Doing things the hard way is a luxury. It says to the world that we’ve beat evolution; intelligence is no match for technology and economy is no match for indulgence. We need only step a bit outside our bubble to realize the scale of the illusion, but nevertheless it has become reality for many of us who live our lives happily and fortunately in the middle and upper classes of the developed world where survival has nothing whatsoever to do with being the fittest.
One of the things that struck me within weeks of moving to the Pacific Northwest was the frequency with which people die here; not from disease (although Ebola can go fuck itself, pardon my francais) but from tucking into the wilderness for some weekend relaxation. The PNW has some of the world’s biggest cities, but most of it is untamed wilderness – including radical weather systems, cougars, rattlesnakes, bear, The Sasquatch, and possibly ManBearPig. This place will mess you up, son; your GPS or iPhone isn’t going to be your savior.
The first-hand experience of the realities of a system provides a more intimate learning tool than does the passive observation, although in an evolutionary sense the latter is the more effective method for the survival of a species; our ancestors learned to stay away from bees by watching the guy who drew the short straw poke at a hive and die from anaphylactic shock without needing to then poke at the hive themselves. Nevertheless the tangible nature of repercussions forges an indelible bond between action and result.
It is also interesting that complexity and abstraction are inversely bound; the more complex the system, the farther the user is removed from its operation. The simplicity of the friction downtube shifter is in sharp contrast to the complexity of an electronic drivetrain. My steel bike has friction downtube shifters, a fact that makes itself especially well known while climbing. To shift requires planning and skill; I have to find a part of the climb where I can be seated, unload the chain, and shift by feeling the chain as it slides across the block and listen for the telltale silence when the chain is securely seated back onto an adjacent cog. At that point, I’m committed to that gear until the climb grants me the next opportunity to shift. On Bike #1, I can shift under full load at my whim and without consequence. The artistry of shifting is lost, though I wouldn’t go back to downtube shifters on any bike I plan to ride seriously.
I love the contrast of evolution and tradition in the modern racing bicycle, with carbon tubulars being perhaps the most fitting contrast where the most modern technology is dependent on the oldest form of affixing a tire to a rim. Gluing on a set of tubular tires is no longer a necessary skill in our sport with good clinchers being readily available. Gluing tubs takes time and careful attention, two things that are in short supply in our modern society. But to glue on a set of tires brings you closer to the machine and from where our sport has progressed. To build a set of wheels does so even more, and I imagine building a frame by hand builds the ultimate bond to our history.
We live at a time when the things that are irrelevant to survival take on their own crucial importance; we return to tradition in order to remember where we came from so we may understand where we are going. Doing things the hard way is a beautiful way to remind ourselves of the history that built the luxuries we surround ourselves with.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@rfreese888
Amen to that!
@Ken Ho
You appear to have given this more thought than I have as I had no idea you'd given me shit on Rule 66.
@wilburrox
The thought of plugging my bike into a usb socket makes my die a little insid.
@rfreese888
That is GORGEOUS.
@frank
Me too. But here's my biggest concern"”the future.
In 20 years, if my mechanical shifting system needs fixin', I will be able to buy a cable (anywhere, even as I have found, WalMart), replace said cable, clean and lube everything else, and voila! Shifting happiness returns.
But with electronics"”let's say some part of said electronics goes belly up. Stranger things have happened in rain-soaked Washington state. Now I have to find a replacement part that is compatible with that specific electronic system. Sooner or later the battery will die too. I'm reasonably certain that Shimano will still be around in 20 years. But it might be a bit of a chore to track down the precise part I need to make my bike not useless. I'm reminded of when ProFlex bikes, a long, long time ago, had electronic suspension adjustments on their mountain bikes. I just did a bit of Googling and I can barely find any information at all on said systems, much less actual parts for them. Meanwhile, my 20+ year old Grip-shifters on my 20+ year old mountain bike need only the occasional cable replacement, which costs a few dollars.
I'm no luddite"”I welcome our new technological overlords. You people will all be using disc brakes and (eventually) real suspension systems on road bikes. Some day. Yes you will. I promise. But then, hydraulic fluid is easy to come by.
I'm not so certain about 5-way junction boxes.
@ChrissyOne
I wish it was mine!! on the N+1 list.
@ChrissyOne
Hear hear! On a recent charity ride, my companion and I were rolling merrily along when all of a sudden his rear mech stopped working. We tinkered with it to get it into an easier gear and he struggled to the next rest stop. There, the tech support put in a new cable and voila! he/we were able to complete the ride in fine style and he got his first century under his belt. The problem was a simple one and easily remedied on the day. Had it been something like a haywire battery issue, I think his day would have been over. (There was no way he was doing another 82 miles on the one gear he had).
I am not technically/mechanically gifted, but I love how I can look at my bikes and see exactly how things work - and even fix much of it myself. This creates a special relationship between me and my bikes - I have touched, cleaned, installed, tweaked every part of it. Looking at something like the laptop I'm working on right now leaves me cold.
@ChrissyOne
Darned good point there!
@rfreese888
I'll buy into that. Stunning bike too.
@frank
@frank
Probably. You get a billion e-mails to read and remember. I only have to remember my own. I also have a somewhat Sheldonian memory and lots of time on my hands.
I got a lot of crap a little while ago for posting some quick pics of my beloved Bianchi with lots of lights, bidons, and a mirror, but that's how she is set up to RIDE. The irony struck me last week when you posted pics of your bike with reflective tape stuck all over it. But if it works for you, that's cool with me.