Saturday, October 2, 2010

A Thing of Beauty

I was on my way out of the Royal Oak on the Canal on Friday night with some friends, and saw this beauty parked against the rail of the patio. My friends are, by now, used to me stopping to take pictures of bikes, so they were fairly understanding, but we were also all on our way to another party and they wanted to organize drives and cabs, so I didn't really have time to stop and truly admire. But I did take this picture.

I should have stopped to get detail shots: the tooled leather seat (one of those wide touring seats.) The muted, brown-and-blue biker flames painted on the chain guard, the fenders, and the down tube. The cup holder. Yeah, the cup holder - a plain metal ring, attached to the left handlebar. The chrome front fork. The smooth, 2-inch street tires. This gorgeous creature was like the bicycle equivalent of a Bentley. Sadly, it was dark, and late, and it was hard to get any details in the picture. But I hope this photo at least gives some sense of the lovely lines of this bike. I have no idea what make or model it is. But it's gorgeous.

6 comments:

  1. A cup holder! Brilliant! For the coffee!

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  2. I *know*. So cool. I've been imagining having a cup holder for Mike for ages, but that's just because I stop for coffee every morning on the way to the office. It's only about four or five blocks, though, so I just bike one-handed. But a cup holder on this bike just added to the impression that it was some sort of luxury vehicle. You almost expected mahogany handlebars and a monogrammed bell, you know? The brushed-steel cupholder wasn't that much of a stretch. . .

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  3. http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442633839&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302693233

    Ask, and ye shall be linked.

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  4. Oh, YEAH. The crazy spiky dinosaur attached to the right handlebar. I DID forget that. How?

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  5. Cup holders rule, a friend in New Orleans got them for her and her husband's bikes. When they bought them they were asked if it was for beer or coffee, guess its a little different atmosphere riding around in the south.

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