A Good Helping of Current Classics

It's much safer to stay out of the post-Thanksgiving retail scrum and enjoy some great looking bicycles. Between gorgeous images of pre-fall mountain bike vistas and the details of resurrections and renovations which are contained within this batch, my hope is that you'll find some enjoyment and respite from the pending holiday craziness.


Eric Bagdonas' Miyata Ninety Mixte

Mixtes seem to be enjoying a bit of quiet resurgence.  Appearing in  more advertisements and articles to be sure, but it does seem as though I'm seeing them more frequently on my commute and locked up around town as they quietly go about their day being useful and stylish. 

Starting with a well-rendered Miyata mixte frame, Eric has created a sure-footed, weather-resistant bicycle for real world use on the streets of Portland, OR. It's funny to consider how many features I would have poo-poo-ed a decade or so ago - basket, fenders, IGH (Internally Geared Hubset)... indeed, the very notion of a "drop-bar" bicycle itself.  But, now, there it is, with just enough glimmer and glint from the silver fenders to catch your attention as it goes about its way each day.

New Entries to the Current Classics Gallery - 
#817 - Bob Hague's Motobecane Grant Touring
#818 - Justin Becker's Rodriguez Tandem
#819 - Kevin Mulcahy's ALAN Guerciotti CX/Road
#820 - Tris' Fort Touring Audax
#821 - Michael Kullman's Surly Karate Monkey
#822 - Don Genovese's Rivendell LongLow
#823 - Nick Roth's Raleigh Commuter
#824 - Mauricio Orantes' Trek 1500
#825 - Eric Bagdonas' Miyata Ninety Mixte

Current Classics Update: Lucky Seven on the Seventh

It's really gratifying when the randomness of submissions line up with the tenets of the Cyclofiend.com galleries.  Back in 2005 (the waning dour days of dialup?) when these Galleries started coming together, one of the ideas was to highlight the really well designed but reasonably unappreciated bicycle frames which seemed to be fading from people's perception.

While I certainly love the continued expansion of new builders who understand that the strength of a bicycle design stems from its simplicity, I've always said that reinvigorating an older model was an honorable task.  The bicycle which landed at the Milestone spot of 800 seems to epitomize that.

Current Classics #800 - Mike Hauptman's Trek 614
Mike has taken a really nice frame design from probably the golden age of Trek steel and set it up with the parts and accessories which really compliment it.

From the superb coverage of the Honjo fenders to the classic art nouveau of the font on the seat tube, it's classy and useful, yet Mike's not afraid to use the shifting system he prefers.  Best of both worlds and a wonderful addition to the gallery!

Updates to the Current Classics Bicycle Gallery

#798 - Rudolph Luciani's Dave Moulton FUSO FR-1
#799 - Byron Kerr's Surly Long Haul Trucker
#800 - Mike Hauptman's Trek 614 - Milestone!
#801 - Tad Broussard's Jamis Aurora
#802 - Tad Broussard's Schwinn Tempo
#803 - Tony K's Curtlo MTB
#804 - Bob Stoltz's Rivendell Custom

The Imprecision of Identification

Back in 2005 when starting the whole Current Classics Gallery, it struck me that three genres of bicycle were underrepresented - "Current" Classics, Cyclocross and Singlespeed bicycles. (Working Bikes came along a little later.)  I figured that Singlespeeds would end up being mountain bikes for the most part and that Classics would be "road" bikes.
Certainly, the definitions have changed since then - there is little in the way of topography and surface that I wouldn't take my "road" bike onto, and more people have begun to appreciate what a simple and appropriate drivetrain can do for their enjoyment of cycling.  Nothing like getting on a bike and just pedaling to remind you of the ease and freedom of that first solo bike ride.

Ritchey Mountain Bikes occupy a certain special place for me.  It is (again) one of those bicycles I've always wanted but never owned.  (Though my Gary Fisher Montare did state that it was "Designed by Tom Ritchey").  But, back when mountain bikes were oddities, I remember crossing paths with my friend Eric.  He was zipping through town on his new Ritchey and the coolness of that bicycle cannot be overstated. Anything from the early days through the P-19's still catch my breath.

Jeromy Hewitt's Ritchey Outback

 Singlespeed Gallery #302

The Outback comes from the initial period of mountain bike design when looooong wheelbases were favored, as the design blueprint grew from the Schwinn Excelsiors and similar models which hurtled down trails in Fairfax, CA (see SeeKay's site for more info on that period).  There's something about these long frames which make them ride exceedingly smoothly and hold their lines in the sketchiest of terrain.

That also makes them one of the more stable and comfortable bikes to ride on road.  It's one of the reasons mtb's caught on so widely in places where there were no mountains.  They were - wait for it - comfortable and fun.  Like bikes are supposed to be.

And so, what we end up with here is a Classic, converted to a Singlespeed, so that it can be used in a Work Bike role...  blurring the lines between each with style.

Updates to the Singlespeed Bicycle Gallery

#301 - Joe Huddleston's Nishiki Royal
#302 - Jeromy Hewitt's Ritchey Outback
#303 - Ted Burnell's Nishiki Prestige
#304 - Michael Gibian's Zebra
#305 - Dan Artley's Surly Steamroller