Questionaire - Customization and Personalization

I'm just doing some research for my Uni 3rd year minor project.

The research is to be used to help me design a system of furniture construction.

I'm looking at how I can give a personal value to furniture.

Seen as many peoples fixed gear bikes are quite personal to them, I'm interested on what makes that so.

If you could take 5 mins to answers a few questions I'd be very grateful.

Thanks, Sammy

1. Is you bike custom built or 'off the peg'?

2. If OTP, how have you made the bike your own?
   If custom, what makes the bike special to you?

3. How important are your bikes aesthetics to you and why?

4. Have you ever switched perfectly good parts for something else and for what reason?

5. If you could change anything about your bike what would it be?

6. Any other thoughts?

Thanks again.

1. it's custom built, but for someone else over 20 years ago - when I bought the frame it was hanging from a peg, I fell in love and spent my rent money on it
   
   

2 I love the colour, the fact that it's special - only 5 frames like it were ever made (apparently)

1. They are important, if you love bikes you love everything about them not just how fast they go but how they make you feel. The way the chrome sparkles, the way everything says Campagnolo or Cinelli on it, the fact that I got my bartape the right shade of blue and the fact that the tyre stickers line up just right with the rim stickers, (which I am not removing, for they have the word Campagnolo on them) it's more than wanting to show off my bike, which I dont mind admitting, I feel reassured that I found parts made over 50 years ago which look brand new and still have a purpose today.

2. Yes if I found a better quality or rarer part and could sell on the part I was replacing.

5 I would buy some Veloflex Master tyres in blue for it. As it's a track bike which I ride on the street, it's also brakeless, so might be fitting a clamp on brake and a different front wheel with braking surface.

1. Custom built by me and a friend.

2. Not having manufacturers' names all over it, 2nd hand frame handed down from friend so has history, first custom built bike.

3. Fairly important. Everything on it is black or unpainted metal. I like bikes to look like bikes and I like objects to be unassuming and simple, but well designed. Wear and tear therefore normally adds to the character rather than looking shoddy.

4. No. I have considered it, but I prefer to consume and spend as little as possible so I only buy things for my bike if I need them.

5. I would like the frame resprayed and the forks are eeeeever so slightly bent from a crash so I'd like them put back by however many micro/millimetres they're out by. And I'd like to remove the logos from the few parts that have one so nothing is traceable back to any manufacturers.

6. Rarity, branding and trendy trinkets (such as coloured chains etc.) aren't important to me. I like knowing that my bike is unique and that each part on it has been carefully considered. In some ways, lack of identification is as much a status symbol as gaudy branding. But the only people who notice are those who know what real quality is.

1. Totally custom built by me.

2. It not a very common frame and having all the components of my choice makes it entirely individual.

3. Fairly important. I spent quite a while thinking about colour ways. The great thing about bikes is that all the best quality parts are also very pretty.

4. Yes. Both for change of riding position and colour.

5. New cranks (75's) and some zero rake forks for bar spins.

6. Anyone can build a custom bike. Not everyone gets it right. Once you build your own, you will never buy OTP again.

this is great guys, keep them coming. Thanks

I'm just doing some research for my Uni 3rd year minor project.

1. Is you bike custom built or 'off the peg'?

2. If OTP, how have you made the bike your own?
   If custom, what makes the bike special to you?

3. How important are your bikes aesthetics to you and why?

4. Have you ever switched perfectly good parts for something else and for what reason?

5. If you could change anything about your bike what would it be?

6. Any other thoughts?

Custom, in that it was donated to me when a friend left the country
Not changed anything other than adding pedals
Don't care at all how it looks, provided it works
Nope
Would like to change the rear hub, as it's been grinding like a bitch for 2 months, but can't be arsed to do anything about it until it fully fails on me

1. Is you bike custom built or 'off the peg'?
   Custom
   
2. If OTP, how have you made the bike your own?
   If custom, what makes the bike special to you?
   My own build - no stickers plastered over it.. unique and a sturdy bitch
   
3. How important are your bikes aesthetics to you and why?
   I don't want a dog of a bike but a-b is more important that uber bike porn
   
4. Have you ever switched perfectly good parts for something else and for what reason?
   Naaaah
   
5. If you could change anything about your bike what would it be?
   newer frame for better wheel clearance
   
6. Any other thoughts?
   I <3 my fixie even if nobody else does
   

1 OTP. Needed to see if I liked riding fixed before spending time and money. Will build a custom bike at some point.
2 Changed drops for bull bars - more comfortable
Changed stem for 10 degree drop - have long monkey arms
Changed pedals to egg beaters - all my bikes have these
3 Aesthetics are less important than comfort, but I wouldn't hesitate to re-spray or replace a functional part for another, more visually pleasing one.
4 All changes were for comfort and practicality. Parts in my garage just in case.
5 Change wheels for some lighter, stronger ones. Nothing wrong with current wheels.
6 Riding fixed is a disease. The cure is more bikes.

1. Is you bike custom built or 'off the peg'?

2. If OTP, how have you made the bike your own?
   If custom, what makes the bike special to you?

3. How important are your bikes aesthetics to you and why?

4. Have you ever switched perfectly good parts for something else and for what reason?

5. If you could change anything about your bike what would it be?

6. Any other thoughts?

1. Custom built by me.
   
   

2n/a

1. aesthetics are important to me in general, and I put a fair bit of money into my bike I want it to look like it.

2. only when I wanted different performance aspects.

3. Less chips off the paint.

1. Custom built by me.
   
   
   

1) Have you badged it?

2) If so, which combination of the letters in your name did you use?

3) Is it the same on each side of the frame?

1. Is you bike custom built or 'off the peg'?
[INDENT] It's (I assume) an OTP frame, but I'm the third owner (at least) and it's been through a number of guises during its 30-summat years.
[/INDENT]* 2. If OTP, how have you made the bike your own?

If custom, what makes the bike special to you?*

[INDENT] Hmm. It's special because it was my first "nice" road bike. First one I "fixed" too.
[/INDENT]* 3. How important are your bikes aesthetics to you and why?*
[INDENT] It's got to look like a bike, not a fashion accessory. Whilst I can appreciate a pristine set-up, form is nothing without function.
[/INDENT] * 4. Have you ever switched perfectly good parts for something else and for what reason?*
[INDENT] Often, normally for a change in function.
[/INDENT] * 5. If you could change anything about your bike what would it be?*
[INDENT] Un-seize the seatpost.
[/INDENT]* 6. Any other thoughts?*

5. If you could change anything about your bike what would it be?
[INDENT]Un-seize the seatpost.

[/INDENT]

Furniture?

How was your sofa locked? How long did you leave it for? Have a look down Brick Lane market on Sunday.

1. custom

2. my wife would kill me if it was stolen

3. i don't have the time to ride them, so they must look good in the kitchen or my wife will put them outside for the dustmen

4. snobbery and fanboyism

5. everything i can find on ebay as long as my credit cards are not cut in half

6. yes, i mean it depends if i'm being a maniac or depressed

1. Is you bike custom built or 'off the peg'?
   Custom, well restored by me from a rusting wreck pulled from someones garden.

2. If custom, what makes the bike special to you?
   The fact that I put alot of time and effort into resurrecting something that had been abandoned and that it is unique. Both these things help make the bike feel that it is "mine".

3. How important are your bikes aesthetics to you and why?
   I will try to pay attention to the bikes aesthetics but due to lack of money I sometimes have to compromise. I have an idea in my mind of how I want it to look but it also needs to work properly and fit me right.

4. Have you ever switched perfectly good parts for something else and for what reason? I switched from drops to riser handlebars because I prefer using them and I do like the look of them more.

5. If you could change anything about your bike what would it be?
   At the moment I just want to replace things for practical reasons, get some decent pedals with foot retention, a brake that works and a front tyre as mine has a split forming in the sidewall :-(

6. Any other thoughts?
   For me my bike is special because I've spent time and effort on it myself, I don't think I could feel as close to a bike that had been built by picking parts from a shop and having them put it together.

i have a sad story.
about 3 years ago i went to my local auction house on market day just to check it out.
lo and behold, there was a raleigh randonneur up for sale, worn but in very good condition.
this was their top of line tourer, £700+ back in the 80's, its the one with 2 spare spokes on the chainstay........... i could not believe my luck when i got it for £28...... hardly anyone else bid, they were all after crappy "mountain bikes ".
so i took my purchase home and had it in my workshop to check it over. it was worn, groves in the crank arms from shoe wear told me that it had done a lot, a lot of miles but it was in remarkably good service, loads of grease and nearly new bearings in the bb, headset smooth as butter, the only rust was under the cables where they had been rubbing. shimano 105 kit throughout, all in good service....... £28 ??????????
it turns out that the guy who had it died and his wife put it up for auction without really knowing its value, hence no reserve......i contacted her and explained the situation, offered her a reasonable amount, but she would not have it, especially if i was going to ride it, something to do with her hubbies memory, shit, i have not changed the bike since, just kept it as he did and replaced worn out stuff, i have done over 10000 miles on it, grooves in cranks are still there. its my favorite ride and i was going to rebuild it all and respray, until i found out its history.
its the first bike i have had that means anything to me.

That's a happy story I think.

not for the guy who originally owned the bike, i think about him every time i ride it.

The death part is bad. But if that was me and I had bought the bike I would feel happy every time I rode it because surely that's what the old boy would've wanted.

yeah, i know that and i treat the bike with that kind of respect,..... still feel guilty....£28 !!!!!!!

1. Is you bike custom built or 'off the peg'?
   Custom.

2. If OTP, how have you made the bike your own?
   If custom, what makes the bike special to you?
   First proper 'project'. Loved learning about the bike and really understanding it. Also, it works.....a feat for me.

3. How important are your bikes aesthetics to you and why?
   Very. Aside from being stunning pieces of machinery, it's more of how it fits aesthetically into my life. They make me fitter, more independent, they save me money, time and the save the environment. They are well buff too though. :)

4. Have you ever switched perfectly good parts for something else and for what reason?
   Yes. That's what i did with my current bike. I bought it off eBay - it had been done up to the hills with a Dura-Ace group set, 3T bars and stem, Raliegh Special Products saddle etc but i stripped it to make it fixed. The reasons are obvious.

5. If you could change anything about your bike what would it be?
   Hmmm, colour? However each day it grows more and more on me. Orange-to-yellow fade Graham Weigh.

6. Any other thoughts?
   hmmmm, none.

1. Mine is Custom Built

2. Special because its my first project... changing things here and there every once in a while and not just a generic otp

3. I like my bike to look good because i love people saying its bad ass. but whatever really

4. ive switched out every piece off my original bicycle frame... 1 to make it a fixed gear. 2 to make it match color wise (black) 3 nicer saddle 4 general upgrades

5. haha i could go on and on and on on what i would want. money is an issue... but my next thing that i would get it a proper rear wheel with a thread for a lock ring... currently running a suicide hub with a bb lockring

6. i think buying OTP is cheating...

1. If OTP, how have you made the bike your own?
   If custom, what makes the bike special to you?
   i have one OTP Unipak - ive turned into a beater and replaced the bb and crank and chain.
   And i am about to recieve my project bike:-) - nothing yet, but im in love with it already and its not even born.

2. How important are your bikes aesthetics to you and why?
   Unipaks suck. I hate that it looks like a Unipak cause its a unipak. My new one will NOT look one. I love a pretty bike, it makes me ggggghappy! I love seeing beautiful looking bike. Unipaks look good if you dont know, and form here follows function.

3. Have you ever switched perfectly good parts for something else and for what reason?
   No, not yet. When the new (old 70s bike) bike arrives, maybe.

4. If you could change anything about your bike what would it be?
   Everything;-)

5. Any other thoughts?
   There is nothing wrong with wanting a beautiful bike cause it has function. Most bikes will do the job perfectly, why not have something that does it with style. Your style.

1. Custom built by Himalayan midgets using 3000 year old welding techniques.

2. It has my name on it in 18" yellow letters.

3. I like things to be pretty and atractive, especially 19 year old boys.

4. I once switched the meat for tofu in a recipe, one of my cuntier guests was a vegetarian.

5. I would have bought the right size frame, my back is now permy hurting. I never knew bikes needed to fit, I just bought the one that looked best.

6. Some.