Articulating the Bike Beautiful

Camberwell, on the denmark hill junction next to camberwell green.

I also saw this outside brixton station a while ago. I LOVE it:

Look out for the supertype seatpost over-inserted, the reversed bullhorns, the pointless top tube protector.

I love the colour. Love it to pieces. I want this bike so much. I'm going to buy some moustache bars for mine as soon as I have the money!

see? come on, come on, roll up, roll up. This ain't the "anti-porn" or "porn" thread, you can't just say "wow" or "urgghh".... name the look dudes and dudettes..I mean how the frick do we start classifying that coffee and cream masterpiece?

that's... that's just brilliant, a combination of track bike and town bike, sheer class.

Camberwell, on the denmark hill junction next to camberwell green.

I also saw this outside brixton station a while ago. I LOVE it:

Look out for the supertype seatpost over-inserted, the reversed bullhorns, the pointless top tube protector.

I love the colour. Love it to pieces. I want this bike so much. I'm going to buy some moustache bars for mine as soon as I have the money!

Yeah, love the frame colour. I like those kind of old fashioned primary colours, remind me of 1950s british cars.

it look more like wartime bike, but faster.

the frame kind of reminds me of an old post office bike, have been thinking of getting hold of an old post bike and doing it up fixed, just for the fun of it.

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Am not sure it's the gentlemanly thing to do posting a pic of your own bike? But this is my first fixed effort. It started like as a 1970s Bianchi, it now has a chain and has been ridden several times. am waiting on a smaller rear cog at the moment. Not sure what catogary it would fit in? have used as many of the original parts as poss.

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This is how it looked when purchased off ebay.

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you'll make pajamas angry with the thread hijak

Back on line: I think mines Neo-Classicist too

pajamas, neo-classicist is ringing uncomfortable bells for me... care to elaborate? i hope you don't have corinthian fluting on your headtube...?!

well first off it's a bit tongue in cheek to get us started - but previous meaning shouldn't necessarily encroach on meaning here. For a start, the history of the bicycle doesn't stretch back as far as most art, nor are the terms robust. For example, I could see Sano's new frame as an example, perhaps, of structuralism - in that (if I've got it right) it has stripped and allowed to oxidise a little, then clearcoated - but I wouldn't call the bike that as it's a low pro and a trick bike with a hint of stealth too and maybe Sano has ideas about what aesthetic he was going for himself...

we could call the coffee and cream bike above an exercise in postmodernism but it wouldn't be necessarily explain the owner's intentions nor would it be a succinct and catch-all term...

Back on line: I think mines Neo-Classicist too

I think you might be right P!MP - despite the awesome clearances (it doesn't matter if it's a road, tourer or track build) it is a respectful updating of what could be cited as the "classic" frame and wheelset.

In the heat of the moment I wrongly ordered tubular rims and a fixed/fixed hub, I actually wanted 700 rims and a flip flop, but after spending the cash and making the mistake I couldn't afford to spend again. Am really glad I didnt as I am lovin the look of it. Retained the original pedals, cranks and 54 tooth sprocket. I cut the drops as the were really rusty at the ends, used the old ITM stem as well. It rides really smooth and the old lugged steel frame really soaks up the bumps in the road. Not sure on the aero lever though? Time will tell.

i can see where your coming from pj's, mine as you know is a 70's english track frame, shot-blasted, then clear coated. but i'm running goldtecs, king headset, sugino 75's, an old nitto stem, DA seat post and a stripped SLR, so mine is ne(o/w) classicist??? if there is such a thing
just an old solid frame, with new sealed parts that are gonna last, no HHSB at all

*"no HHSB at al*l"
Maybe not in your eyes, old bean . . . A neo-classic HHSB?

We could stretch the taxonomy to "Constructivist".

Camberwell, on the denmark hill junction next to camberwell green.

I also saw this outside brixton station a while ago. I LOVE it:

Look out for the supertype seatpost over-inserted, the reversed bullhorns, the pointless top tube protector.

I love the colour. Love it to pieces. I want this bike so much. I'm going to buy some moustache bars for mine as soon as I have the money!

Yeah i've seen this before, he's been into my shop a couple of times. Is running a 'magic gear' as it has vertical dropouts! But yeah, really like it...to be honest, it gave me a fair amount of inspiration for my recent raleigh build...

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Am not sure it's the gentlemanly thing to do posting a pic of your own bike? But this is my first fixed effort. It started like as a 1970s Bianchi, it now has a chain and has been ridden several times. am waiting on a smaller rear cog at the moment. Not sure what catogary it would fit in? have used as many of the original parts as poss.

slack chain - kinda

nice though

Yeah i've seen this before, he's been into my shop a couple of times. Is running a 'magic gear' as it has vertical dropouts! But yeah, really like it...to be honest, it gave me a fair amount of inspiration for my recent raleigh build...

i'd really like to see this with the bars flipped. so they would have a drop, while still pointing backwards. if you know what i mean...

Yeah, i did actually try flipping the bars, but it was just a bit too silly! This was built as my 'comfy' bike anyway.

i like this thread. sort of moves on the one about the "london look"

don't forget us kids that have proper oldskool track bikes. i like seeing classic bikes in london with all the right bits... it' sexy.

my new build is a lo-pro that's more modern and a bit more techy. bit of carbon, brighter colours, more hard lines. not hhsb in any way though.

alex that raleigh owns. dura ace hubs are beautiful, don't know why i see so few of them. maybe its the unsealed bearings? can those be swapped for sealed?

na, they do come with a seal thing to cover the bearings, but loose balls.

Yeah pajamas, a good thread to get going. My build is starting to look like being all black as i can't think of a better frame colour to go with all the black components I have (any suggestions welcomed!) but does just being all black make it a stealth bike? If so is stealth now looking try-hard in a bad way? I liked the idea of a black bike as being maybe a bit more low key but i guess it could end up looking the opposite....

As for categories, I think they're always going to be pretty fluid, but with overall discernible trends...btw I'm writing this from an austria train station that has wifi - kind of disorientating...

Yeah, i do like the look of the dura-ace hubs...but, with them being loose ball they're never gonna be as durable as sealed bearing hubs...well, on the road at least. So, a good hub service every now and then is essential, but a lot of people want something they can almost forget about!

I've actually made a couple of changes to the Raleigh since the pics, to make it slightly more in keeping with the frame's age (1973). So it now has a chromed, lugged stem and older, fluted Campag pista cranks. I recently picked up some NJS suntour superbe hubs, the older type with cutouts in the flanges. Thinking i might re-lace the wheels onto those. Bit more classic looking :)