Souls?

I personally believe that bikes have souls. Not quite like a person, but a soul all the same. The soul of a bike rest in the frame, and remains there until the frame truly dies.

I think I first really saw this in an old Huffy Howler that I had back years ago, bought in '03 after my father died. The bike had a lot of issues, and would never cooperate with me. It left a foul taste in my mouth towards Huffy, though that is a bit unfair. Going from a $600 Mongoose from a bike shop to a $100 bike from K-mart is a rough thing.

My next bike was a Royce Union, R400 I think. I can't remember off hand the designation of the frame. I got this frame in 2006 I think, and I called the number on the frame for the maker, and got Airborne Cycles. (Odd note, I know the former owner of Airborne, which is now owned by Huffy.)

This bike was big, heavy, and strong. It had a front suspension on it, but the LBS didn't have the tools to adjust it. The problem for me was that the frame felt too tall for me. I pulled the kid's in the bike trailer with it for a while, and it also played a part in the great domino bike spree of 2011. (That year, I loaned it to my FIL, who realized the difference in a Next (Kent?) bike and a Bike Shop bike. He then went out and bought a Giant. My MIL was borrowing my wife's Murray that I had fixed up a bit, and it was great, but it spurred her into getting a Schwinn from Performance. My wife had ridden on my Schwinn once, and bought a Cannondale two days later. Somewhere in all this, I bought a new road bike.)

The RU bike was stoic and proud. That bike felt like it would take on any challenge, and I sold it for near what I paid for it a few years later. I hope the new owner appreciates it as much as I did.

After the RU, I bought a 2007 Schwinn Voyageur. It was a previous year model, from Smittys. (Aka, the bike shop I am banned from. One day, I plan to sit down with Chris, the one I don't like, and hash things out.) This bike was great, I completed a metric century on it, and it was the bike I used the first year I did the Tour de Donut. Right before the Donut, I had 700x25 tires put onto it, blue ones. It clashed a little with the frame, but I dubbed it "Smurf Killer", and rode it. I did have the tires sink into sand during the race once, at a rest stop. I found that amusing.

Smurf Killer was a good bike though, but it didn't have the heart to push speeds all that much. It was a hybrid, and a good bike, but as I progressed in cycling, it no longer met my needs. I sold it a few years ago, and it sold quickly. A family drove about an hour just to pick it up. Their daughter had the exact same model, but it had gotten stolen while she was in college. She loved her bike, and getting the same model/color/year was something the excited them. I do hope she enjoyed the upgraded trigger shifters. I think the bike would have liked the commuter life better than racing and touring.

Next I purchased a used (of course) 1974 Schwinn Varsity. One thing I noticed quickly was this bike demanded speed. It did slow at times, but in its heart, it wanted to race. Sadly, it was much too old, and heavy, to make to any races, but I did have it up to 28 MPH at one point. (I only got the Voyageur up to 32.5 MPH) The bike is old, and a lot of the components are stock. I actually went to ride it a few weeks ago, but I need to replace the front tube, which I don't have at the moment. Still, for an old, and probably bomb proof, bike, it can hold its own.

Shortly after getting the Varsity, I actually had the spare money to purchase the KHS. (2011, Flite 223) This bike it kind of solemn. Sometimes it wants to go, and it will keep going, but it has some quirks too. Somehow, this bike has no name. (Granted, the Varsity doesn't officially have a name either, but is usually referred to as a variety of green things.) It has done decently, for me, at some races, but it always feels like it needs tinkering with. It has been the most finicky bike I have ever owned. Is some ways, it is like a B-list actress that acts like an A-list Diva. Also, there is something weird about the chain stay, the wheels have had to have nuts added to prevent chain rub. Even a mech from Performance said something was weird with it, but he couldn't figure out what. This bike will likely leave my stable next year.

Glowie, my Purefix Fixie, likes to do whatever. It was tense for the first month, where it did try to kill me. (This is unfair, riding a fixie is not the same as a multi gear road bike. Cornering, in particular, was a skill I had to relearn.) After that, it became the primary bike for me to ride this year. I have more miles on it than I do my other bikes for this year so far, and I have used it for 4 time trials. I still use the KHS for tours, partly because anything over 20 miles is a bit rough for me still on a fixed gear. There was no way I would do the Double Donut on that bike. It is a nice, simple, and clean bike. I love that bike. I just need to check the tires, and out the door I go. Simple.

This leads me to the Mongoose. I haven't been able to ride it yet, obviously, but I felt it's soul when it was just a frame hanging on the wall. It wasn't dead, it was almost dormant, loosing hope. Building it, I feel it coming back to life. Even with some parts better and some worse than when it was stock, it wants to go. I envision this becoming my around town bike when I need to get things. The rack from the KHS will be moved to this bike once it is on the road. Upgrades will come to it, and I think that I will have this bike for a long time. Even if I get a full suspension mountain bike for racing, it won't take this bike's place.


The poor Next. It was suffering, it had seen rough times. The headset, BB, just not doing well. I felt bad stripping it, but I know that even the parts I don't use on the Mongoose will still go on to other bikes, and make life better for others. I do not pray often, but I did pray for the soul of the Next, that it may come back in the next life as something better, more proud. Maybe like a Kestrel, or a Harley.

I think that deep down, souls are the real difference between bikes.  You can walk down the aisles of Wal-mart, or Target, and there are a lot of bikes screaming out in pain. Fancy paint covering a tortured soul. Some of them suffering, wishing to be better bikes. Some know that they will be bought, and abused, left to rust on some porch until they are thrown in the trash. (Bikes in bike shops rarely scream out like that, aside from 'trade ins' perhaps.)

And some bikes in the big box stores seem content. Some of them look like great bikes, and may serve well for a long time. Especially if they get rebuilt by someone with the time and money to do it right. Sadly, most of those people would just end up buying a bike from a bike shop in most cases.

There is something to be said for the bikes in the Co-op. Some of them are near the end, some of the ones that are donated are in such poor shape that there is nothing worth removing from them. Those will have their suffering end soon enough. Others, however, are mostly full of hope. Some may never work the way they did when new, but they all know that they will go to someone who needs them. Their primary existence is that they will make someone happy. They get fixed up, and serve a purpose. Sure, some may still end up getting rusted, but they still seem to enjoy their new lease on life.

The Mongoose had a disadvantage. It had hung on the wall for a few years, just a frameset. There are a few other framesets there, and they don't have as much hope. Few are going to pick out a frame set, and build it up. The Mongoose got lucky, and it knows it. I saw that the bike was from the Brunswick days, and that it was not the modern Discount Store line that you see now. Too many would have ignored it for that alone. It will be a great bike, and I can't wait to ride it.