gugie 

Mods, shut this thread down, we've got a winner!

Roger M

I read the title, and who started the thread.

For some reason this is what came to mind...

(Apologies for pilfering your photo, Mark)

iab

Daily keyword searches.

gugie 

Yeah, it would appear that tires are overrated.

BFisher

Hey, one man's practical is another man's cluster****. Can't argue with C&V practicality.

Wildwood 

My lack of OCD allows me to admire the finish on your bikes.
Some of mine only pass the (cosmetic) 10’ inspection test.


edit: to make this post thread relevant.
Collectively, WE fuss way too much over the appearance of our bikes - practically speaking, they are old workhorses, old racers, old tourers = well maintained but short of PRACTICALLY worshipped.

But why join mainstream consensus on ‘practical’?

RiddleOfSteel

- Putting modern componentry on a vintage frame, or wishing we could.
- Telling myself/ourselves steel is the superior material for ride quality and feel, when a modern carbon fork mops the floor with a steel one, and a modern aluminum frame provides all the spring and non-harshness with considerably less weight.
- Use vintage brake pads with no toe adjustment (but barbarically twist aluminum brake caliper arms) when aesthetically-acceptable modern pad/pad holder options exist.

Of course I have done and still do the first. Bringing a frameset to its proverbial apex is a lot of fun, and seeing how well it can work compositionally and aesthetically is very satisfying. As to the second point, my modern (2008) and decidedly entry-level Trek 1.5 simply handles my local streets, particularly the rough-surfaced one I live on. A race bike. On 28mm tires. My 620--much longer, heavier/more solid, with 42mm tires, expressly built for this kind of thing--does either as well or is only marginally better on the big hits. And as to the third point, I prefer more elegant and less/non-abusive solutions to problems.

Yes, I do love beautiful, thinned lugs, the craftsmanship of so many steel bikes, the aesthetic of the horizontal top tube for many reasons and especially for tall frames, curved fork blades, classic-profile drop bars and a nice quill stem. I will always love them. The tallest frames always look best with horizontal top tubes, which is why I still have one.

seedsbelize2

I didn't get either of those impressions from Roger Musson. I built one wheel like that and haven't bothered since. I also frequently don't bother with lining up the tire label with the valve stem. Or a lot of other have tos, for that matter. I'm just building them for myself; it wouldn't be as much fun if it had to meet someone else's approval.

jdawginsc 

You don't like their patina???

Only two pristine bikes...the Cannondale and the Trek 670 I am trying to get rolling on...maybe the Rossin. Rest has plenty o' rustand/or touch up nail polish.

dddd

Many of us will remember not being spendy enough to be riding a newer bike among potentially judgemental others such as in a club.

So it was important to keep the old bike looking fresh, with fresh-looking cabling, tape and tires, and with matching rims, etc.

Also, many of us have chosen to keep our bikes fresh and original-looking, in the hopes of maintaining it's resale value.

Such thrifty and maybe aesthetic values tend to accumulate over time, until a bike looks right only when it's kept well-sorted, so can become obsessive just as a bike's functional performance can become.

And so we do as we do, right down to using just the right cable housing ferrule or the right, minimalist valve stem length.

cyccommute 

In 40+ year of riding and 35+ years of mountain biking…including a significant amount of bush whacking…I have never had a lever flip open. My rear lever is pointed forward and below the chainstay. My front one is in front of the leg and pointed up. It’s not a safety issue if it’s not an issue at all.

dddd

For sure, but I have had a few components snag on things while riding, over the years, and levers pointing out into space where body parts might collide could cause a puncture or contusion wound, or put your eye out.

dpd3672

I'm not sure if it applies to bikes as much as cars, but it's not so much the tread as the way the belts are oriented and the internal structure of the tire that dictates how it's supposed to be mounted. On a bike, with the relatively lower stresses applied to it, it's probably not as crucial, but it sure can't hurt to do things as the manufacturer intended.

I do a bike ride in London every Summer, and rent a bike to use for the ride. It surprised me, but that's how the rental bikes I've used have been set up...first time I had to take evasive action it made for quite a surprise, lol.

gugie 

On that one there is a practical purpose, as noted earlier on this thread. Not a necessity, but it does help in finding the small objects embedded in tires that are the cause of many flats.

merziac

Kabuki12

I’m a bit of a traditionalist with a little bit of “hippie” rebellion mixed in. I try to keep everything in order as far as , tire label adjacent to valve stem, wheels laced correctly(even though I’m no expert), skewer “lever on the left”, cables behind bars, period correct clothing when possible, drive side photos, yea long list. It is tough being me. I do wear weird socks as some will attest., and I’ve been known to violate my own rules when feeling rebellious. There is a saying on the CR list “just ride the bloody bike”, I love it. I have been riding with a few guys from my neighborhood and they are modern bike guys. They don’t really understand , they take their bikes in for service , and now that I’m riding with them, one of the guys is talking about building a bike from the frame out. When I first started riding with them he was surprised that I build/rebuild my own bikes.

Kabuki12

yea, I went over the bars on my Mondia that has bar end shifters . I have a nice scar on the inside of my right thigh where one of them completely buried itself in my flesh!

Prowler 

+1 and this has saved me a couple of times, once about 20 miles from the car. As I knew where to look, it me moments to find the metal shard. Otherwise it would have popped the spare I put in there. Also, in the event I'd needed to patch the tube but not found the shard, I'd would have put the tube back in in the same spot and the patch would have protected the tube. Belt and suspenders.

gearbasher

Making sure my rim strips/tape read from the right.
Pointing my rear skewer straight down.
Using only white bar tape and never cleaning it.

cyccommute 

How many eyes have you lost? And if you manage to poke a quick release lever into your eye, you probably have bigger problems to deal with.

dweenk

And cause hirsutism of the palm.

gugie 

I'm thinking that the winking emoticon might have clued one into this being a seasonally relevant, tongue in cheek reference.

bikingshearer 

For me, this is a very practical thing. I love Campy 10sp triple on a good lugged steel frame. It's what I reach for 90% of the time, maybe more. Having that combo gets me out the door to ride more. Riding more makes me happier and healthier. I am hard pressed to imagine anything more practical.

YMMV, of course.

clubman 

There's seven deadly sins...and then there's that lesser one, in small print called Stridency. Ask me how I know.

mhespenheide 

I'd not heard that lugged frames were stronger -- just that they were more easily repairable. Fillet brazed were acknowledged as a reasonable alternative, and tig'ed steel was marginally acceptable but unaesthetic and unrepairable. Not mentioning the fact that there are plenty of vintage frames that frankly, weren't made all that well to start with and a properly mitered set of tubes tig'ed together by a skilled welder is almost certainly better than sloppy lugs without the right penetration by the brass.