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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Excellent! Bikes like that are meant to be ridden, not merely dribbled over. Eroica in Gaiole is possibly the best event I've ever attended (2004), for so many reasons. Living in the UK I've now done the UK version (not too bad either!) and am hoping to do the Spanish one in 2016. Instead of the heart of Chianti land, it is in the heart of Rioja land.
What could possibly go wrong?
@Oli
My butt might beg to differ. FWIW, I probably several tens of thousands of miles riding and racing my Hollands with its original DA seat post. When I installed the CF seat post, I rode the same roads I had ridden the day before and, however small, I could feel the difference. It wasn't like night and day, but the "hits" were more damped with the carbon fiber. Just enough to take some of the edge off. As I said, it was done as an experiment so if I didn't feel (I know that's subjective as opposed to base on objective data) there was a difference, I would've happily put my DA seat post back in (since sold to a guy who was doing a period correct re-build).
@KogaLover
This.
@geoffrey
I spy a modern bidon on there! You faker!
(great bike, I love Italian steel bikes with proper thin tubesets.)
@KogaLover
A gentleman and a scholar. Well played.
And @Chuckp: thanks for posting that brilliant Monty Python clip: must have seen that a hundred times - and it still has me in stitches. Excellent stuff.
Since I've never had the chance to own some Shamal rims, I've gotta say on the right bike CXP 33s look excellent.
My VMHs DeBernardi has some 105/33 wheels and I catch myself checking out the bike pretty often.
@chuckp
I concur re the carbon seat post. There's almost a foot of carbon sticking out of the compact frame of my alloy Giant Defy 9-bike (yes, I know: some disdain for that type of machine around here, but I happen to like it a lot).
Anyway: as much as I enjoy pootling about on vintage steel, there's a beautiful steam-roller like feeling about the Defy - and I'm convinced the post has something to do with it. While I still notice rough patches in the road, of course, the bike seems to iron them out in a beautiful manner and there's hardly any road buzz at all. Considering that we're talking about an aluminum frame here, I must confess I'm hugely impressed... (Just my $ 0.02 )
@Ron
Yep. The aluminium bidon with the cork plug stayed in the hotel room.
@Ron
Now used to hold olive oil.
That is far more awesome than my olive oil jug. However, might I suggest a pourer top, like the ones used for spirits in a bar. That's what I have and it's really damn nice to use. Makes cooking that much more fun. Plus..I spy a drop of oil that is likely to be wasted. The pourer tops solve that issue!