Categories: Accessories and GearLa Vie VelominatusMusings from the V-BunkerNostalgia

Inflation

A ride for the people, the Sean Kelly Cyclosportive

My first bike was a Sears Moonlight Special. It was literally a piece of shit – figuratively. I mean, it would only “literally” be a piece of shit if shit was made of sand-filled steel tubes salvaged from the plumbing of the local sewage facility. Which it might have been, but I simply don’t have the peer-reviewed evidence to back that claim up.

I feel comfortable stating that this bike cost less than $50 USD back in the early 70’s, and it was yellow. It also had a saddle which, upon my personal dissection (Go Science!) was conclusively comprised of a shaped steel plate covered by a thin foam pad and a faux-leather shell. Made in America, fuck yeah. That’s one reason right there that the United States doesn’t have the same over-population problems China does.

After that, I was given my dad’s Raleigh, made of Reynolds 531 tubing which I loved deeply, apart from the exposed brake cables and Weinmann centerpull brakes. I installed some aero brake levers on it and quickly learned the value of owning some proper brake-adjustment tools like the Third Hand. (I’m not sure why a Third Hand is a bicycle-specific innovation; having one more hand feels like a genetically-viable mutation.)

Finally, after a summer of saving up, I bought my own proper racing bicycle, a Cannonwhale SR700 with Shimano 105. In hot pink, for $700. I loved the shit out of that bike, crowning it with every accessory (apart from an EPMS) that one can think of: I couldn’t afford Scott Drop-ins, so I happily accepted my brother’s bar-ends from his Bridgestone as substitutes. I saved up for ages and bought a Selle San Marco Regal and got one step closer to looking like Greg LeMan. Benotto bar tape was a no-brainer at only a few bucks a roll. So Pro, so cheap. And it never wore out and it didn’t matter how bad you were at wapping bars; if you needed four rolls to cover the real-estate (wrapping the brake levers cleanly is the crux), then you were still only out about $10.

It was such a great bike. I rode it in France, Belgium, The Netherlands, not to mention most of the northern United States. I rode with my family, my friends; I rode with my dad the most. In fact, the only time I dumped that beautiful Regal saddle was with him, five minutes into the first ride with that saddle when he decided to change the route and hang a louie when I was overlapping wheels with him. Scraped the leather clean off the right-side of the saddle. No worries, a little super-glue and the saddle lasted me another 10 years.

I lost and found my way back into Cycling two or three times during the lifetime of that $700 bike. If I was the man I am today, I’d have kept it, too. I still have many of the parts, but I dumped the frame because it’s too big for me, and I didn’t realize how much it would mean to me today. We all walk the path of La Vie Velominatus in steps; it is only natural to wander off the path from time to time.

My #1 is worth something like $10k, maybe more, maybe less. Which in any case is a stupid amount of money for a bicycle. My Nine Bike is the hand-me-down, worth a bit less but in practical terms, almost the same. An entry-level bike, like my ‘Wale SR700 would cost a few thousand dollars today, well out of reach of a young Velominatus hoping to get into the sport.

Cycling is supposed to be the accessible sport, the sport of The People. What happened?

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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KogaLover says:

Oct 7 2015 at 4:09 am

@SamV

I hear ya on the bargain-cycle-clothes. Same here.

I mentioned here before, I took up cycling again to improve my leg muscles for skiing, and I put some severe money down for skiing. Meanwhile I have 4 pairs of skis (all used, but still pristine condition: SL, GS and 2 pairs of Super G's) and a pair of high-end skiboots that match nicely -colourwise- with a YJA. But the real cost goes into clothes (for the kids. I only need new clothes every 5-6 years, except when last year, I burnt my jacket by washing it too warm) and the holidays. The annual spend on skiing for the family could get me real nice bicycles every year, but the fun of skiing is that it's more convenient to do together as a family.
chuckp says:

Oct 7 2015 at 7:42 am

You can still get bikes for cheap. You just can't get the bikes most of us ride for cheap. At least as long as I've been riding, that's always been the case. I guess the difference is that "not cheap" has become a lot more expensive. Probably harder to find a "quality" road bike with "good" components for less than $1000. But a 105-level equipped bike can be had for ~$1500 retail for aluminum w/carbon fork and ~$2000 for an entry level carbon frame. But that's still not cheap IMHO.
MangoDave says:

Oct 7 2015 at 10:56 am

@JohnB

Now I’m going back to steel for the #1 bike most likely a Shand Skinnymalinky, no Di2, no discs, something that can and will be ridden all over and all year round.

This reminds me, I did Levi's Fondo this past Saturday (a long tough ride with tons of climbing), saw a guy struggling up one of the rollers. As we rode up next to him, he asked "do you have a spare Di2 battery?" Not a good ride to suddenly have no shifting options.
MangoDave says:

Oct 7 2015 at 11:04 am

I won't go through my nostalgia and bike history here. I do have to agree that stuff seems to be getting really expensive. The cost of my #1 frame has doubled since I bought it a while back, for essentially the same model. Plus, it's steel, so it's hard to chalk it up to advances in technology. And don't even get me started on the cost of carbon wheels... Last year I built up a set of tubulars with Record hubs, Sapim spokes and Ambrosio rims all for a few hundred dollars. They weigh about 1250g and roll fast as fuck. Except for doing a time trial on the flats, I doubt I'm giving much up to some of the $2000+ carbon sets.
antihero says:

Oct 7 2015 at 11:47 am

Top class gear doesn't have to be expensive. Exhibit 1: I just purchased a Cervelo P2-SL frame on Ebay for $350. Built it up with the crap lying around in the garage, none of which was expensive save for the wheels (Ambrosio Nemesis+DuraAce hubs+PaveEvo CGs): old crankset, old brakes, the kind of stuff that you could have sourced on EBay or the LBS' bargain bin for a few hundred dollars. Total outlay: About $1500 (I built the wheels myself, and saved a ton by sourcing everything on the cheap.)

She weighs in at 17lbs, and hauls ass every bit as well as $10K bike. Maybe not quite as prettily, and you won't have a bunch of lawyers in spandex oohing and ahhing over her in the parking lot, but that matters not when you drop their asses.
antihero says:

Oct 7 2015 at 11:48 am

@MangoDave

I won’t go through my nostalgia and bike history here. I do have to agree that stuff seems to be getting really expensive. The cost of my #1 frame has doubled since I bought it a while back, for essentially the same model. Plus, it’s steel, so it’s hard to chalk it up to advances in technology. And don’t even get me started on the cost of carbon wheels… Last year I built up a set of tubulars with Record hubs, Sapim spokes and Ambrosio rims all for a few hundred dollars. They weigh about 1250g and roll fast as fuck. Except for doing a time trial on the flats, I doubt I’m giving much up to some of the $2000+ carbon sets.

That's where the money goes a long way - you can never go wrong with that combination. I'll take my Golden Tickets over a set of Zipps any day.
Erik says:

Oct 7 2015 at 12:59 pm

My first rig was a Centurian. It had flat pedals, 12!!!! speeds, extra brake lever things, and stem shifters. As a kid, my first project in shop was to make a "workstand" for it. Self designed, looked like a trainer without resistance. With that in place I replaced the levers, put toe clips on the pedals, and moved the stem shifters to the downtube. It had Suntour components.

When I got hit by a car on it the frame was bent. My LBS fixed the frame and set me back on riding.

Then I moved up in the world, a Lotus Elite 600 with Shimano 600 on it. Color? Almost Celeste. My dad sprung for it because he figured if getting hit by a car didn't stop me, I might as well upgrade. I rode that all the way through college.

Then as a treat, toward the end of law school, Bianchi, Campy, and Celeste finally entered my life. Still riding that bike. I suppose I should upgrade, but I love it so much. Time for a +1.
wiscot says:

Oct 7 2015 at 1:13 pm

@chuckp

You can still get bikes for cheap. You just can’t get the bikes most of us ride for cheap. At least as long as I’ve been riding, that’s always been the case. I guess the difference is that “not cheap” has become a lot more expensive. Probably harder to find a “quality” road bike with “good” components for less than $1000. But a 105-level equipped bike can be had for ~$1500 retail for aluminum w/carbon fork and ~$2000 for an entry level carbon frame. But that’s still not cheap IMHO.

I hear ya. But take another outdoor activity popular with males in the age ranges that I expect are represented on this site: golf. Even the most cursory search says a full set will run about $500. Add in shoes and some gear such as balls ($40-50 a box), shoes ($100-200) and your up to high three figures. A round at a pretty standard local course here is $25 a shot. Want to play a Kohler course and you're looking at $190 to $350 a time. Play once a week from say May to October is 24 rounds, that's $600 at the local, $6000 at an average of $250 at the high end. All of a sudden a bike and gear that can last for years and be ridden hundreds of times a year becomes much more affordable.

I had a former colleague whose husband was a keen golfer. He had to scale WAY back when the true cost of his hobby became known. $ thousands a year.

Also, I don't like being told when and where I can ride!
universo says:

Oct 7 2015 at 1:20 pm

TREKended up asfirst road bike _ destroyed within 4 weeks _ went to a Basso SLX which with some miracle working my employer sponsored Campagnolo groupset and wheels
tmgrasso says:

Oct 7 2015 at 2:33 pm

Inflation--yea it's a bitch.

My first road bike was a 1980 Schwinn Continental in black sable with gold trim:

I believe the bike cost my mother around $200 (presently $544 due to inflation). There is something about a 36 pound "Electro-forged diamond style frame of 16 gauge 1010 carbon steel" that still gives me a Carbone.

I looked after the bike meticulously. Always lubed, washed and waxed. My only major screw up was running into the back of a parked car (hell if I know what distracted me) which bent the forks back. Unfortunately they were replaced with non-original, but they were fully chromed so I made it work.

I rode the utter shit out of my Continental. In Summer 1983 at age 14 I even did a 62 mile ride to the NJ shore (who knew = 100 km?) in cut-off blue jeans, a white cotton tshirt, and white Nike leather high tops. My "training" consisted of riding farther every day for about 3 weeks. Two days before the ride I rode 40+ miles, and the day before I rode 50+ miles. In retrospect, I unwittingly imposed a stage race on myself. What did I know? Not fuck-all of anything. Greg LeMan was someone I only saw fleetingly and rarely on ABC's Wide World of Sports. I was a country bumpkin simply unaware and ignorant.

When I turned 16 when I took over my grandfather's Puch moped--damn that gas-oil mixing pig. My Continental then sat in various basements and garages over the ensuing 3 decades, unridden, but never forgotten.

I recently brought that Continental home from a back country shed. The tires all but rotted off, the paint covered with years of dust, and the chome pitted. I don't have the heart to post a picture of it due to its neglected condition. But the cogs are still greased and the cranks turn. The fork-mounted odometer shows 1812 miles. It is now my restoration project as soon as I complete setting up my basement workshop.

This past winter, after 32 years without road bike, I bought a 2015 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Ultegra Di-2 Disc determined to make a comeback.

I bought it on a snowy February day from my LBS at a 30% discount to the MSRP. I figured, fuck it--if I'm coming back, I'm going all in. Last month I finally matched my 32 yr old 100 km record, riding in the Gran Fondo on NJ.

Inflation? Carbon steel to just carbon... $540 to $3600--36 to 18 lbs...all worth it.

I am in love again.

-TG