Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Why Can't I Stop?

Why can't I stop? My wife thinks I have some kind of disease. A true sickness and it makes her mad. Every time I see a nice set of vintage rims or a part or component or frameset - it really doesn't matter what it is if it has to do with road bikes - I want it. If I like it I want it. Want not need. I don't NEED anything else as far as bikes go. What I have works fine. I have two very nice bikes and both can function well beyond my ability to perform on them. And I can only ride one at a time. So why can't I stop?

Do I need another frame? Or a different frame? NEED. No. Want yes. I have found a frame and have fallen in love. Again. Could it be that I see the road bike as a form of art? When I built my new(er) bike this spring I thought really long and hard about wants versus needs and really worked hard to keep costs down and value up. My new(er) bike has a frame that weighs 1070 grams. That is amazing for an aluminum frame manufactured in 2005 with a rider weight limit of over 100 kg.

My frame looks good with a cool red fading to black through orange and yellow flames paint scheme (or colorway as the industry is so fond of saying in 2011-2012). It has specially formed tubes to reduce deadness and harshness and is SUPER smooth for an aluminum frame and very stiff through the bottom bracket and rear stays. My frame on my new(er) bike is awesome and I love it. So why can't I stop?

Do I NEED to "upgrade" my frame to one that weighs 1814 grams? That thing is a PIG. I might not even be able to pedal that thing up a hill. It doesn't even come with a fork! But it's a Serotta Fierte. It's orange and blue. It's titanium and carbon. It's cool and has panache. It would ride like a dream. It could be the last bike I will ever need. Trouble is I don't need it. Can't afford it. I just want it and unfortunately I can't think of a single rational or logical reason why. I don't understand this. I feel like I'm the mouse in the book "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie." Why can't I stop?

2 comments:

  1. Well, do you want to stop? And then the next question would be Why do you want to stop? Would it make you a better cyclist if you stopped? Because that's the reason and purpose in everything we do, right? ...as cyclists I mean. :-) As they say, the ideal number of bikes is n+1 with n being the number of bikes you currently own. Just playing devil's advocate here...

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  2. It's called Upgradeitis.

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