Guys, you are all doing great work! Keep it up!
One of the biggest hurdles for me was something a few of you had mentioned. Namely, the mental barrier of sending something to the scrapper that we still see value in. That value is strictly in the hardlined utilitarian sense of a bicycle - something you can ride, a means of transportation, a form of healthy exercise. All good things!
But some of these are projects that are not rideable as-is, and while they could be, we (as in: you) are probably the only one in the entire world that may have an interest in doing so. And if
you have had the project for a long time and haven't yet completed it, then there is little chance that someone else will.
Now obviously this applies mainly to low-tier and some mid-tier vintage bicycles. High-tier gets a strong 'pass' as there is usually always someone interested in a 'paddling upstream' type of project, because the ends are worth the means.
I'm still curious enough about the Gitane, that I think I want to keep it around, but I'm getting comfortable w/ the idea of getting rid of my other French bikes.
The 'fire drill' routine is a a great mental exercise to try for yourself. It goes like this:
A fire is coming through and you need to get out fast. However, the family is already out, the pets are out, and your wife grabbed the photo album and the important documents. You estimate you've got enough time to quickly toss 4-5 bikes out of the basement/garage/living room (ha!) before the fire engulfs everything. Which do you grab? My list goes something like...Huffente, green Trek, the Midget, the 990, the 750...okay okay, and maybe a couple of frames
I come out of that exercise more surprised by the bikes that my brain didn't automatically choose, moreso than the ones it did.
In other 'bike reduction' news, I'm setting up the Midget for my son, since he has expressed a bit of an interest in riding some of my road bikes as of late, and I really want to respond to that interest! The Midget is the smallest 'true' road bike I have (around 49cm), and fighting the urge to keep the bike for myself rather than set it up for him tells me that he should love it - it is a really,
really good bike. It rides so well, and
feels way faster than it should, for its weight. So I can't think of a better experience to get him hooked on biking.
I haven't checked mail for a while, but I'm thinking I could have a check in there that may cover the shipping for a few bikes, and that means a few more will be leaving!