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.
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@Teocalli As he says... "of most interest to people doing triathlon and TTs. "
No further comment needed.
Same levers, running syncro with 7 speed. Set up properly, and with a bit of finesse, the shifting is as smooth as my bro-set. And the friction front never drops the chain.
@Teocalli Just came across that myself and was about to post it here. I'd be interested to try it.
@Geraint
Something tells me you just lined up for a flogging by mini-pump.
@Teocalli you're probably right, it does seem to have stimulated some reaction elsewhere.
I only said I'd be interested to try it, not that I wanted to fit it to all my bikes. I prefer to be open minded and try stuff, then I can dismiss it based on experience rather than dogma.
@Gibstone
Oh for fucks sake, that is a dream of a bike right there. Karen Henderson was my first true crush.
@ChrisO
I'm still confused as to why doing 180km nose to the wind as a warm-up for a marathon run is so disparaged around here, but since I used to do it, maybe I have a biased perspective.
Anyway, I'm still a lover of a manual transmission with a clutch, and don't want anything to do with a CVT in a car, so this is of no interest to me, even in a tri setting. However, if I was looking at a new tri bike, it would mosdef have Di2 with bar end and bullhorn shifters. If I still had my P3, I would be retro-fitting it too. Long course tri is so demanding that even the effort of changing gears becomes significant after a while.
As I've noted before, the beauty of a bicycle is in it's simplicity. The safety bicycle, as we know it, is the essence of beautiful simplicity, and history is replete with examples of failure to improve it through added complexity. This will be another. It's not that it doesn't work, but it's simply a solution to a problem that does not exist.
@frank
For your viewing pleasure. Although I don't look as good as good as Karen.
@Ken Ho
And this is why electronics are wrong.
Just to show I put my money where my mouth is - I'm in the process of buying a Giant Trinity TT bike which I can get near cost price through our team sponsor, who is the Giant and Shimano distributor.
I've ordered the Advanced 1 with mechanical Ultegra not the 0 with Di2.
I already feel criminal just at the thought of using fishing tackle.
@ChrisO
good god, changing gear is part of being a cyclist, if we have an 'auto' doing that for us, we are losing part of the joy, I said before I don't mind it in other applications, MTB, CX, Fatbike etc , but being able to change gear while fucked and redlining on the limit is all part of what we do, the heathens are at the gates, don't buy that shit, it only encourages 'em.