Originally Posted by
Prowler
This raises an interesting aspect to the OP question. He said “A 60s- mid 70s white PX-10 is immediately recognizable and conjures a nostalgia even among folks who haven’t ridden a bike in years”. So should the extent of recognition to be considered for the title “icon”? I, for obvious reasons, prefer the Mk IV but clearly the SBDU bikes are revered but to a limited audience. I was unaware of SBDU until “ages hence”. Just a guy in the neighborhood chasing girls. The Mink blue Pro would have much more recognizable. Some exquisite Italian bikes were worth a pedestal but most folks would say “gee, never heard of that one.”
yep.... it seems to be very specific to the culture that one is immersed in.
For me in the early 70's, a Schwinn LeTour might have been the most exotic bike most folks would be exposed to. Compared to a Varsity, it was clearly lighter, faster, and better. A Schwinn Paramount would be even more aspirational, but nobody had anything that refined.
A handful of years later, while in the Marines, a buddy had an Eisentraut, which I knew nothing about. For that era, he might have been one of the top 5 framebuilders in the country! (sounds like a topic for a new thread). My buddy had grown up in San Diego, one of the cycling hot spots, so he was exposed to just about anything that might exist. We would have very different ideas of what would be iconic, no doubt.
Steve in Peoria