Rebuilt the Grant Peterson Merckx, took it for a test ride today.
that is frustratingly handsome
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Love it.
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Tarck is about repurposing Merckx into practical city bikes
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I’ve got one sitting in my storage unit. My dad’s old bike that my mom bought him right after they got married. It would be a rad basket bike but I’m afraid of being disrespectful to it. My dad rode the shit out of it and it’s got scars already. Maybe one day I’ll get over it and give it another life.
Not riding a bike is disrespect
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I want to expand on this
Back in like 07/08 or something I bought a Schwinn paramount with 7400 bits. It was light and pretty and I loved it. I started taking it places and locking it up and it was noticed by people and I started to get anxious that it was “too nice” to ride. So I bought a (same year, same general parts spec) Schwinn tempo. I loved riding that bike and matching colorful parts and then I moved on to other bikes and put the paramount aside, gathering dust in my basement. I’m not sure when I realized - maybe it was when I put down a deposit for an Eric Estlund bike? Idk but it was like - I’m good enough to ride this bike and I don’t care if it gets used up because it’s there for me to use. So I have it now and I’ve built it a couple different ways. And I’m planning on building it up again!
Anyhoo
Ride the bike
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or hang that bike up in your living room and never ride it again.
bikes aint shit.
Respect - don’t ride!
bikes are things. things don’t care what you do with em.
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Don’t put any bags on it. Build it up with 105 and a used set of rim brake carbon jobs and only ride it in the dry as hard as you can around Mercer.
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mercer island not mercer mess, I’m assuming.
i firmly believe in this philosophy. i bought this stuff to use it. I’m not going to abuse it but I’m not going to worry about little stuff.
there are literally people who won’t ski on anything but a pristine slope because they’re worried about their skis. skis are like the cheapest part of skiing!
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I’ve actually got a 10s chorus set that could go on it. Would need wheels and to have the rear end respaced to 130 (I know I could get by with the 126, but I’d rather do it right).
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Lowball these folks and you’re there.
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I’m far from a dremel and stickers guy but I’m not too precious with my bikes beyond not locking up outdoors and not leaning the frames on stuff.
If I ended up with an NJS or fancy French rando bike maybe I would be.
ATMO Bikes should be personalized and ridden hard, but revertible with component swaps back to their original spec.
I converted a NJS skeleton to use regular track hubs and glad to have done so. outside of historically significant bikes or holistically designed customs, the modularity and adaptability of bikes is a strength
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you don’t lock up outdoors? what do you do at the grocery store?
Yesterday I walked the bike with me inside. I usually just walk to the store though.
I once left my Rick Jones leaning against a store window on 6th Ave in midtown while I went in to buy an item, because I had forgotten my lock. Like going to a store shelf in a fairly large store, grabbing item, going to register and paying then hoping bike was still outside.