Narhay

I have not been as active in the C&V realm for about almost a year now. Over the past few years I have refurbished about 100 bikes and found 6 keepers being grail status or bikes of desire. Life these days is seemingly getting in the way of pleasurable activities.

I have twin 3 year olds. They take a lot of time.
I bought a fixer upper house in the fall that I have gutted which has consumed most of my time and money. Eventually the basement will be turned into a bike shop but other things seemingly find precedence.
Work is busy, longer commute and I have less energy in general.
I've bought a couple bikes over the past year but one I DKO'd and the other two sit gathering dust waiting for bench time. I have one rider bike that is clean from reno dust and I have been out half a dozen times this spring.

That being said I find going for even one ride is enough to rekindle the interest. Just writing this list is almost motivation enough to stay up and get another one of my bikes into rideable condition.

So, wa wa wa... what is keeping you away from riding or wrenching as much as you would like?

thinktubes 

Death of my dad (at 95!) and the selling of his house. Been just over a year since he passed and we got the house sold 3 weeks ago. The house was 2 hours away and we were out there at least one weekend day for the past year.

We also bought a house last September, which ate up the rest of the time. Other than that, it was a very cold and wet spring in Chicago. Still managed 1000 miles last year and am at 600 miles this year.

toavii

Sort of the same boat as you minus the kids.

Purchased a home that we continue to to make our own with various projects.

We got two puppies this spring, brothers Nigel and Nico. They are Australian Cattledogs and this is one of the few times they are both laying down. Both are in agility and are quite good for only 6 months.



I’ve also taken up wood working which I really enjoy. Continue to buy more and more tools which is where a lot of my bike fund/time has gone.

I’ve been only riding a couple times a week. Couple that with a market that I haven’t noticed much that’s all that interesting, I’ve drifted away somewhat.

cudak888 

Work. Money.

-Kurt

Mechanicjay

Been busy with other pursuits, like resurrecting a '73 VW Camper, putting on a display at the Vintage Computing Festival, plus kids, life etc.

Committing to getting back in the bike commuting saddle this summer though...over 160 miles under me in the last 3 weeks!

Classtime 

I've been tackling 3 pages of "honey dos". This week, most of two days polishing/grinding the mineral deposits off some shower doors!!! Missed a little sleep because I also needed to see if all my new Cimarron needed was a fresh chain. (Turns out it needs at least the FW rebuilt.)

SamSpade1941 

I've been busy riding my bike(s) and working. As nice as the company is here, exchanging thoughts online about riding bikes don't trump actually riding bikes...

Drillium Dude 

This.

Plus school. But I'm back for a time since school is out for the summer

DD

Essthreetee

Bought a Harley (used) and got swept up with riding motorcycles again. Recently I have committed to riding 4 days a week and this has rekindled my passion for bicycles and also helped with my back pain. So it’s a win win. To stoke the fire I purchased a new to me frame and will be finishing the build this weekend (hopefully) and then get out on it.

Lascauxcaveman 

I'm bumping up against the summer rush in my very seasonal business, while trying to get/keep reliable staffing so I can leave the place occasionally to maybe commute home, or go for an afternoon ride sometime. In the meantime, I'm trying to rebuild a snow-proof roof to the lean-to carport at my house to store all my bikes this winter when my business (where I store all my bikes) very likely closes down in September Stressful times!

Having said that, I'm bound and determined to make the Cino ride again this September, come hell or high water. (But not forest fires; which shut us down last time. ) Guess I better get signed up for that, huh?

gomango

Welcome back! As for me, I'm spending most of my bike time on off road adventures. I don't like playing tag with cars anymore. I hang out on fly fishing forums as well and I find my pocket money getting soaked up quickly buying rods, reels and other assorted goodies.

Oldpeddaller

I was very ill for a while and had a long treatment/recovery. Now in remission I have an e-bike o help me get back in the saddle again. Still very weak but beginning to enjoy riding. I now have a little grandson to keep me busy as well, but my passion for C&V is returning. I have a new 20' X 10' metal bike shed with about 35 "keepers" to look after!

beicster 

I don't have any particular thing keeping me busy but I have lots of little things.

• I picked up a one hour per week radio slot on the college radio station where I work and I spend a lot of time pursuing my first love-listening to music to build a playlist for my show. This is definitely a labor of love.
• My wife and I became empty-nesters about this time last year. Since she already had two kids when we got together, this is our first time living together without kids. We have been enjoying our time together quite a bit. We even went to Asheville to celebrate our 25th anniversary and we don't travel much generally.
  • This means more time keeping my kids cars running while they get established. I don't mind tinkering with cars so this is fine but it does mean bike less tinkering and riding time.
• Lots of projects around the house.
• The rainiest two year period in Kentucky since records have been kept is keeping me off the trails as I no longer like rebuilding hubs every other weekend because of mud.

One thing I have noticed is that since I don't get to ride much other than commuting, I want to ride my best bike to commute instead of my riding my beater commuter.

horatio 

I sold off quite a bit of my C&V stash a few years back to fund another hobby - an antique airplane! I got the bug to start flying again in 2013, and that gradually replaced cycling over the past six years. Now I'm swinging back to cycling, and restocking my stash thanks to some of you guys! Lately all my plans have been on hold because of family matters. Hopefully 2020 will be a better year for cycling.

masi61

Any classic and vintage wrenching that I do is pretty cool. I second the notion that the actual riding does take precedence. But I'll admit, I keep my riding focused on the mechanical as much as the fitness. What I mean is that I really like to implement different components or set-ups that I have not tried yet. Hearing about things but then just using the same old set-ups doesn't push the needle towards fresh riding experiences or mechanical knowledge.





Examples of what I'm talking about include running lighter weight clincher tires with latex tubes, rebuilding vintage hubs with modern, lightweight wider tubeless ready rims, converting friction bikes to (vintage) indexing systems. Building up vintage frames that would have in the past been considered too small into more of a climbing specific bike with more seat post exposure and longer stem length.





Implementing any of these things have been very fulfilling to me and involve lots of road testing and "going back to the drawing board" so to speak because they can turn outdated notions on their ear. I like the high quality aspects of the classic and vintage parts, I do not like the clunky, in-efficient part of a lot of the older stuff. In order to be inspired I really want to be wowed by the aesthetics and or efficiency of the build.





One more example is just the simple practice of waxing chains. I started doing this last year and have gotten better at it. It isn't perfect, but with practice the benefits fit quite nicely with the classic and vintage ethic - it offers the potential to keep near show bike level of drivetrain cleanliness of our lovely vintage parts and having them operating at peak efficiency - a most serendipitous situation! Things like this can inspire and teach all at the same time.

RobbieTunes

I know what you mean.

John E

It wasn't long ago that Henry, now 4, rode in the MiniCooper, instead of pushing Erik, now 2.
All good, in my case, but distracting, nonetheless:

Two or three days per week, my wife and I help out with our two grandsons, age 4 and 2.
The house needs a lot of work.
The cars are getting old (1996 and 2001) and need somewhat more attention than when they were newer.
Starting to de-accumulate decades of clutter.
I am currently working full time in an encore career that I really enjoy (university lecturer in computer engineering).

Bikerider007

For me, just not a lot of new stuff. Retro is not really popular with road, so no cool new stuff tying into the old etc. And when you do find something cool, no one is that interested as it's all been seen or done, seems the population here really doesn't grow.

masi61

I tend to agree. BITD, say the 1990’s there was this active cottage industry of small component makers bringing trick products to market. It was an exciting time - I enjoyed reading about some of the things but was busy with raising kids, working & having no expendable cash.

Fast forward 20 years to today & the old classic friction Campy Nuovo Record that was the go-to still retains a romantic, artisanal aesthetic but @ the same time it isn’t exactly “trick”.

I’d like to see more crossover on this forum into individual members fabricating and modifying parts themselves - sort of like Drillium Dude. Talented home machinists are rare, but I feel I’m trainable. I have the interest in precision metalworking measuring tools & have gleaned some basic knowledge of polishing, drilling & tapping in aluminum enough to know quality work when I see it...

We need an expanded Handmade Bicycle Show that covers not only framebuilders but also component makers big & small.

brandon98

Rotating shift work to get my daughter through college without incurring debt. I refuse to saddle her with debt courtesy of the educational-industrial complex as she gets a STEM degree.

mstateglfr 

Well if it weren't for the life I chose to build, I would be riding more!
That darn life is keeping me away from c&v more than I otherwise would be.

Also, having built a frame and working on another frame right now, by definition keeps me away from c&v

top506

Everything else stacks on this.

Top

thinktubes 

Hmmmmm....

iab

I am pretty much just a voyeur these days. I love looking at/learning about other people's projects, I just don't want to do any of my own. I'd rather go for a ride, work in the garden, throw a party, go somewhere and see something new without being weighed down by more stuff. I need less stuff in my life, not more.

SamSpade1941 

well it looks like I have a couple of spare days now to spend on here... I just wrecked about an hour ago.