Commute compute

Opinion, whether backed by fact, is not the raw and unbiased truth. These thoughts come to me on my morning commute to the shop I am currently employed by. There are many good people in the world. Emotionally well adjusted. They don't all happen to ride bikes, but many do. More for recreation or strict utility perhaps than glossy bullshit big fake smile racer types. Change fuels thought and the enzyme to speed this process is emotion. Some people are scum. Most of this filth resides on the inside. Like an improperly lubricated drivetrain, filth, oils and grit lead to an eventual dry and barren landscape, squeaking like a rabid animal, a wild flock of birds. Nature? Nurture? perhaps both. So why so serious? I couldn't tell you. So this amounts to what? Perhaps a lie can only be based on the context of a situation. Perhaps outside of capitalism, sales and industry, what was told to a consumer about a bike would be truth in its purest form. But then there would be no speedy advancement. We are all tainted by the systems and images and people we interact with. The ties that bind us.

Steal is real, Aluminum is fake, Carbon is reconstituted barbie dolls

The last post bordered on the 'emo/trying to hard/overexplaining/i am hip read this' edge. Just about to topple into bullshit. But without analyzing one's mistakes, how can we evolve? Now for an opinion that no one should really care about and holds no real weight. After several years in the industry racing, working for a frame builder, as a mechanic, and more recently doing sales, I have had the opportunity to peruse, examine, ride and comment/compliment or putdown/bash many a frame and material. Why is steel real? Is it because the moniker rhymes? Not that i don't believe this. In my own whole hearted opinion steel is the most beautiful and organic frame material. Easily worked, a craftsman's choice.
Metallurgically it does not have some of the benefits that some of the newer frame materials geared towards the racing world have. With aluminum there is increased stiffness and weight and with the carbon both the former and also the added benefit of zero fatigue life. Although with these gains, come losses, and all of this can be argued and also depends on the quality level of each of the given three. Aluminum corrodes when it comes into contact with salt and h2o, which can lead to catastrophic failure. Carbon on the other hand cannot handle the impact of a direct hit, which often happens in a crash. For people who race, and are constantly going through new bikes every season or two, this may be irrelevant. But for the weekend warrior, average group or club rider, and the commuter who is on a budget, this matters. When it's not about how fast your going, but the enjoyment of getting there, and doing it in classic style, this becomes real.
Perhaps steel is dubbed with the 'realness' title because it lasts, and can be be repaired. Or because of its ability to lend itself to to the underground companies with their small batch, quality over quantity fuck your carbon bikes and techno yuppie race gear mentality, such as the folks of Rivendell bikes. This simplistic mentality has more recently been adopted by the neo-retro, keep it simple and technologically acceptable, urban hipster movement. But isn't it also true that so many of these race bike companies with the glossy ads, nascar color schemes, douche bag reps and asshole race shop owners who want to sell sell sell their crap to the doctor and lawyer type are just that, fake. While many a small steel frame builder toils away at his or her chosen art fully well knowing that monetary gain is nowhere in sight. Maybe this what makes it all the more real. Makes you wonder.

Welcome to Cycling New Speak Fast Talk

With a groan at the realization of my hipocrisy, and a nod to the boredom of winter with its demotivating weather patterns, I write this first post. From here I enter the suffocating realm of cycling bloggerdom, like a rise in high school social status. As a BMX enthralled youth turned man/boy, turned single track devouring meathead, and fixed gear fanatic I can hold it in no longer. I spend so much wasted or otherwise 'free' time looking at what others have to say. Enjoying and lamenting on both positive and negative or value neutral or whatever else, it became time for me to get 'hip' with my contemporaries and offer my two cent piece. Throw it right into the well of over loaded opinion and disinformation.