do you own a bike?

[gbb]

I find myself half way...i love the stying, function, having something i see as special (even if its 'just' Veloce..its better than anything i had before)...i covet it all.
Yet, at the end of the day, its a tool. My ex colleague used to berate me for leaving my (at the time) new Bianchi in the workshop, where it could be knocked, it'd get dirty, he didnt understand why i'd risk something so nice...but at the end of the day, its a tool. It'll get (and it did) its knocks and scratches.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I have three bikes, I don't have three collections of parts, a bike is greater than the sum of its parts, I tend to bond with my bikes, with some the bond is formed in the first few rides, like my fixed, some it takes longer, I've had my Kilmeston about eighteen months but have only just started to bond with it.

 

[Crackle]

Parts become bikes, it's a bike, the heart is the frame, you can argue what the other bits are but the frame is key, it determines everything else.

Apart from MacB's bikes which are a collection of aesthetic illusions hinting at bikeliness

 

[MacB]

Apart from MacB's bikes which are a collection of aesthetic illusions hinting at bikeliness

Smoke and mirrors I knew I was going wrong somewhere

 

[slowmotion]

I guess it's rather like when a 1930's Bentley Turbo is sold as an original but transpires to have 90% replacement parts, without the legal fees, of course. I quickly swapped the saddle for one that is more comfortable but doesn't match the colour scheme. I'm about to swap the original cassette for one with more teeth, and the granny ring in the other direction. However, the bike has the same spirit and rebukes me in an ever familar tone.

 

[dellzeqq]

I guess it's all a question of degree. I'm of the kit of parts school, but I don't think I'd relish front and back wheels with different rims, or different front and back brakes.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I guess it's all a question of degree. I'm of the kit of parts school, but I don't think I'd relish front and back wheels with different rims, or different front and back brakes.

caliper front, coaster rear. on the blue one, some of the time, when I'm not crashing on it.

Once you overcome the mental block, which is real, a conscious competence learning model thing I think, it just becomes another ride on a bike.

I do struggle with different shifters on different bikes and with bikes with no levers on the flats of the drop bars. Some woodshed instincts and muscle memories gained of 10,000 hours are difficult to overcome.

Same thing with basses. Give me a bass with a different neck profile, or a different pickup config and I'm all at see for a while, and in some cases may never become comfortable enough (unconscious competance) to cut loose and just play.

So, if it is a bike I can ride it with unconscious competance. If it makes me feel consciously competent, or worse, it isn't a bike, it's a kit of parts.