retro motorcycles and bicycles

When I rode a motorcycle, I rode cruisers rather than racing-style bikes, and I remember that there was an ongoing dispute between the Harley riders, who said, "I wanna ride my bike, not race it," and the riders of what were called rice rockets, the speedy HondaYamaKawaZukis, with all the latest technology and speed. Those of us on Japanese cruisers didn't really fit either side. But the Harley riders still seem to me to be trying to put on an image that doesn't really fit in the second decade of the twenty-first century: the cycles those Harleys are emulating were cheap transportation after World War II and were ridden by some hard cases for whom they were the best option... but the modern person who buys a Harley has YONKS of disposable income (or a deep disagreement with me about financial priorities).

There's some similar retro-grouchiness in the bicycle world. Rivendell Bikes and Velo Orange both sell bikes and parts reminiscent of an earlier era of riding that may never have really existed. The romance is that cycling was about a slower pace, a more comfortable lifestyle. But the truth, I think, is that what really drove cycling forward in the late 19th & early 20th centuries was racing, and many of the "old" technologies were once new technologies that were about speed, to be replaced by newer technologies that were about more speed. Other stuff these guys sell, like fenders and upright cycling position, does indeed make you more comfortable on the bike... but people whose sole transportation is the bicycle generally get off the bike and into the car as soon as they can. Maintaining the cycle-only lifestyle is largely a luxury of those of us who have choices.

My road bike has some of the latest technology on it, and some that's not so late, because given the choice between responsiveness (or lightness) and longevity for parts, my interest in the former over the latter diminishes as cost increases. So, for example, I have a steel fork, because the carbon forks tend to break sooner than the steel ones do.

I've got a hybrid that I'm turning into a city bike. It will probably sprout fenders (and maybe even a rack) because they will make it more comfortable and versatile... but it will never give me the speed, response, and hill-climbing ability of the road bike (though I can CERTAINLY climb hills on it; it has a low gear that a semi would envy, but that city bike will never be quick up a hill). There's a tiny market for nostalgia-riders on bicycles, as there is a larger one for those on motorcycles.

Grant at Rivendell has an article about riding a bike forever. It's nicely romantic, and it sounds great. But if you want to ride fast - and I do - do the stuff that makes you fast. Wear the gear, get in shape, get out of the wind, and buy (or build) the fastest bike that suits you.