i hate conversions...
11-02-10, 09:05 AM
#26
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That's a great way to look at it! A good knife can be ruined by inept sharpening, and a good bike can be ruined by inept drewing. But if the end product is a success, and the bike gets ridden and enjoyed, there's nothing wrong with that no matter what the original bike was. If it's a total botch job, then yes, I hate that.
11-02-10, 09:39 AM
#28
You gonna eat that?
Short of that, I have to realize that it's none of my bidness. Looking at it that way keeps my blood pressure down.
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11-02-10, 09:55 AM
#30
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Well, I took your bait. Pretty ironic that someone would take something that's known for flamboyant graphics and paint it battleship gray. But then again, ironic is hip. Does it raise my blood pressure? No, but it does make me roll my eyes a little. That doesn't really distinguish it from the aesthetic choices that lots of people make about all kinds of things, or a lot of music that gets (IMHO) way too much airplay. As far as the whole fixed gear fad goes, it's never the fixed gear part that bothers me.
11-02-10, 11:41 AM
#31
I got 99 projects
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Do you burn with anger at the person who did this?
...or this?
I don't see what the big deal is. The person who owns the bike should be able to do with it as they wish. It does not seem that there is any shortage of vintage bikes out there; there are enough to go around.
...or this?
I don't see what the big deal is. The person who owns the bike should be able to do with it as they wish. It does not seem that there is any shortage of vintage bikes out there; there are enough to go around.
11-02-10, 12:04 PM
#32
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
Nope... but I was inspired by seeing some really nice (and even nicer) work.. unlike many of those bikes sold on fleabay.
People have asked me if I could do this for them but 25 hours of work at my usual rate has deterred them from proceeding any further.
The bike is a '73 Raleigh Gran Sport so besides being pretty, she's pretty light, and is not a garage queen... when I got my Ron Cooper I retired the Gran Sport from geared status and turned her back into a fixed gear and dressed up her shabby paint and almost non-existant graphics.
People have asked me if I could do this for them but 25 hours of work at my usual rate has deterred them from proceeding any further.
The bike is a '73 Raleigh Gran Sport so besides being pretty, she's pretty light, and is not a garage queen... when I got my Ron Cooper I retired the Gran Sport from geared status and turned her back into a fixed gear and dressed up her shabby paint and almost non-existant graphics.
11-02-10, 12:14 PM
#33
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BD, Two very good examples of modifications that make some collectors pull their hair out! 
Modifying a bicycle (a car, a motorcycle, or a rifle) is a tradition in itself. It enhances an owner's appreciation and displays individuality, not a bad thing if the bike would otherwise rust in a basement or garbage dump... in hard to find original condition.
Brad
Modifying a bicycle (a car, a motorcycle, or a rifle) is a tradition in itself. It enhances an owner's appreciation and displays individuality, not a bad thing if the bike would otherwise rust in a basement or garbage dump... in hard to find original condition.
Brad
11-02-10, 12:20 PM
#34
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I've seen these people butcher some nice bikes over the past 7 years or so. I did score a lot of the "throwaway" parts they didn't want, as I was friends with some of the hipster crowd. I had a nice pantographed Ciocc super record crankset I got for free, then sold on eBay for $175.
11-02-10, 02:37 PM
#35
Senior Member
Well, I love em:
You keep on hatin' if you like, I'll be enjoying my bicycles.
EDIT: Can we just turn this into a "Post your vintage conversion" thread?
You keep on hatin' if you like, I'll be enjoying my bicycles.
EDIT: Can we just turn this into a "Post your vintage conversion" thread?
Last edited by tashi; 11-02-10 at 06:16 PM.
11-02-10, 03:00 PM
#36
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I do love the ways bikes are free to be personalised and I find most bikes are intresting to look at.
11-02-10, 03:04 PM
#38
lurking. . . lurking. . .
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11-02-10, 03:20 PM
#39
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Like I said before, I have no desire to ride a fixed gear bike, but I've spent a lot of time looking at the bikes in the Fixed Gear Gallery. They're much more interesting to me than most restorations.
11-02-10, 03:39 PM
#41
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prettyshady, I like the ability to shift and wouldn't convert to a SS/FG, but I enjoy the work of some of those that have. Kind of like a low rider car, I don't want to build one, but can appreciate the engineering and art work.
Brad
Brad
11-02-10, 03:53 PM
#42
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I disagree. The worst part is the lack of brakes. Some think that the fixed gear provides enough braking. It doesn't.
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11-02-10, 04:31 PM
#45
aka Tom Reingold
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I agree. A front brake on a fixie is adequate. The fixed gear is about as good as a back brake.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
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Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
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Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
11-02-10, 04:39 PM
#46
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It doesn't bother me much. Some things do make me scratch my head, but if it's your bike, do with it as you please. I personally don't like running around trying to be captain save a bike. That's the main part of owning something, it allows you do whatever you want with it.
11-02-10, 04:52 PM
#47
Senior Member
I drewed an mid level motobecane a while back. It has swiss threading and a french fork... my ex had left it in a snowbank for a while. I figured it was a prime candidate for fixed gear. It's not garish or anything, and it might end up being much nicer than its predigree would suggest. Besides, if the fixie trend dies down there will be lots of cheap brooks saddles on the used market eh!
11-02-10, 05:41 PM
#48
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While Drewing a frame is nearly inexcusable, it still bugs me to see things like that Bottecchia. I've dedicated many (many!) hours to finding original parts to reassemble original bikes and people who do that sort of thing just make my job harder than it has to be. The only quasi-organized ride in my town draws a number of FG types and the other week some kid showed up on a very nice Lotus made from Columbus tubing that had been converted. I told him that it used to be a very nice bike before somebody took it apart. Things are a bit different for things which have no particular historical value* or are acquired as a bare frame, of course.
I guess I just feel like anything which is going to outlast me can't really be considered to be "mine". Because of that I try as much as possible to preserve those little pieces of history for whomever ends up with them a hundred years from now. If all I wanted was a Bottecchia frame, I'd be set. But if I wanted a Bottecchia that thing wouldn't cut it. How long before no more original Bottecchias exist?
*Yeah, I know.
I guess I just feel like anything which is going to outlast me can't really be considered to be "mine". Because of that I try as much as possible to preserve those little pieces of history for whomever ends up with them a hundred years from now. If all I wanted was a Bottecchia frame, I'd be set. But if I wanted a Bottecchia that thing wouldn't cut it. How long before no more original Bottecchias exist?
*Yeah, I know.
11-02-10, 07:01 PM
#49
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My hacked, sanded and painted fixed-gear/single-speed conversions from the Velo Cheapo contests:
First contest before:
First contest after:
Second contest before:
Second contest after:
Neal
First contest before:
First contest after:
Second contest before:
Second contest after:
Neal
11-02-10, 07:31 PM
#50
No one cares
if someone drewed a herse or a curly hetchins or a bike Merckx raced that would make my heart sink a bit. 9 times out of 10 though I couldnt care less what people do to their bikes.
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Jack Taylor Super Tourer Tandem (FOR SALE), Jack Taylor Tour of Britain, Px-10, Carlton Flyer, Fuji The Finest, Salsa Fargo, Santa Cruz Tallboy, Carver All-Road .