Yesterday I put the ‘Nonerini up for public sale:
And I’m happy to announce it appears to be like like we’ve obtained a winner!
I can solely think about how a lot cash we might have raised had I auctioned off one thing extra unique, just like the Normcore Bike:
Nonetheless that gained’t be taking place very quickly, as this bike is a priceless piece of velocipedal historical past.
Talking of which, like every bike dork I’ve at all times obtained one eye open for attention-grabbing bikes once I’m strolling across the metropolis, and not too long ago this setup caught my eye:
Within the post-integrated shifting period individuals with outdated bikes will typically go to nice lengths to get their gear controls within the neighborhood of their brake levers with out making a pricey funding in STI or its varied equivalents, and the above is an efficient instance. Whereas I recognize all types of various shifter, I admit I desire mine within the extra canonical places, and as such I’ve by no means been taken with choices like these from Gevenalle:
I get it, I applaud it, it’s an amazing various to pricey and proprietary built-in levers, however I admit I merely can’t get previous the aesthetics, and when you notice it appears to be like like some kind of unhappy robot-insect trying up at you plaintively you merely can’t unsee it.
I really feel the identical method concerning the IRD Energy Ratchet:
Once more, it’s a improbable various to one thing that locks you right into a devoted drivetrain and I’m all in favor of it, however I’m additionally a shallow and self-conscious particular person and lack the arrogance to equip my bike with a brake lever that appears prefer it has a windshield wiper.
I used to be fascinated about all this as I contemplated this specific shifter in addition to the stent that ran below its raggedy bar tape, and I puzzled why in the event that they wished extra handy shifting they didn’t simply use bar finish shifters as a substitute:
They’re clean-looking, they’re simple to succeed in, they usually don’t require working cable all the best way up the bar. So why use these items as a substitute?
Then I figured it out:
Positive, they could not take bar-end shifters, however an underappreciated benefit of the Scott Drop-In bar is that while you yoke your bike to a pole by the stem it’s that a lot more durable to take away the bar to steal the bike:
Except after all the thief merely removes the quill stem, by which case the bike is theirs in a matter of seconds. However at this time’s thieves in all probability don’t even know what a quill stem is, and in reality I’m fairly sure that nowadays they’re solely taken with e-bikes anyway.
Additionally, it’s no worse than locking your bike to the leg of a mailbox, which is how my very own bike obtained stolen again once I labored as a motorcycle messenger:
Both the field wasn’t bolted to the bottom, or else any person unbolted it whereas I used to be inside, however both method once I got here out my Cannondale was gone. Regardless, as a proud member of the Bonded Trek Siblinghood, I hoped this bicycle didn’t meet with the identical destiny:
Plus, the bike sported not solely the mighty Altus rear derailleur, but additionally my favourite chainstay protector of all time:
See?
There isn’t any design higher than perform particular design.
