Sixty Fiver

I have 17 bicycles and in most cases the rarest and most valuable ones do not get nearly as much attention as the beaters and the workhorses... my folder and my extra bike are unusual enough that it is rare for me to go anywhere without someone commenting and the Garlatti is a sea of shiny chrome so people notice the frame and fork but not the vintage parts attached to it which are worth 3-4 times as much as bike.

My handbuilt Ron Cooper is just an old 10 speed to most and my 1957 Peugeot barely gets a second glance save for when I run into other French bike fans... same thing happens with the mid 50's Raleighs but my 1951 CCM beater gets a lot of love.

I can't take my customized Gran Sport anywhere.. it is pretty funky and is also a fixed gear so it encourages questions.

dscheidt

Probably. I've come out to my bike, locked to rack outside a store, to find someone fondling my handle bar tape more than once. It's just rubberized cork, coated in fifteen layers of shellac, so I'm always a little surprised by that. Only blingy things on the bike are the dyno hub and lights, and no one ever comments on them (except to tell me I forgot to turn them off.).

qmsdc15

Honestly, what do you want me to say about your headset?

"You have a Chris King headset! You are my new hero. May I draft you?"

"How do you like your Chris King headset? I'm considering the purchase of a high quality headset to show my class."

"I'm a drooling idiot, may I lick your Chris King headset?"

bionnaki

I'm too poor to buy crap...or rather, I like the saying "Buy once, cry once."

so I save up for weeks, months for the "best" stuff (meaning long lasting, durable, mechanically sound). Or I sell a couple components that are collecting dust.


it just happens that the "best" stuff tends to look great as well.

if no one ever notices my bike, I'm fine with that.

of course, not all the "best" stuff is expensive. example: $12 stainless steel king cages. I dont use any other cage -- they're perfect and no desire to use anything else. that's another kind of bling, I suppose. When I see someone with king cages, I think there's a guy that knows how to do it right.

well biked

One thing I'll add about blingy vintage bikes: few people really care about or notice those because of the bling, either. I have my full Campy Nuovo Record equipped '71 Schwinn Paramount hanging in my bike shop; and hardly anyone notices it. When someone does notice it, a typical comment is something like, "Oh, I used to have a bike just like that." My interest piqued, I'll ask, "you had a Paramount?" They'll look at me blankly and say something like, "Oh, I don't know what it was called, just some bike we bought at JC Penney." I'll be tempted, for a moment, to explain to them about "the cage" at the Chicago Schwinn plant where the Paramounts were made by hand of Reynolds 531 and Nervex Professional lugs.....and then I just let it pass. They really don't care.

Bling, circa 1971:

HillRider

None of the above and I wasn't focused on just a headset, CK or any other, but on upper tier components in general. Are they conversation starters or just overlooked?

robberry

If you're going slow enough for someone to admire your bike, you're doing it wrong.

robberry

My last bike was pretty ******, but some asshat stole it.

ethman

Can someone please explain to me what the big deal is with CK headsets??? Of all the parts of a bike to spend a lot of money on I've never understood this one. Maybe someone can enlighten me....

JonathanGennick 

Skinny seats are probably the best conversation starter. Lay people often look at my ample rear end and my narrow bike seat and feel compelled to comment.

With my cycling friends, the best conversation starter is probably for me to show up w/something new and/or unusual, or that I haven't ridden in awhile -- for example, when I dragged out my 26er again after two seasons of 29er riding, or when I built up a Giant STP with pink handgrips for the local skatepark.

The trick in my book when it comes to commenting on parts is to make people feel good about what they have. Commenting on a CK headset is no challenge at all. (My comment would be along the lines of "waste of money"). The real trick is to be able to talk up someone's Trek 4500 or similar bike.

Two years ago my cousin bought her two children bikes. I made quite a few comments about the 26er for the older girl, and hardly said a word about the 20-inch wheel bike for the younger girl. Whereupon the younger girl was distraught. Whereupon I learned to always, always, always find something on any bike to talk about and compliment.

So, what can you say to make your neighbor feel good about his brand new wally-world bike? That's the real challenge.

Jed19

I do not have a CK headset on any of my current bikes, but I have had one on a bike (lost to a thief) in the past. They truly are a piece of fantastic engineering. What I really appreciated about them was the reliability (install and forget). Really a good piece of equipment that is well designed and manufactured.

Are they worth the money? Unequivocally yes, in my opinion.

tanguy frame

I love my CK headset and I don't care what anybody else thinks. I bought really expensive Ti CK cages for my Ti bike and I don't care if you notice or not. I like CK cause he makes free coffee and great food at local sponsored events, he's approachable and easy to talk to, he passes out nice stickers when he has them, and the design and engineering of his components is first rate.

When I bought my Moots, it was bling city - campy chorus group, ck headset, Thompson post and stem. It was a thing of beauty to me and I had no trouble convincing myself to buy it and I love it every single mile. The bling is for me and me alone. If you're nice, I'll let you have some too. The best thing about my bike is that it's so dirty now that only I can see the bling, and it still rewards with flawless miles.

yellowdog76

Green
Guinness. I approve

Sixty Fiver

Built this up from spare parts yesterday... bike boom Peugeot AO8.

Stopped for coffee after physio and half a dozen folks commented on the beautiful old bike... mebbe it is the fact it is white and has lined lugs.

dahut

Some of all of that. Only an experienced, savvy cyclist will ever notice or care... or even know he should care.
The vast majority of people, even most cyclists, are too absorbed to really notice YOU, let alone your bikes little doo-dads. If they do and say something - okay great. And?

Purchasing expensive **** for your bike when it isn't needed is a choice you make. If you do it to impress others, well, that's worth something, I suppose.

qmsdc15

My rig gets compliments every day.


Not from the loser bike snob wannabe racers you're trying to impress though.

I've installed several components selected specifically to keep geeks like you from admiring my bike.

How do you like my steel headset, stem, handlebars, barends?

HillRider

^^ The only comment I can make is you should really put plugs in the ends of those bars. Know what a cookie cutter is?

qmsdc15

That's hardly a cookie cutter. I think it very unlikely that my handlebars could penetrate human skin. The "sharp edge" is more than 4mm wide. But I'll put plugs in if it will prevent bike geeks from talking to me. Thanks for the tip.

Dan Burkhart 

Oh yeah. An unplugged bar could take a core sample of your abdomen in a crash.

Dan Burkhart 

Well, whatever motivates you to do it, it is a good idea.

qmsdc15

How far can it penetrate with a flush barend attached?

Dan Burkhart 

I'm not really willing to volunteer to help compile test data on that.

qmsdc15

OK, OK. Inner diameter is small. Most plugs won't fit, but I'll find some. There are plugs in the barends at least.

Dan Burkhart 

Whatever, I'm still impressed with your rig and the backdrops you keep coming up with.

qmsdc15

OK is this better? I had to beat on them with a hammer to get them in all the way and I sort of exposed some of the dangerous steel edge in the process. Sorry for the lousy background.


None of these fit either


Can anyone help me source Chris King bar end plugs that will work with thick steel handlebar?