On Wed, Sep 5, 2012, at 06:32 PM, Chris Trask wrote:
> >
> > This discussion of the value of old bikes is a little foreign to me.
> > Is the value in them being as close to all original as possible?
> > Obviously, I understand condition ratings and such, but I've never
> > been one to put much value on old bikes. Maybe I need to start paying
> > closer attention.
> >
>
> There are a number of reasons, some of which are no different from
> the
> affinity for old airplanes, sailing ships, and cameras. To operate them,
> you have to understand them as they will not function on their own. So,
> you
> develop an operator/machine intimacy that stays with you.
>
> Then there's the aspect of nostalgia. Not the nostalgia of admiring
> something that you were not associated with directly in your past, and
> especially not before your existence. But rather the nostalgia that
> comes
> from having been intimate with something that you learned to admire and
> respect in first person. You were a team, and neither of you could
> function
> fully or at all without the other.
>
> I lived in France for three years back when deGaulle was president
> and
> HQ US Army Europe was in Orleans. The Algerians revolted against the
> French
> army. The Soviets built the Berlin Wall and sent missiles to Cuba. John
> Glenn orbited the earth. Difficult times for many.
>
> At a lesser level, my American Huffy bicycle was an embarassment next
> to
> the sleek bicycles that the French kids rode. But, I could take that
> Huffy
> apart and put it back together, so the seed was there. It was some
> twelve
> years later when I graduated to the Motobecane, and now almost fourty
> years
> after that I finally have a Peugeot joining the family. I've already
> stripped it down and put it back together before taking it out on the
> road.
>
> We make a good team.
Chris, that is a magnificent piece of writing, which really speaks to
me. Thank you for sharing that.
Joel W.
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