Be these monks, or Keepers?
We are presently in the calm eye of the Spring Classics typhoon. Last weekend the Ronde blew through leaving more questions than answers and now this Sunday, blowing in the opposite French direction with just as much power, Paris-Roubaix. Between storms let us gather our inner cyclist and meditate upon our ancient scrolls of The Rules. These scrolls were found deep in a pain cave, above the River Merckx, by, wait for it, a shepherd, no, a peripatetic innertube repair person.
@Blacktoolpower asks for enlightenment on a question as old as the bike itself.
FFS, Gianni
Every code, every philosophy, has its wrinkles; little contradictions and ambiguities that need solving, fudging, or avoiding with fancy logical footwork.
When The Keepers sit in their robes in the Velominati Star Chamber (they do that, right?) debating whether a ristretto coffee is allowed under Rule #56 or if listening to The Cycling Podcast with one earphone on a long steady ride round the park really contravenes Rule #62, they’re enacting cycling’s equivalent of the great debate in The Name of the Rose. That was the Dominicans versus the Franciscans on the motion “Did Christ, or did He not, own the clothes that He wore?” (translation: who’s more holy, the fatcats or the hobos? You don’t need a vatican tour to figure out who won). These small questions have far reaching implications.
So, here’s one for the Keepers: does appropriate support for my Local Bike Shop (Rule #58) allow me to contravene its adjacent Rule (#57 – No Stickers)?
The first time I had my beautiful titanium Enigma serviced by the always reliable, always friendly London Cycle Workshop, they put a cheeky green sticker on the down tube, saying “maintained with LCW”. Did I ask them to do it? No. Did the green match anything on my … excuse me titanium coloured bike? No. I took it off.
But when I returned a few weeks afterwards, to get my bike in top condition for the Dragon Ride – a hideously long cyclosportive in Wales – they checked everything, tightened some bearings, tuned the mech, pronounced it perfect … and didn’t charge me a penny.
I didn’t take off the sticker that time. Partly out of gratitude, partly because that “with” in the sticker’s wording (rather than “by”) struck me as appropriately respectful.
A bike shop that checks your machine for free and does other generous things like taking the time to explain the thread-count on Vittoria Open Corsas without ever trying to sell them to you and giving you maintenance tips that will result in less income for them … is a noble and life-affirming institution and worth bending a rule for, no?
I await the verdict …
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To blag a quote from another great man...........
I cannot forecast to you the action of The Keepers. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Velominati interest. It must be in accordance with the interpretation of the teachings of Merckx.
That little shop looks rather fantastic...if only I could find one around here like that! Looking at the photo they've put up of the offending item, I can't see it being too much of an issue!
@piwakawaka
If I forget to put one on I often get hassled about it, although I do note they get pulled off on occasion which worries me not a jot.
@Oli
True there Oli, but your decals are pretty sweet looking. Not always the case. . .
Funny timing on this. I was having this conversation with the Keeper very recently.
I'm also one of those people that if I buy a car- I have the dealer take of the license plate frame with the dealers name on it, or any decals/ stickers they may put on the trunk. If the dealer wants to knock off $$ for me being a rolling billboard, then sure, I'll leave it.
I'm also OK with a sticker that is both ascetically pleasing, and represents a shop that I like. But that's just me.....
I'm staying out of this weighty debate but the lead image of (L to R) the Fronkster, Bretto and Gianni in Franks basement answers a lot of questions about how the decision making by the Keepers is arrived at. Or is the image of them post Kwaremont ride in the Gîte, they do look a little toasted?
@Rob
Heeeheheee
@scaler911
As long as we're talking about a minimalist decal then I'm with you. Not that my bikes have any.
For the Fundamentalists here, what if you bought an ex-pro frame and it still has the riders name or other team stickers on it? Should they be removed as part of its de-commissioning and integration into civilian life? Or are they part of the machine at that point? Guidance is clearly required.
@Oli
As the owner of two bikes which have been well fettled by @Oli I am unconcerned by his application of stickers such as these. Although for reasons known only to him only one of the bikes warranted such stickering. Of much greater concern, to me at least, is use of the word, and I can barely bring myself to type it, "totes" in a post. Shocking.