[rollei_list] Re: OFF-TOPIC - Bicycles
- From: Marc James Small <msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:04:37 -0400
Hmm. I'm a friend of John Forester, the fellow who wrote a number of books
and articles around 1980 which revived interest in serious bicycling.
(John is the son of CS Forester, the creator of Horatio Hornblower, but, to
my fairly certain knowledge, neither John nor his father nor, for that
matter, Horatio Hornblower ever used a Rolleiflex camera.)
A good basic bicycle has been available in the US for the past thirty years
which is light of weight, capable of rough service, and realtively easy to
use. This came about when frames started being made from aluminium alloys
instead of from steel or, in Jerry Lehrer's youth, wood. <he grins> It
took the Japanese thirty years to learn how to get the stuff right, but
Japanese gear clusters and brakes and shifters built since 1980 or so have
been first-rate. If I were seriously into bike-racing, yes, the best is
worth it, and those European fiber-frames and the like are worth the
funds, as are tube tyres and all the rest. But for simply puttering down
to the market, a solid bike can be had for not a lot of money. Get a
10-speed or better and get toe clips, but much of the rest is so much
nonsense.
I rode regularly until 1997 or so. About two years back, I dug my bike out
and inflated the tires and went off to ride it. I fell off three times,
proving that you CAN forget how to ride a bicycle! I then spent hours in
my back yard, relearning the intricacies of balance and so forth. And
then, just when I had it all in hand, my Physical Therapists told me NEVER
to ride a bike again due to my bad knee, so there it goes.
But a solid and decent bike can be had at a decent price in the US, and a
REALLY good bike can be had for a LOT of money, on par or more with the
forthcoming Leica Digital M. But the most of us would not be able to
appreciate the difference. From years in the darkroom, I do know the
difference between a Rolleiflex or a Leica and a more plebian type, but I'm
not sophisticated sufficiently in bicycles to note the differences with
increasing levels of quality. Now, for kayaks, I'm a Klepper guy, but that
is a tale for a different day.
Marc
msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!
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