lostarchitect 

Kramer stole it.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Newman!

oddjob2

If you like vintage boats as well as C & V bikes, this $6.9 million spread in Charlevoix, MI is available. Four Winns founder's house. Plenty of room for bikes in the house!


Detroit Free Press Photo

ericbaker

Putting them on display doesn't mean they don't get ridden, this thread would be sweet without 60% of the posts.

Here is mine, yes I sleep with the NOS Klein, I use it as a pillow (he said 5 bikes....)

BlueDevil63 

Why the snide "I ride MY bikes not display them" kind of comments every time there is a thread like this? There are collectors who don't ride at all, there are collectors like me who prefer to ride (99% of the time) modern bikes, there are people who ride every one of a dozen bikes. Who really cares and why would you care? The bikes I don't ride don't care if they are ridden or not, they're bikes they don't care about anything. Is there some rule that says I am not allowed to have bikes I don't ride? It's highly unlikely that if I sold them that they would get ridden any more than they do now as most people simply don't find vintage bikes, with vintage drivetrains, tall gearing, downtube shifters, unsealed bearings, etc. to be convenient or practical. Those of us who preserve and care for fine vintage and original bikes are saving them for future generations to enjoy. Whoever owns them after me can ride them or not as they choose.

I've said before that I don't view vintage bikes as utilitarian objects anymore but as works of art, industrial art if you want, but still art. The same as a Ferrari 250GT, an Ducati 851, an old Rolex, old tools, etc. These things have been superseded by "better" utilitarian objects. But they still have value in their reflection of a period in time, a way of doing things, a type of lost craftsmanship, not to mention a simple physical beauty. I love to look at my bikes and to work on them. I take some of them out occasionally. But really what value would there be in regularly riding a 1954 Bianchi?

And besides the OP specifically asked to see displays of garage queens.

Sorry for the rant but I seem to be the target of this kind of comment every other time I post a picture of some of my bikes.

Nice display and nice bikes ericbaker and you too Hoss.

wrk101

+ I have been a collector of a variety of things over the years, antique radios, clocks, furniture, etc. I certainly do not use all of them.

If you can afford it and have the space, go for it! That setup is terrific! I do not see more virtue from riding everything versus collecting. But as a person that has been collecting stuff for over 50 years, that could be the difference.

We bought a house down the street from us, half will store/display the antique collection and act as guest quarters, the other half is the bicycle workshop. How sick is that?

oddjob2

I've been very impressed with the garage queen displays of BlueDevil63, Hoss Cartright, and EricBaker's as well. Thanks for sharing. Maybe I will take up the invitations to visit! I think we even got a glimpse of Wrk101's makeshift air conditioned kitchen work space in an OCD all white kitchen! What a tolerant spouse to put up with grease and solvents indoors! LOL

I hope more enthusiasts will post photos of how they display their garage queens. They can't all just be leaning upon each other like stacked cordwood or hanging off the rafters on a pair of $1.29 red bike hooks.

Those who leave snide comments are probably either jealous, compensating for something else, or just fanboy's of bikesnobnyc.

Drillium Dude 

No shame in displaying some and riding others - heck, I think I've drilled out too many aluminum atoms from my Alpina, so she's not been ridden in over two years. C'est la vie - I have others

No matter how good any of us are, it's just not possible to ride more than one bike at a time; ergo, anyone with more than one bike has got a "garage queen" every day of the week.

Perspective

These days, I'm leery of keeping any of my modest collection in the garage, hence this (guard cat on duty):







"Garage queen" parts are abundant, too:





Works for me...

DD

JunkYardBike

Personally, I have no issues with collectors. I agree with your sentiment that people who do things differently shouldn't really care about what you choose to do.

But I do take issue with the portion of your statement quoted above. There's plenty of value in regularly riding a '54 Bianchi. It has two wheels and goes forward when pedaled. It's got style. It probably rides extremely well. Why not ride it regularly?

I know your purpose wasn't to start an argument or call into question the practices of the "other side", but you did! Some people like riding vintage bike regularly. No hard feelings, though.

To keep with the thread topic: a couple weeks ago I sold a minty Panasonic touring bike for a decent sum to a commuter. He spent most of his time analyzing the fit, but every few minutes he'd comment on the great condition of the bike. As he was leaving, after the deal had been closed, he said: "I still can't believe how nice it is. Too bad it won't be that way for much longer!"

lostarchitect 

Nobody's telling you that you can't display your bikes, but I'm saying I don't have any "garage queens," and I think the very idea of that is lame. If you interpret that as jealousy, that's fine. But it's not. It's just an opinion.

BlueDevil63 

I didn't mean to question the other side at all. I have no problem with people riding whatever they want whenever. For me there would be two reasons I don't regularly ride my old Bianchi. One is simply that a bike is a consumable. If I ride it regularly I will wear out parts that in all likelihood cannot be replaced. I will inevitably damage the finish, which can never be original again. Two is that it functions much less efficiently than a modern bike. I ride for fitness and for mental health. I ride in a hilly area that for me at least requires low gears which are simply impossible to achieve with original equipment on the types of vintage bikes I collect. I like to spin at a regular cadence and have the bike disappear under me while I get my head straight. I find dealing with downtube shifters, friction shifting, 10 gears vs 20, etc. to be a huge distraction from that pursuit. Of course I could upgrade the Bianchi frame to modern equipment but then it would no longer be a 1954 Bianchi. So I choose to ride a modern bike with all the advantages of modern bikes because they fit my utilitarian needs best. But I enjoy the "soul" if you will of vintage bikes. I enjoy the design aesthetic. I enjoy the nostalgia of bikes I lusted over as a younger person.

Those are my reasons. I don't expect or care if anyone else shares them. But this was a thread SPECIFICALLY about garage queens. What is the purpose of coming into the thread and making any comment at all if you think that garage queens are "lame"? I'm still not sure how they are lame exactly but oh well. I simply don't understand why people would go out of their way to make a negative comment. Start a thread about how garage queens are lame, make all the comments you want there, I'll stay out of it.

WNG

^ Nicely put. I've had negative comments unsolicited for my modest collection as hoarding. Mostly from people who have no value in bicycles and don't ride themselves. But of course, tell them what's the point of their tea pot collection....and you'll wake a sleeping volcano.

I try not to open the door to such folks for further discussion, usually gets me no where.

BTW, nice collections guys! I don't have anything as fancy, just a rail/rack setup I made to hang 6 road bikes off the floor in the garage. One's a garage queen, my pink Vitus 979.

And a wheels/frames storage section also from the ceiling. I find it's best to keep it all off the floor.

lostarchitect 

You guys know what they say about heat and kitchens, right? Welcome to the internet.

jimmuller 

I'm envious of all that space!

And when I showed my sweetie those pics she asked: Is he a bachelor?

BlueDevil63 

Nope but wife has horses. Her barn is way bigger than my garage!

rootboy 

BlueDevil, next time I come back to SLC to visit my pals I'm going to look you up to see your fine collection of ....uh ....garage queens.


Your garage has enough space for the whole royal family, including the illegitimate offspring, eunuch footmen and hangers-on.

rootboy 

I smile whenever I see this pic. Makes me wonder "where is Sacha going to sleep?"

Mr. Fly

Jesus! How big is your house? That garage looks bigger than the shared parking lot of the apartment complex I used to live at!

Oldairhead 

Here is the inner sanctum, where the non-riders reside.



Current non-riders pictured here are (left to right) a 74 Hetchins with Ghisallo rims, 1984 Lino Messori (perfect), 1988 Battaglin Giro (a sometimes rider), 2008 Colnago Master X-light (new, not yet built), 1962 Legnano Gran Premio (nearing completion, on the stand).

Otis

I never judge people on which bike they ride, only on how well they ride them. Here's some I rarely or never ride:

3alarmer 

While the number and quality of the bikes has gone up,
the available space and organization has gone down.
There are two rows of six each hung like this, with as
many standing upright on their wheels beneath them.

Which reminds me I have to do the first of the month shuffle
to rotate some from the back to the front for riding............
All of mine are either current or future riders. I have little
enthusiasm personally for bikes as wall art.

Although it does provide some amazing Craigslist finds here.

repechage

Many of you guys have quite the set ups for bicycles.
Bluedevil63's significant storage space was an early and definitive presentation.
Out here in California though, the chance of a domino theory event is too great to risk that attractive display.

Having bicycles that one does not ride is no sin. I do note that many collections like mine are of bicycles that I "could" ride, basically my size.
I know a few who are not constrained by this factor.

Locally there is a guy who has about 7,000 square feet he leases plus a caretaker/mechanic on employ who manages the collection, mostly exotics and ex-roadrace cars.

I like the boathouse.
If I were to win the lottery...

DsmBerg

Horses are the ultimate equalizer. My stock response when I get the "what the hell are you dragging home from craigslist now?!" look is: "At least it doesn't eat hay."

ScottRyder 

I have my share of garage or den queens ... but I have plenty others to ride so I have no desire to take a chance and damage the wall hangers. I'm in the process (slow) of finishing off the bike room, someday I'll post some photos. I have vintage surfboards on display that I don't ride either, it's just not worth the risk.

Scott

dmp

you can tell the cat to relax- I won't be in the PNW until August