town bikes

Possibly a used fuji frame from Freeze Thaw in state college. $10. Lugged. Rear drop out recently shattered. Fixed gearing, 1st gen race face cranks, syncros TI post, soft cromed cruiser bars, oswaldcycleworks fork that recently bent in a fall...she rides a bit sideways now.

Boone gear = 24:15 - we live on a 32% grade, so feet up and gear down to get around this town

Those in cycling cliques understand how important town bikes can be for gettin 'round and keeping the days' ends tied together - not to mention a profound, if not subtly profane projection of one's cycling identity. Yet cyclists know that even beyond the daily crank to work or the store, what really brings a town bike to life is...a soulful expression of all that cycling is via simplicity, thrift and profound resourcefulness. Performace packaged into a rig that can be dissed at the grocery door without turning the head of even the most destitude clepto, componentry that mixes the best of campy and home depot and a ride quality that even in its most compromised states shares its rightful place with the rhythms of the carbon titanium scandium stallions patiently waiting on hooks back home. All for under $100. Hopefully.


Here's to you, town bikes. You are the true foot soldier that carries us on our daily crusade to avoid the car.

wifeOfJames townie: 13" 1990 hard rock. It was supposed to be VT maroon and orange, but the silver paint looked too interesting and looks even better now that it's dripping. 1990 XT BB gets repacked annually, 1995 campy chorus headset with a spoke for a locknut, detoothed chainring guard, LX front hub shell with campy internal races and cups. Titec crowbar. 38:24 gearing. 1980 schwinn bmx crank.