what do i use my bikes for??????
well-i make bikes. everybody knows that.
i own and use one-that's right, one bike.
i race full time. 40-50 events year. i'm a cat. 2
road and track, tho' i don't race track anymore.
between training and racing, my one bike gets
more use and abuse than i care to think about.
AND....
i have my 2 1971 italian masi gran criterium
bikes. i took them both in on trade against bills due
me. their parts were dropped kicked. nos parts
were procured for the rebuild. exact period correct
parts, i might add. and over a 4 year period the frame
decals were scanned in off the tubes, reproduced, the frame
restored, hopefully not over-restored, and the bikes were
reassembled. the whole project has been described ad nauseum
in these discussions. there's a story in an 'on the wheel'.
i hope you can find a copy.
these 2 bikes sit in my studio. i undertook the projects because
i love the past. i don't live in it. these frames were made when
(i think) people cared more. that's a broad brushstroke statement.
and i'm projecting my own notions on it. from my experience on
both sides of the pre/post investment cast, plug-in, pre-fab frame
making era, these (types) of frames exhibit more care in design
elements, more charm, more character, more handwork.....
than the frames made by the same companies years later. to put it
another way, how any 80s or later frame could be considered a classic,
or handmade (given all the plug-in, pre-fab, cast pieces used since then)
is beyond me. that's MY personal opinion. probably because my carreer
spans many generations of frames, materials, and construction techniques.
some have enjoyed my restored bikes. some don't get it. i'm not
phased either way. nobody has ridden them. i think the point
of your comments addresses this issue. to me, the restoration
project-i hate using that word..-was for my own titilation.
i did it because i can. as far as i'm concerned, riding them at
any point in the years it took to complete was never part of
the story. i have a bike to ride. that's all anyone needs to know.
these 2 masi's were an indulgence for me.
i hope there is tolerance among the group members
for restorations, or simply adoring the old classics, without
riding/using them as part of the equation.
e-RICHIE