Road Trip Part 2
I want to return to the road trip and talk about bikes for a while. Oregon has a lot of cyclists. Bikes are regarded as a very viable means of transportation , not something for fools and losers. It took a long time for Oregon to get where they are now as regards cycling and the struggle is far for over. Until gasoline hits $6.00 a gallon, bikes will always be downwind of a tailpipe.
There are three types of bicycles I want to talk about. All three are important to me for different reasons. Co-Motion, Vanilla, and Messenger, do these names ring any bells? I visited the homes of all three on my trip.
Co-Motion in Eugene, was first. I ride a Co-Motion, a fillet brazed Espresso, black and red with Campy. When it came time for me to graduate up to a “real bike” I looked at damn near every thing on the market. Dwan Shepard, co-owner of Co-Motion, is an old friend of mine. When I called him about a new bike all he said was “If you get a Merckx or a Colnago everyone will say cool bike. If you get a Co-Motion they’ll all say what’s that? and you’ll have to show them every weekend.” I got the Co-Motion. Why? Because I believe in friends and in work done right. I have met everyone who worked on my bike and they all thought it was a cool bike. Dwan himself did the fillet brazing. Their factory is still small and they do an excellent job.
http://www.co-motion.com/more.html
I rode with Dwan while in Eugene. I said I was going to Portland and was thinking of going to Vanilla bikes. He knew the owner, Sacha White and that an old intern of his Ben, was working there. I called Vanilla and asked if I could come visit. I was told that would be okay but they were painting the building and there was no sign. I would have to look for a red door and a washer hanging on a string. I found the building, the red door and pulled the washer on the string. someone answered the door and let me into a world of wonder. Sacha builds works of art he calls bicycles. He has an attention to detail that is seldom found this century. If you would like a Vanilla bike you’ll have to wait 22 months. If you have to ask why they are steel, you might have to wait a lot longer. He is not arrogant or aloof , he just would rather spend more time working on his art than explaining it. Something I entirely understand.
http://www.vanillabicycles.com/
Portland also home to messenger bikes. There is no real factory, they come in all shapes and colors. They may have no gears, some gears, brakes or not, cow horn bars, drop bars, straight bars, mustache bars. The fixed gear bikes are supposed to have at least one brake but it might not work. Messenger bikes are born from need. They are mostly functional but show a remarkably diverse range of personal expression. I ride one. I don’t work as a messenger but I love the concept and have an envy of the anarchy associated with the tattooed and scarred messengers.
So is there a moral to this tale? Is there some point to this ramble besides bike lust? There is indeed. Look around before you impulsively buy what the bike mags tell you you should desire. Handbuilt is always better and if you should need to drool, lusting over art is no sin. Messengers? dare to be different, don’t follow the leader, and ride. Ride alot.
There are three types of bicycles I want to talk about. All three are important to me for different reasons. Co-Motion, Vanilla, and Messenger, do these names ring any bells? I visited the homes of all three on my trip.
Co-Motion in Eugene, was first. I ride a Co-Motion, a fillet brazed Espresso, black and red with Campy. When it came time for me to graduate up to a “real bike” I looked at damn near every thing on the market. Dwan Shepard, co-owner of Co-Motion, is an old friend of mine. When I called him about a new bike all he said was “If you get a Merckx or a Colnago everyone will say cool bike. If you get a Co-Motion they’ll all say what’s that? and you’ll have to show them every weekend.” I got the Co-Motion. Why? Because I believe in friends and in work done right. I have met everyone who worked on my bike and they all thought it was a cool bike. Dwan himself did the fillet brazing. Their factory is still small and they do an excellent job.
http://www.co-motion.com/more.html
I rode with Dwan while in Eugene. I said I was going to Portland and was thinking of going to Vanilla bikes. He knew the owner, Sacha White and that an old intern of his Ben, was working there. I called Vanilla and asked if I could come visit. I was told that would be okay but they were painting the building and there was no sign. I would have to look for a red door and a washer hanging on a string. I found the building, the red door and pulled the washer on the string. someone answered the door and let me into a world of wonder. Sacha builds works of art he calls bicycles. He has an attention to detail that is seldom found this century. If you would like a Vanilla bike you’ll have to wait 22 months. If you have to ask why they are steel, you might have to wait a lot longer. He is not arrogant or aloof , he just would rather spend more time working on his art than explaining it. Something I entirely understand.
http://www.vanillabicycles.com/
Portland also home to messenger bikes. There is no real factory, they come in all shapes and colors. They may have no gears, some gears, brakes or not, cow horn bars, drop bars, straight bars, mustache bars. The fixed gear bikes are supposed to have at least one brake but it might not work. Messenger bikes are born from need. They are mostly functional but show a remarkably diverse range of personal expression. I ride one. I don’t work as a messenger but I love the concept and have an envy of the anarchy associated with the tattooed and scarred messengers.
So is there a moral to this tale? Is there some point to this ramble besides bike lust? There is indeed. Look around before you impulsively buy what the bike mags tell you you should desire. Handbuilt is always better and if you should need to drool, lusting over art is no sin. Messengers? dare to be different, don’t follow the leader, and ride. Ride alot.
posted by Speedo at 6:50 PM
1 Comments:
Amen to that Brother!
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