Alternative point of view on paint and decals from Kogswell

[eddief]

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/KOG/message/206

[dbrk]

The difference here is what I call folks Who Go For a Ride and folks who Ride Their Bikes [Preferably Everywhere]. I wish I lived (sometimes, maybe, nahhh...) in a place (like where you live eddief) where I could abandon the car, ride year 'round, look like a homeless person with a basket and ride without cycling togs, menacing eye glasses, and be "that guy on a bike you see everywhere." Unfortunately I'm more the guy Out For a Ride, though I pretend not to be with my bikes and clothes especially.

Kogswells belong to a different ethos than what we see with Serotta. Serious about cycling has two very, very different sides to the family and a million variants of each: those bikes that ride around (Kogs, Rivs, Ebisus, ANTs etc) and those bikes that are ridden around (Serottas, Colnagos, etc).
One can be both sorts of riders and ride one bike for both and ride the one sort of bike in the other context but it's an _ethos_ not the bike as such.
I personally love Kogswells and regret mine isn't a fixie with kustard paint.

dbrk

[eddief]

sounds like an interesting character. I, too, think it would be fun to experiment with a Kogswell. Was on the verge of a P60 prior to diving into Rambouillet II. I fell for the hot paint and, what I think to be, the higher build quality of things Rivendell. My mother rolls her eyes from the grave when I consider adding a fourth bike to the small stable. Regardless, it would be fun to have Kogswell send an unpainted P60 to my house and then take it to the local body shop and say "Can you throw my frame in the paint booth with that 65 Chevy for $50 and I'll pick it up in a few days?" Bring it home, build it up and stick on some stickers.

[flydhest]

douglas,

You start down the path to a discussion that I've been having with myself for a little while. I would suggest to the forum, if you have the chance, to get a hold of the book "The Art of Urban Cycling" by Robert Hurst. I don't agree with everything he says, but it is definitely thought provoking on how and why to ride a bicycle.

I'll quibble a bit with the dichotomy you present, if only because I rode my Legend, without fenders, with Campy Record 10 speed and tubular tires to work today through downtown DC streets in the rain. Of course, I'm also a bit looney, so maybe this isn't a surprise. What I think you have spot on is the difference in ethos. I find myself shifting between mindsets almost regardless of what bike I'm on, although I do find my fixie somewhat more satisfying as an urban assault vehicle.

There is something compelling about a Kogswell that is not painted to be pretty, although painted to look nice. "Pretty" I think, is often anathema to utilitarian, while beautiful or good-looking is not. I am forever struck by other urban cyclists (I really mean utilitarian cyclists, as I would lump in people in the suburbs, x-burbs, and hinterland who use their bikes for transportation on a regular basis) who ride bikes that just plain work, even if they aren't the latest and greatest. I find attractive a matte finish, bull-horn, mix-and-match compenent bike when it, along with me, is leaving behind angry box jockeys in rush-hour traffic.

But then, on weekends, I love ogling the spanky new stuff.

Nevertheless, as time marches on, I find myself thinking of cycling as becoming a way of life because it is both recreation and transportation. Old Mill is getting an ANT fixie, if I recall correctly. I love their stuff for the urban/utilitarian setting.

In retrospect, I see I don't have much of a point, but it is a topic that I find near and dear to the heart.

[Climb01742]

got any photos of a kogswell?

during my years as a manhattan resident, some of my fav messenger bikes i saw had their main triangle wrapped with thick black electrical tape...messenger as mad max. ;)

[pale scotsman]

The tape wrap brings back memories. I had a '90 mongoose iboc pro atb frameset wrapped in babolat tennis racket head tape. Just the chainstays and main triangle btw. When I sold it I spent hours trying to get that stuff off. The babolat tape works great as a chainstay protector on atb's. That stuff is tough!

[flydhest]

http://www.kogswell.com/

There's a Kogswell fixie that lives somewhere in my neighborhood. I don't know the person and haven't been riding along at the same time to chat, but it does the heart some good.

[dirtdigger88]

Urban Cyclist

A neighbor of mine rides his bike EVERYWHERE- I am not talking like those of us on the site do- I mean EVERYWHERE. The family only has a car for emergencies- Mom, dad and three kids- doesn't matter if it is to the store or to the movies- all they do is ride. The guy runs a bicycle taxi service in the down town area- I think it is pretty cool. Talk about a difference in styles- I will seem him as I go out for a ride decked out in the latest high dollar what-ever-it-is only to pass him and his family on the way to get groceries. They have a rikshaw (sic?) a couple of recumbents- and lots of bikes that just look like beach crusier- no fancy bling- no computers- no nothing!!! But that guy- his wife and his kids ride more miles a year than most on this site me included. I am sure I have more respect for him as a cyclist than he has of me- and it most likely is deserved. That family has what i would love to be able to do. Ride every day. The rub is that it becomes a lifestyle choice. This guy is not riding the latest carbon fiber uber- bike. NO. His bikes are tools not toys- I am not sure that I would want to trade my toy in for a tool- how about you

jason

[flydhest]

dirt,

I hear you. I feel like I have found as close to a perfect tradeoff for me as can exist. My bikes end up being both tools and toys. I ride to work everyday (ugh, Monday the thermometer said 11 as I swung my leg over the bike), I often go grocery shopping on my bike, and I have done social occasions a velo, though only casual ones. However, the wife and I do own a car and we often use it for errands.

I commute on my toys and every so often take the long way home so that the tool is converted to a toy. I go for rides at lunch sometimes and so pick the commuter "tool" based on what kind of "toy" I want at lunch.

I like the fact that I often think about whether or not I can easily bike somewhere instead of other transport, but I am happy to say that I control my cycling, not the other way around.

[dirtdigger88]

Fly-

I miss commuting- I did it for 3 years. My office moved and it is just not possible any longer. I still ride in the mornings but it is just not the same. When I did commute there was a commitment- I have to have my truck during the day for work. So on Sundays I would drive to the office and drop off my truck then ride all week and drive home Friday night. There was no bail out if the weather was bad (well yes there was I did my short route instead of my long route). I did not own a car when I was in college. I lived about 8 miles off campus and I rode every day rain or shine. I went the the grocery store- I even went to the laundry mat on my bike. We wont get into the times I would go to the bars :p on my bike. People thought I was crazy to come rolling down the road in January with a duffel full of dirty clothes or a sack full of food- but damn I was in great shape. Again- it is all lifestyle. In college I dreamed of a Ti bike but could barley afford food- I was car less not out of want- I could not afford one. Now- life has been good to me- I have a good job- money is really not of a concern any longer (no I am not rich- but I can afford my life and I like my life) but cycling is now my hobbie- it is something that I find time to do- but is does take a back seat to job- family- etc. Life is all about the trade offs- and how you manage you choices.

Jason