Generally on a Sunday morning there’s nothing higher than old school highway trip…
…on old school highway bike:
It’s my present “What, this previous factor?” bike:
As a former semi-professional bike blogger who was related for a couple of months within the early aughts, I’ve an nearly grotesque number of bicycles from which to decide on; as such, I hardly ever trip the identical bicycle two days in a row. The truth is, whereas I’d by no means say so publicly, I discover the concept of using the identical bicycle two or extra instances in succession to be reasonably déclassé if not downright vulgar, like carrying post-Walton Rapha and using a Canyon with a pie plate:
[I mean I’m sort of kidding, anyway.]
On this explicit weekend nonetheless I rode the Faggin no fewer than thrice in a row–that’s Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. (Sure, I contemplate Friday the weekend; engaged on Friday can also be déclassé.) I’ve no rationalization for why this was, aside from that typically I benefit from the thrum of a 23mm tire and the texture of a Campagnolo Ergo shifter underneath my thumb, and on this explicit case it was sufficient to maintain me coming again for extra. And sure, by not licensing “Below My Thumb” by The Rolling Stones and interesting Mick Jagger as a spokesman, Campagnolo missed out on what may have been an exceptional advertising and marketing coup for its thumb-centric Ergo shifters:
Positive, it could have value them like a gazillion {dollars}, however maybe in the event that they’d dug deep they’d be nonetheless be the preeminent drivetrain producer as an alternative of only a legacy model. Maybe SRAM would have countered by leveraging the “I contact you as soon as, I contact you twice…” line from Orchestral Manoeuvres within the Darkish’s 1986 hit “If You Depart” with the intention to promote their DoubleTap® know-how, however it could by no means have had the identical influence:
But right here we’re in 2025 and SRAM (to say nothing of Shimano) is consuming Campagnolo’s pranzo:
Look, typically you gotta spend cash to earn money is all I’m saying.
Anyway, talking of highway rides, this previous Friday I discussed a brand new bicycle and pedestrian bridge, and yesterday I rode my very own bicycle over that bridge for the primary time:
It was nice:
Sure, it lets you keep away from the doorway ramp to the New York State Thruway, but it surely’s brief, and for those who’re touring north as I used to be it’s a must to get throughout the roadway to entry it. Right here’s the Thruway, by the best way, and you may see the Tappan Zee Mario Cuomo Bridge within the distance:
As I gazed at it my ideas turned to the tip of summer season, for it’s this very route we’ll take once we head off on our annual end-of-summer trip. This after all raises the profound and vexing “Which bike do I take with me?” query, and it’s maybe the one time in the midst of the 12 months after I interact in something resembling soul-searching or introspection. And naturally since I used to be on a three-day Faggin jag I discovered myself questioning if I ought to simply convey ol’ Pinky this time:
The thin tires and racy gearing would take sure routes off the desk, however hey, you by no means know.
Talking of introspection, have you ever ever yearned to see the internal workings of an e-Citi Bike? Properly, because of the stolen Citi Bike graveyard that’s Yonkers, now you may!
Fascinating.
