BASTARDS RULE! Marc (Lazy Bastard) Schwartz LC, NM ________________________________________ From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com [rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Jeremy Till [jeremy.t...@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2012 10:29 AM To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com Subject: [RBW] Re: "Bastardizing" a bike and its fit - idea of. A discussion.
Well, if there is such a thing as geometric bastardization, I'm guilty of multiple counts. Probably the worst is my Trek 520, which I bought long before I knew much of anything about geometry, fit, etc. To make matters worse, I was in love with flared drop bars like the On-One Midge, which needed to get up high to be comfortable, and I had long ago cut the fork way short. This was the result<http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimg/4026122717/in/set-72157622495201619>, pictured on a Riv ride a few years ago. Midge bars, hi-rise stem on steerer tube extender. The thing is....it worked great! It fit me (in terms of the contact points being in the right place, if not fitting the frame well) and I rode many comfortable miles like that. I also had an old bastardized low-end schwinn road bike with slack angles that I made even slacker by using a long touring fork, and built up as a townie fixed gear. That was totally weird but again, was one of the nicest riding bikes I've ever owned, so much so that I regret selling it and am looking around for one of those frames so I can try it again*. I think that this whole "bastardization" thing is basically a normative response built into the culture of cycling, perhaps supporting successive bike purchases until you find the "one" (as if that's possible) that meets your particular aesthetic and fit ideas. And by all means, if you have the resources to do so, finding the "one" can be a rewarding experience, as many on here have shown. But my point is this....if your resources are limited such that modification makes more financial sense than buying a new frame or bike, don't be afraid to try out-of-the-box things with a bike you already own, even if you feel it goes against some "rules" of aesthetics or bike design. If nothing else, experimenting with a current bike can tell you what to look for in your next bike. And remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While the Atlantis in CJ's picture might have been the "height" of bastardization for him, to me it looks really nicely proportioned. Maybe that's because I've spent a lot of time pouring over pictures of old drop bar 26" MTB's, and that Atlantis seems to have similar lines. Another thing...I bet the "bent shafted seatpost" in question was a Thomson, which many people complain about being weird for having "so much setback," when in truth the setback Thomson only has about 16mm of setback, less than many "normal" setback seatposts which are usually in the 20-25mm range, including the popular nittos and the so ubiquitous as to be unnoticeable kalloy laprade. I bet the LBS owner in question wouldn't have batted an eye if the bike had come in with a seatpost like this one<http://images1.excelcycle.com/images/P/fsa-components-k-force-seatpost-32mm-set-back.jpg>, which at 32.5mm of setback has twice that of the Thomson. So really, it's just that a lot of people are put off by the aesthetics of the Thomson. I love 'em. Great clamp hardware. *Anybody have a 1989 or 1990 Schwinn World Sport in the 25"/62cm size? On Wednesday, October 31, 2012 10:08:13 PM UTC-7, Michael wrote: I was in an LBS (now defunct), and the owner pointed out how a traded in road bike/fit had been "bastardized" by the previous owner by using a bent shafted seatpost for more setback. The owner was pointing out how the bike was too small a size for the customer, and the bike owner had to resort to this. I have been wondering. Is there really such a thing as "bastardising" a bike/fit to get yourself where you are comfy on a bike? I don't design bikes, so the only two of things I could imagine you could do on a bike that might be considered to have "bastardising", negative effects might be: 1. "Geometric Bastardization" - Altering the intended geometry of a bike? Would it throw off the benefits of what the rest of that frame's geometry was intended for, resulting in a worse ride quality? Like using high flat bars on a modern time trial bike, or something to that effect. 2. "Aesthetic Bastardization" - might be if you put, say, a one-piece, full carbon drop bar/stem assembly on a cruiser bike? Other than that, I cannot see how improving comfort would be bastardizing anything. Of course, getting the right frame size from the beginning would eliminate the need to go to extremes for people. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/eYecjn83YZoJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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