Bikes are getting dusted off in this town.
I have been known to like vintage bikes. I have been riding my ‘68 Norman all around Idaho Falls. In fact today I met up with an English three speed aficionado at the grocery store bike rack. I have not seen many 40-50 year old three speeds in Idaho Falls but I have seen a few bikes that are even more rare.
The first was to my complete and utter amazement. I had only seen one previously in my life…. my friend Mike Rowell had one. The bike I am talking about is the 1994 Cannondale Delta V 1000 full suspension mountain bike. On Wednesday evening I saw one being ridden down West 25th in Idaho Falls.
The Delta V is from the early days of full suspension mountain bikes. I am sure if you went to the mountain bike hall of fame it would be on record as the one of the largest pieces of crap ever on two wheels. Mike totally bought into the hype and road this thing for a season and a half before he could find a buyer… Mike is a Salesman through and through.
Mike followed up the Delta V with a very respectable Franklin Custom MTB…. Live and Learn.
The other Bike I saw this week was a Proflex 756. Unlike the Delta V the Proflex has a loyal following. Proflex was purchased by K2 about
12 years ago or so but they are the only company I know of that started things off with Full Suspension. I think the first Proflex Bikes came out in the mid 80s not so different from the one pictured here.
I also had the pleasure of tuning up a colleague’s Cannondale M800 Beast of the East not too long ago. Wow seek and yee shall find… the bikes are getting dusted off and I see more and more people on my morning commutes.
ride on…
The St Louis area has about 1M people. I can’t figure out why in 10 days I am confronted with more angry motorists here than i was in 2 years in St Louis? Here is what I think…. Having been born and raised in the Midwest, when I got to St Louis I thought “these are my kind of people”. That is not saying I want to live in St Louis or the Midwest but it is saying I related to the vibe of the city… there are crazy motorist that do not yield to pedestrians in crosswalks but they are not the kind that get violent at the idea of someone riding a bike or walking.