
Check out big JM absolutely tearing the shine out of his dura-ace. I loved the Mapei bikes.(sorry pic link fail)
http://www.sirotti.it/foto2/PIC51710WM.jpg
@frank
Finally sense prevails.
Late to the thread but if my humble experience is anything to go by you are doing the right thing. Bike no. 1 for me is my training and racing carbon steed. Bike no.2 is the Merckx max steelie that only gets ridden on special occasions. The bike I probably ride the most is bike no.3 a Nos Motta SL that I built up with 9 speed chorus and mavic open 32 open pros. I commute on it about 4 days a week for a 26k round trip, ride it in the rain, events like Melburn Roobaix etc and consider it the 'thrash' go anywhere bike. I ran it as a singlespeed for a while but grew tired of it - the gears help.
For the ill informed out there converting a road frame to fixed is a compromise that for most is not worth the hassle - the bb height is somewhat lower and the risk of pedal strike much higher than riding a track frame (with a higher bb) on the street - you have to take corners extra wide to be safe. I found that out the hard way after running a road frame as a fixed conversion for a while.
Frank, you can't go wrong putting nice functional campy gear on the bike and then riding it everywhere whenever you need transport. You will still love riding the bike (each time you swing a leg over and spin the pedals you will be reminded of all those good memories) and frankly the lower specced older campy stuff (eg Chorus 9spd) works fantastically.
As a friend recently said Life is too short to ride shit bikes.
@kiwicyclist
Since when did you get yourself a humble opinion?
You had my respect until you mentioned "compact geometry". Pfft! A real bike doesn't have gimmicy geometry. A real bike is either custom made steel or a classic carbon (read C40).
@pistolpete
Classic...
Carbon...
Hmmmmm...
@kiwicyclist
Thanks mate - point well taken. The SS conversion is weird as well with the chain tensioner gimmicks as well...and, in a town as hilly as this, it just doesn't make sense. But simple, easy, low-maintenance is all good. Then on to a nice build when the money works out for it.
@Marcus
I don't know @Kiwicyclist, but that comment makes me feel like I do.