It’s feeling moderately springy on the market, although the springy cri-tabium bike I’ve been using could have one thing to do with that:
[Weird how the phone makes it look like the bike has Biopace wheels.]
It actually does really feel springy, I’m not mendacity, although I’d should seek the advice of with Jan Heine to find out if it’s really “planing.” (Planing is the luminiferous aether of biking, Heine’s claims that he has confirmed its existence however.) By the way in which, talking of ti-crabium, Basic Cycle has one other specimen from Seven:
I at all times used to suppose to myself, “It certain looks like there are some fucked-up Sevens rolling round on the market,” and it seems I wasn’t imagining issues:
The used market can be typically awash with Sevens sporting heliotropic cockpits that seem like they’re making an attempt to achieve the solar, and that have been presumably ordered by individuals who have been both unwilling or unable to come back to phrases with the truth that they’d be much more comfy on a inventory Rivendell:
Some individuals suppose Rivendells are costly, however they’re a hell of so much cheaper than a customized denial bike and an entire Assos wardrobe–and classier besides.
Talking of spring, it’s Classics Season, and as soon as once more I completely missed Paris-Roubaix. It’s not that I don’t need to observe it; it’s simply that on a Sunday morning I can both watch individuals experience bikes, or I can go experience a motorbike myself, and given a alternative I’ll at all times go for the latter. Nevertheless, I did watch some highlights after I acquired again from my experience, a lot to the consternation of my TV’s voice search operate:
In the meantime, as my brother informs me, Ben Stiller presumably managed to catch the entire thing:
Ben Stiller has like 5 million followers on Twitter, and about 50 individuals (at the very least at press time) appreciated that tweet, which means roughly .001% of his followers have any thought what he’s speaking about–both that, or plenty of them do, however they’ve a difficulty with Phil Liggett. Regardless, whereas he was seen across the Tour de France within the Armstrong days…
…so have been plenty of different well-known individuals, however not like them he clearly he stays a fan of the game:
As for whether or not he rides too (non-cycling biking followers are extremely uncommon right here in Mexico’s pompadour), I do not know, although he’s advised at the very least one amusing anecdote about using bikes on discuss exhibits over time:
To not learn an excessive amount of into amusing discuss present anecdotes, however his expertise superbly illustrates how unappealing “critical” cyclists could make using bikes appear to regular individuals, who both conclude that that is an exercise for lunatics and by no means do it once more, or else comply with a fraught path that ends with their ordering a customized Seven with the geometry of a constructing scaffolding.
As for Lance Armstrong, he’s nonetheless as modest as ever:
Actually, some of the polarizing figures on this planet? In 2024?!? Yeah I don’t suppose so. I’m fairly certain if you happen to stopped individuals at random on the road and requested them who they suppose essentially the most polarizing individual on this planet is, most of them would title a bunch of different individuals, after which while you requested, “What about Lance Armstrong?,’ they’d reply, “Who? You imply the bike man? I dunno, weren’t all of them dishonest anyway?,” and stroll away.
As for who is polarizing in 2024, I refuse to call any names, as a result of it’s too polarizing. As a substitute, I select to proceed to distract myself with the comings and goings of celebrities, as a result of that’s the American manner. For instance, a reader informs me you could now by this Budnitz:
And it’s not simply any Budnitz. It’s Rosie O’Donnell’s Budnitz!
Presumably it was present in a storage subsequent to Jon Voight’s automobile:
By the way, in accordance with a current survey, the politically outspoken Jon Voight is roughly 6% extra polarizing than Lance Armstrong, although each share the identical full lack of title recognition for anyone underneath 30.
Alas, the vendor apparently lacks the paperwork to show the Budnitz’s provenance, although one wonders what kind of paperwork one might probably get hold of in that regard; like, is there a company that authenticates stuff owned by Rosie O’Donnell, just like the American Kennel Membership points pedigrees? Additionally, is there somebody so intent on proudly owning Rosie O’Donnell’s Budnitz that they’d insist on seeing the papers that show it? I even tried to confirm the vendor’s declare myself, however alas, a fast search of The Web reveals no photos of Rosie O’Donnell astride a Budnitz, and in reality the one bike you will discover her on or close to that’s not a Harley-Davidson is that this…factor:
In any occasion, it’d be uncertain that mere possession of a Budnitz–or another bicycle for that matter–by Rosie O’Donnell can be enough to expedite its sale; in any case, O’Donnell is barely a fraction as polarizing as individuals like Lance Armstrong and Jon Voight, who themselves are solely reasonably polarizing. I imply, if the vendor had the Budnitz that David Byrne rode to the Met Gala, full with authenticating papers and even perhaps his white Nehru jacket, that will be one thing else solely:
As an artifact, that’s proper up there with the gold Colnago that Ernesto gave to the Pope:
[Ernesto Colnago explaining to Pope John Paul II that while from a mechanical standpoint there’s nothing stopping him from converting the bike into a fixed-gear, to do so would be blasphemy and may he rot in Hell.]
As for the used Budnitz market normally, right here’s what it appears like:
That’s a hefty price ticket for a motorbike not owned by Rosie O’Donnell. Additionally, there’s not realizing that what you actually need is a Rivendell and ordering a customized Seven, after which there’s not realizing that what your actually need is a Rivendell and ordering a steampunk belt drive disc brake Budnitz, and I’d argue there’s extra dignity in ordering the Seven. (Although that’s like saying KFC is more healthy than Popeye’s. I imply it would technically be true, however does it actually matter?)
Lastly, I should be spending an excessive amount of time searching the classifieds, as a result of I’m beginning to get notifications like this:
Good bike. You inform me it as soon as belonged to Emilio Estevez and present me papers to show it and also you’ve acquired your self a deal.