I don’t know where Frederick is but if you do this is quite a deal:
Take it from me, as the world’s foremost vintage mid-range bonded aluminum road bike enthusiast I know what I’m talking about:
It looks like they got rid of the Biopace (sacrilege!), but it does still have the original pie plate, meaning the Uniglide cassette has been unmolested for more than three decades:
If the bike was closer I’d probably buy it myself, which would be the ultimate in decadence, or at least meh-cadence…just as transporting automotive parts by bicycle is the ultimate in irony:
Riding a bike in an autocentric world isn’t always straighforward, but you make it work:
Though maybe it would be easier in one of these:
Ironically there’s probably no greater threat to the future of the bicycle than “sustainability.’ Despite the pervasiveness of the internal combustion engine, bicycles have managed to flourish all over the world for well over a century, all while retaining their profound simplicity, efficiency, and accessibility. But now, as we increasingly embrace the notion that bikes should have motors, and electronics, and that we shouldn’t tell people they should know how to fix their own flats, all in the name of not scaring them away, and of making things easier for them, and of getting them out of their cars and onto bikes in order to save the planet, it’s only a matter of time that the bikes just…become cars instead:
The bike lane’s already fraught enough with all these e-contraptions coming at you from every direction, but it’s really gonna suck when it’s full of these:
And we’re supposed to be happy about it?
Well, you’ve got to hand it to the Smuggies, they’re doing a fantastic job of getting bike people to participate in their own destruction, because anyone still pedaling their own bike in 20 years is going to be a relic:
Advocates already push for unrestricted e-bike access, so if anything my money’s on an eventual ban on unassisted bicycles in the bike lane, and if you’re caught repairing your own flat you’ll be ticketed for indecent exposure of competence.
“But the e-bike/car hybrids won’t replace bicycle trips, they’ll replace car trips!,” say the Smuggies.
Yeah, right. Don’t worry, the cars aren’t going anywhere, they’ll just be electric:
They’ll still force you off the road, they’ll just do it a little more quietly. It’s about as comforting as knowing the person robbing you at gunpoint has really clean teeth.
In other news, further to my recent post about Life Time and corporate garvel, you’ll be glad to know you can avoid the Unbound Gravel lottery if you buy enough stuff from them:
Sure, the camp plus entry fee is a whopping $2,200:
But don’t worry, the coaching program is only $2,200:
Now that’s what I call inclusive!