While walking about town, one of my favorite things to do is to puruse the commuter bikes locked up outside stores and study some of the gems being ridden around. Sometimes, I come across a really special bike, and marvel at the notion that the bike’s owner might not have any idea what piece of history they’re riding. For example, I saw an old Vitus, decked out in 7-speed Dura-Ace, beat up and locked up to a lamppost in Ballard yesterday, it’s owner no-doubt unaware that Sean Kelly taught the world the upper limit of the word Hardman aboard that same bike. Then there was the Concorde painted up in PDM colors, which to my knowledge was never available in the States, so I can only marvel at how that awesome piece found it’s way to be locked up outside a cupcake bakery (also in Ballard).
This past Friday night, I was walking by Prost on my way home from the local market when a full-carbon Bottecchia caught my eye. This was obviously not a commuter bike, this was a full-fledged race bike complete with the Dura-Ace 7900 groupo. Had this been a steel steed – like the Vitus – it would have occupied a completely different place in my mind, but I was surprised to find almost nothing interesting about this machine, despite the considerable significance of the name it bore on it’s downtube.
It got me wondering what it is about the old, handmade frames that captures my imagination so. Am I little more than a hopeless romantic, trying in vain to recapture the appeal cycling had when I was a younger lad? Am I the Jack White of cycling, trying to get on with Rule #5 and pretend technology does little to make us better cyclists and instead just makes everything too easy? As much as I’d like to think that’s the case, I also know that I would never give up any of my 10 cogs, brake-mounted shifters, deep-section rims, and stiff frame. The undeniable fact is that when it comes down to my Number One Bike, it’s Rule #43 all the way. Besides, Rule #10 implies that all that stuff doesn’t make riding a bike easier, it just makes us go faster.
I think the bottom line is that as more and more bicycle companies outsource their manufacturing operations to countries like China and Taiwan, the allure of the “hand-built bicycle” diminishes. My steel and aluminum Bianchis were hand-built in Italy, by an Italian framebuilder who cut the tubes, placed them in a jig, and welded them – making little mistakes along the way. Each of those bikes are completely unique and have a different ride quality from every other bike in the world; that’s the magic of “hand made”. The very top-end carbon frames still have this same quality to them since the sheets of fiber are laid into the mold by hand and, even though they’re built in Asia, the frames are all still slightly different from one another and you can still sense the human intervention in the assembly line when you study the frame.
But what of the the companies who know and care little for carbon and have turned to producing frames made of it purely to satisfy market demand? In this case, what does Bottecchia know of engineering a frame not made of tubes, but of fibers? These companies excelled at picking steel tubesets and identifying ideal geometries through experimentation, not engineering. To them, frame building was an art form, not a science. Seeing this carbon bike in front of Prost, the first place my mind jumped to was the stories of factories in China that produce identical frames for countless bands, each differing only in the address on the shipping labels.
I suppose that’s why those old bikes laying in dusty piles in the forgotten corners of good bike shops or leaning up against a downtown lamppost hold such intrigue; each are a work of art, with their own history hidden inside their tubes waiting to be retold.
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@Joe
Beautifully said as well. I almost heard a trumpet in the background, playing a somber tone, as I read your post. The real classics are still building the gems like your Colnago, like this Bianchi, which is part of their 2010 offering - complete with chromed lugs:
There's a great piece in the latest Rouleur on Columbus; in the late 1990's, they were drawing around two million tubes per year; in the mid 2000's, they drew two hundred, but production is back up. But that's another story for another time, suffice it to say that in the meantime, steel productions has been outsourced as well so that's posing it's own set of challenges.
@Frank
The Bianchi you pictured - steel with chrome lugs - looks damn simliar to a bike Kona had out, though made in Taiwan: http://bikes.konaworld.com/09/09_kapu_en.cfm
Another website I often visit pointed this out a few years ago. They do look pretty similar, don't know if it truly is the same frame. If so, also supports the suspicion that "Made in Italy" is not always what it appears to be.
Spend a few hours Googling "where frames are made" and you'll find some interesting stuff. A few months back, I spent a fair amount of time researching such matters for a business idea. With no capital, it will remain just an idea.
My view on production bikes has changed quite a bit over the last few years - for the better and worse. Better as in quality stuff for low prices. Worse as in the mystery of where it's made or how. Bike companies don't exactly advertise that fact.
In the end, if I had unlimited dough, I'd still go for a full custom steel bike - made in the USA by a small builder. Old school roots die hard.
I wish - love them thar hills and WV I want to meet the dude.
Love that Bianchi but here are the old Raleighs:
Cool old Raleighs, I owned one myself in the '80s...
http://yoeddy.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-rides-raleigh-competiton.html
P.S. How do post pics directly in the response? I'll I get is the pic name or link - no pic itself.
@Dan O
You can post images in-line when you are logged in, which means you have to register an account (free, of course). This whole image-posting thing is a hassle; we have a customized installation of WordPress that we're using for our site, and I'm working on finding ways around the software's habit of cleaning out HTML code when a user is not registered and logged in. For now, the best thing to do is to either (a) log in and then post images, or (b) just post links to images and I'll go through and update your comment to show the image in-line. (For example, I just snabbed that pic off your site and posted it).
One of these days, we'll get this working a little better.
In the meantime, this works, and sweet bike!
@Rob
Rob, those are breathtaking bikes. Love the paint scheme on the fixie! Love the classic-drop bars; contemplating a switch to that myself. No Benotto tape?
@Rob,
The Raleigh track bike is absolutely lovely!
Here's my old warhorse, just rebuilt with new bits - a delightful melange to ride. I'll have to beg your indulgence for the pedals, they are in contravention of numerous rules but were all I had around when I put it back together....
Many thanks, they are my stable (of big boy bikes the fixie folder is for travel) and I love them and have done for a long time now. A friend did work (and used the track bike for a while) and he was responsible for the tape. Since John posted the Benotto site I am itching to get some and change them both. And why have anything else for bars? Or for a bike for that matter? Yea, Ok if one was racing...
And yes that classic TI Team Raleigh is the best! Thoughts of Raas, Zoetemelk...
@Joe That fork is CARBONE, a bitchin old steed!
@Joe
That is one mighty fine steed. The old, classic Flite and steel straight-blade fork...I have visions of Rominger. The chrome lugs, oh dear me!!
Speaking of which, one of my all-time favorite bikes, which I sadly never laid a hand on, was the Colnago Bi-Tubo. What an example of 90's innovation! Show me that frame in a 60cm and I'll show you my wallet.