Bike Envy

I stumbled onto Nate's blog and found a pic of his stunning Kogswell G85 fixie. I don't need another bike. I especially don't need another randoneering bike. I love my Volae and I can tell we will be doing great things together in 2007. But, I must be honest with you, I am jealous of Nate's bike. It's elegant, simple and so functional - not to mention drop dead gorgeous.

When I built up my Surly LHT I was hoping to build up a classic randoneering bike. My LHT is a great bike, but I have come to realize I will never own a bike like Nate's. It is just not possible for me to have such a bike. All the big and little choices I make when buying and outfitting a bike result in a whole different beast. My bikes are machines. They are functional and reliable, but often complex. Some of them are cool in a techno-geek sort of way, but they are not elegant nor beautiful. Often they look cobbled together from various bits I found effective.

A simple, but telling example of how I go astray with my bikes is my Carradice Barley saddle bag. I initially had it attached directly to my Brooks saddle. That is a simple classic setup - leather saddle, waxed cotton saddle bag attached with leather straps. Of course that didn't last long. I ended up using a Carradice SQR saddle bag rack with my LHT. This system lets me remove my saddle bag with the press of the button - a very nice feature when I want to go into a store or if I want to just use my rear rack and panniers. The downside is it ruins the classic look of the saddle and saddle bag. It looks Frankenstein-ish, but it works great. And no matter what bikes I covet, the fact is I like bikes that are a mish mash of the best bits I can find - style be damned!