Gone the way of the frame pump
Returning to your roots can be both a rewarding and sobering experience. The nostalgia one feels for the halcyon days of youth, the memories of carefree times in the sun with the only concern to make it home in time for dinner, the hidden alleyways and secret spots where the bike would take you and not another soul in the world would know your whereabouts. To return to those very places only to find that they are gone, buried, replaced or neglected beyond redemption is a slap in the face, as if to say, times change, the past is gone, move on.
These past few weeks spent back in the stomping grounds of my childhood, youth and most of my adult life have reinforced a few things: some memories last forever, others are wiped fairly quickly, and sometimes the grass really is greener etc. Other times, the grass is burnt brown and crisp, but it’s still grass. Even with the ‘better’ choices we have in all aspects of our lives, there remains a certain romanticism and sense of ‘doing it right’ that comes with utilising the very things that were once themselves new and exciting. Like driving a Triumph Stag, or pedalling trails that you last rode under power of internal combustion in the 80s, or drinking a coffee in a building that was last used to vend goods in the 70s…
And shifting your Bicycle’s gears by taking your hand off the bars, reaching down and moving a lever.
Although it may be easier to push a button on an electronic device to play a song or shift gears, the ritualistic quality of placing a vinyl disc on a turntable or manipulating a lever and cable to achieve the same result still seems that much more… cool. We strive to Look Pro, but feeling Pro is so much harder to accomplish, even with the same equipment available to us. Jump on an 80s steel frame with 8 speeds controlled by down tube shifters, and immediately the Pro-ness quotient is doubled or tripled. Sure, you may need to employ a bit more coaxing to perfectly mesh chain and cog; granted you’ll be looking for an even lower gear that just doesn’t exist; fair enough you’ll struggle to keep up with the electronic carbon freaks as they beep and blip away up the road.
But they’ll never be cool. Not proper cool. Not Greg Lemond-playing-The Cure-on-a-Walkman-while-climbing-l’Alpe-in-the-19t cool. While those days may appear to be well behind us, we can still honour them and transport ourselves back in time by simply reaching down, not only into our memories but to a pair of small articulated levers, and shifting consciousness.
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View Comments
@EBruner
I would think the opposite of pro would be not being an actual pro, a qualification I imagine 99% of us here own. I use DT shifters because they are, for me, the only option due to cost. I have never experienced STI shifters and I am not a pro. But I suppose by your standard above expressed, I qualify as old school pro.
@Oli
The best trick in the trade!
@chuckp
This is the next step
@Chipomarc
And the "this is oh so wrong" hit parade continues.
@Chipomarc
I see your Cannonade is both from the same vintage and from the same LBS where I bought my first steed (MTB) in the mid 90s. Great MTB riding in the 'Wack back then. I wonder what the condition of the old logging roads up the Chilliwack River Valley and on Vedder Mtn are now...
As per the current discussion, I can not comment on the feeling of downtube shifters, as the only exposure I had to them was on my Dad's old purple Peugeot from the '70s. As he's 6'5, and I was just a kid when I began my cycling adventures, there was no way I was going to fit that frame for a real ride. Not that I didn't try.
@wilburrox
With an upgrade to Simplex, you never feel the need to tighten that bolt.
Between the pics of that Holland belonging to @chuckp (IMO the white bar tape looked better in spite of the quality of the wrap), @brett stroking off his black Zefal, @davidhill noticing the lugz over the lady, and the image of @frank yelling into a drum... this has been one of my favourite posts of late.
But this takes the cake. This is a level of pedantry I fucking love! Chapeau @KogaLover. Chapeau.
@KogaLover
@TheVid
The MTB bunch have been doing a lot of trail building up Vedder and Sumas Mountain over the last years.
I haven't done any mountain biking since about 1995 when I banged my shin hard enough to hurt for at least half an hour. Plus I never enjoyed getting mud all over my kit.
@geoffrey
I loved my Campa shifters but the Simplex...oh mamma. They are simply a pleasure to feather about. In a very not creepy way.
Also, I always store them in the both-forward position to keep the tension off the shifters. Why do I not feel compelled to do that with any other shifter?
@chuckp
I have zero problem with "neo-retro" ( I run a carbon seatpost and fork in my old steel Bianchi ) but if I gave you a blind test on your bike with either a carbon or aluminium seatpost I would bet good money there's absolutely no way you could tell the difference between the two, even after a couple of hours. You've fallen victim to the placebo effect of the blanket call that carbon damps shock, which is dependent on many other factors than just the materials.