Saturday, December 31, 2011

The Ideal Bike

The ideal bike is stylish, rugged, and cheap.

Stylish, because style matters. It's an expression of your personality. It talks about you. It tells others what you are made of. Your bike is a fashion statement. You have to customize it, make it your own, so that in the end it becomes a faithful representation of your individuality.

Rugged, because the streets of Syracuse are a tough and exciting ground for bicycling, with no place for the weak. Motorized traffic, pot holes, train rails, uphill, downhill, bumpy tarmac, packed dirt, gravel, all weather conditions, require a simple, strong, low maintenance design that will let you go anywhere, sustain any situation, and never let you down. Strength is the price of freedom.

Cheap, because bicycling is for everybody. It's the quintessential democratic mode of transportation. It's a small reminder that at the core, we are all made the same, and that if we are to live in harmony, there is no sense in inciting the envy of our neighbors. Keeping a low profile is a key to keeping safe, and to keeping your bike.




That's my ideal bike: single speed coaster brake path racer, made from a trashed 1974 Ralleigh Sport frame. What's yours?