kemmer

That how you initiate the skid, but once the tire is sliding instead of rolling, it's pretty easy to shift your weight back for better traction. And it's not that expensive if you get your tires from bike shop dumpsters, just time consuming and annoying.

And as for converting bikes to fixed, it's my damn bike and I'll do what I want with it. I don't hack anything off, but that's just for resale value purposes and because I like geared bikes too and like to keep my options open.

robtown

I ran my 73 Raleigh as ss (never flipped to fixie) for a couple months now. I'm reverting it to geared with some Cyclone 7000 parts. The new ss/fixie is, dare I say it, vintage carbon wrapped 90' Miyata. I won't remove braze-ons from it either.

MajikMan

When I was learning to skid (which is a silly method to use as a primary brake), the biggest factor that got me sliding was remembering to pull up on my leading foot, while pushing down with the trailing. Obviously, you're going to have to be using either clipless pedals or cages and straps. Keep a front brake on the bike.

Since we haven't had the conversion debate in a while, I guess I'll add my $0.02; the one thing that I think people forget when complaining about those who chop braze-ons and hangers is that 99% of the bikes, while 'classic' in some sense, have no real collectors value. I've got one of the many Centurtion Ironman frames on this board; it's a nice bike but will never, and should never, be a museum piece. If someone is out there hacking braze-ons off of low or mid-level frames from the bike boom, when there are hundreds of similar or better examples of any given model, why worry about it? Top-end and custom made frames really do have collector's value; they're the defining 'classics' that all the mid-range models strived to meet - who cares if the readily-available copy cats don't stay in tack? Better that they be ridden than rust in a dump somewhere.

Also, I don't know that I've ever seen this come up before, but how excited would any of you collectors out there be if you were to find a complete bike from the 50's or 60's, which the owner had lovingly and thoroughly modified in order to fit their own style of riding? Isn't there something to be said for the value of owner-concern in the consideration of a bike's lasting power? Fifty years from now, which do you think vintage bike collectors would be more interested in owning, a moderately used, good condition UO-8 with all origional specs, or one whose owner modified, styled and upgraded as a refelction of cycling culture in the roaring singles? I have the feeling I'd go for the latter.

Bikedued

This hasn't been moved yet, c'mon moderators


"Isn't there something to be said for the value of owner-concern in the consideration of a bike's lasting power? Fifty years from now, which do you think vintage bike collectors would be more interested in owning, a moderately used, good condition UO-8 with all origional specs, or one whose owner modified, styled and upgraded as a refelction of cycling culture in the roaring singles? I have the feeling I'd go for the latter."

And you'd be in the extreme minority I would imagine. Vintage bike collectors have almost never been interested in ANY modified bicycles. Originality has been the key for collectors of anything since the dawn
of time. Besides, you guys are in the wrong section here in case you haven't noticed? I'd rather they stay in a garage hanging from the ceiling in the original owners house, than all chopped up, repainted,
wheels thrown away, brakes sold on ebay, etc. If you guys want bare frames, there's a dozen companies who make them. Fixed gear is a fad that will gone in 5-10 years, if it stays around that long. Once it's
over there will be far less bikes left in collectable condition. Of course it will up the amount of ID threads, hehe.,,,,BD

I can see the threads 10 years from now. "What type of braze ons did this have"

Poguemahone

I'd say that originality is over-rated, BD. Period correct maybe; it's the nature of a bike that components wear out and are replaced. Ridability generally concerns me more. Many bikes were available as frames and the owner could hang whatever they wanted on it. I own an Eisentraut that mixed French, Italian and Japanese parts, for example, all likely original to the bike's intital build (I did take off the wretched Italian parts, however; in quality they weren't up to the French and Japanese stuff on the bike).

While this post is probably in the wrong place, it's at least calmer in general than it would be on fixed/ss.

As to the fixed gear craze, we would do well to remember that the bike market pretty much moves from one fashion to another. The road bikes most of love were largely products of the bike boom of the seventies. That's why we see so many seventies and early eighties roadies on this forum. Road bikes pre-1970 are much rarer. Mountain bikes were another craze, and I imagine there will be collectors for those at some point. People collect sting-rays avidly. They were another market driven bike craze. I could go on; fixies are just the latest manifestation. In twenty years people will probably be hunting for vintage Bianchi Pistas, fondly recalling them (Personally, I think the Surly Karate Monkey and Pugsley are likley to be highly sought after in the future).

Also, we come from different traditions on this board. I come from very much a commuter/utility background. Others are racers, tourers, mechanics. What unites us is we really, really like bicycles. We treat them on this board as aesthetic, yet purposeful, objects. Most of the fixed gear riders who come to this board are just starting their journey down this path. If fashion and fixed gears are what leads them to something as cool as a bike, who cares? Yeah, they'll make some mistakes on their path, but who doesn't?

PS When leaning to skid, nothing beats a bit of gravel road.

MajikMan

As a collector, you should be happy that there will be fewer bikes in "collectable" condition. That raises the value of your collection. I think you're really missing my point, though, that mass-produced bikes (at least those made after 1970 or so) are not really "collectable." Admittedly, I haven't been to a lot of vintage bike shows, but I can't imagine that any of them have large numbers of Varsities, Internationals, Super Courses, PSVNs, etc. I've never seen such a bike at a show, amongst serious collectors.

Although it's personally satisfying (and something I engage in), worrying about keeping that sort of bike mint or original is not really relevant to collecting on the larger scale. No matter how much I baby it, even if it were in the original box, my Ironman Expert is never going to be a museum piece nor will it be a 'collectable' bike (at least not until long after I'm dead). Even though it's a solid bike, there are much better examples of bicycle design and construction from that era, which were manufactured in quantities that weren't limited by the number of frames sold - those are the collectable bikes (i.e. the Cinelli/Centurion co-produced models).

Collectability has never really hinged on 'originality' so much as it has rarity - if every Stingray sold had been kept in good, original condition, they'd be worth about as much money as a Varsity. Once you get under the umbrella of 'rare bikes' you can start picking them apart in terms of originality, but until you're in that position, you're really pleasing your own desire for preservation more than appealing to some sort of collectability ideal. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I don't think it's fair to address conversions as though they were an abomination to cycling in general because they're ruining our capacity to record cycling history. As Poguemahone pointed out, the vast majority of bikes we see on this board are the direct result of trends - road bikes in the 70s, touring in the 80s, mountain in the 90s - even though hipsters might be annoying, conversions aren't interently evil just because they're trendy.

Bikedued

Yes but only a minority of fixed gears are being made from boom bikes that I've seen? The rest are 80's bikes mid to high level, which is the particular genre I'm interested in. It doesn't seem to irk these people in the least that they're destroying an original bike. They're hard enough to find without people ruining them at an alarming rate. And yes I consider cutting off braze-ons and stripping original (good/nice) paint to suit your needs, to be ruining them. Unless, you take a picture of what it looked like, and give it to the person with the bike, so they know what it is, lol.

Find a really rare bike, strip it down, burn off the braze-ons, and repaint it. Then see how much it's worth. Anything hinges on originality. In case you've never watched the antique road show. They use words like "unfortunate" and "disappointing" when describing refinished furniture and other things robbed of patina or appearance.,,,,BD

Yes I know what trends are. I was around for the first time 40 pound junk road bikes were in the Dept stores.

GeraldChan

[QUOTE=Bikedued]Yes but only a minority of fixed gears are being made from boom bikes that I've seen? The rest are 80's bikes mid to high level, which is the particular genre I'm interested in. It doesn't seem to irk these people in the least that they're destroying an original bike. They're hard enough to find without people ruining them at an alarming rate.

Bikes with horizontal drop outs make the best conversion. How do you know most folks are molesting the frames and repainting them? The most cost effective way is to just convert using as many parts as possible.
BTW we are not curators but owners of bike thus we are free to do what we wish to these machines
IMHO 70's bikes make the nicest conversions as they have the most classic of looks to this Boomer.
FG may or may not be a fad but it will be around long after the hipsters have abondoned it for the next hip thing. Many racers made FG bikes even back in the 70's.
Lastly, it's just a bike.... chill people.
Gerry

mastershake916

Nope, install a front brake.

poopncow

a truth of the mater is that people are specifically seeking out lugged steel bikes of italian make. Even the lowest level frame is a badge of connoseur as long as it has an italian name. the things that I shake my head to is when the butchery begins with saws, grinders, sand blasters, torches and 2 X 4's (resizing to 120 OLD). In many ways, it is like the honda civic w the coffee can exhaust and table sized rear wing or the SUV with 21" chromed out rims. There is something about rampant consumerism and flash over substance that makes me sad. Prolly being over sensitive, so will try to look the other way and strug from now on.