mpemburn
Well-Known Member
Aside from the health benefits, and the joy of plying the open road on a fast machine, I have always enjoyed cycling for its aesthetic pleasures. The primary source of this is the appreciation the natural world that comes from traveling through it outside of the cocoon of an automobile.
But the bicycle itself is art embodied in practicality. Form follows function, to be sure, but the designers of bicycles have considerable latitude in the quality of that form, and some rise above the norm to craft things of true beauty.
In my early days as a road cyclist, I was drawn to the artistry of handmade steel frames, and the jewel-like components inspired by Tulio Campagnolo, and manufactured by his company in Vicenza, Italy. My early racing bikes were Italian steel and, once I could afford it, the hand-crafted wonders created by Richard Sachs whose shop was in my native Connecticut, USA. The one pictured here is similar to the last of the two Richard Sachs frames I owned. Unfortunately, both were stolen years ago, so I can only show you what they were like. You can see more details here: https://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum/f11/richard-sachs-bicycles-4270-23.html
There has been a sizable gap in time between my racing days and the present. After my second lovely Sachs was stolen, I bought a decent Cannondale mountain bike, though I mostly rode it on the streets of Baltimore. The Cannodale had been in storage for nearly a decade until about five years ago when I hauled out and cleaned it up. With the purple paint shining in the sun, I thought, “Wow, this is one beautiful machine!”—and this kicked off the current period of renewed love of life on two wheels.
Shortly after this epiphany, I joined a local bike club, and was gently encouraged to consider getting a real road bike. I resisted this for a while, but eventually found a nice old Trek Pilot 5.2 on eBay. With this, I rediscovered the exquisite pleasure of true road cycling.
I rode the Trek until recently but, due to circumstances that I don’t care to recount, needed to get a new frame. I must admit that my aesthetic sense played a not-insignificant role in my choice. The Carrera shown below is resulting device.
The point of this post is that the beauty of the bicycle has changed a great deal during the time I have been involved with them, and my appreciation of that beauty has changed with it. I still enjoy the look of the old bikes, but they seem somewhat odd when compared with the new aesthetic. Also, since I truly believe that “beauty is as beauty does”, the new bikes just work so much better than the old ones did. You are, of course, entitled to your opinion in these matters—and I don’t fear that you’ll be reticent to express it!
But the bicycle itself is art embodied in practicality. Form follows function, to be sure, but the designers of bicycles have considerable latitude in the quality of that form, and some rise above the norm to craft things of true beauty.
In my early days as a road cyclist, I was drawn to the artistry of handmade steel frames, and the jewel-like components inspired by Tulio Campagnolo, and manufactured by his company in Vicenza, Italy. My early racing bikes were Italian steel and, once I could afford it, the hand-crafted wonders created by Richard Sachs whose shop was in my native Connecticut, USA. The one pictured here is similar to the last of the two Richard Sachs frames I owned. Unfortunately, both were stolen years ago, so I can only show you what they were like. You can see more details here: https://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum/f11/richard-sachs-bicycles-4270-23.html
There has been a sizable gap in time between my racing days and the present. After my second lovely Sachs was stolen, I bought a decent Cannondale mountain bike, though I mostly rode it on the streets of Baltimore. The Cannodale had been in storage for nearly a decade until about five years ago when I hauled out and cleaned it up. With the purple paint shining in the sun, I thought, “Wow, this is one beautiful machine!”—and this kicked off the current period of renewed love of life on two wheels.
Shortly after this epiphany, I joined a local bike club, and was gently encouraged to consider getting a real road bike. I resisted this for a while, but eventually found a nice old Trek Pilot 5.2 on eBay. With this, I rediscovered the exquisite pleasure of true road cycling.
I rode the Trek until recently but, due to circumstances that I don’t care to recount, needed to get a new frame. I must admit that my aesthetic sense played a not-insignificant role in my choice. The Carrera shown below is resulting device.
The point of this post is that the beauty of the bicycle has changed a great deal during the time I have been involved with them, and my appreciation of that beauty has changed with it. I still enjoy the look of the old bikes, but they seem somewhat odd when compared with the new aesthetic. Also, since I truly believe that “beauty is as beauty does”, the new bikes just work so much better than the old ones did. You are, of course, entitled to your opinion in these matters—and I don’t fear that you’ll be reticent to express it!
