I'm late to this one but jusr read Jan's thing about the way he likes bikes and the way I or Riv does, and so...there's really nothing he left out, or to add.
One thing to keep in mind that's easy to not keep in mind is that a group like this has already been filtered through progressively finer sieves until here we all are, comparing two species of planaria, while maybe losing the big picture, which includes tigers, volcanos, vaudeville, and black holes. Jan's planaria is rando; RIV's is kind of classy hobo, but they're both practibo and in such similar ways, beautifo. Rando came in the '40s and no doubt had its own influences, but RHerse was at the center of it, and there were a few others (read Jan's book, omg, if I may!). CHobo bikes like ours wouldn't exist without those. I'd be hooking up with assorted Chinese bike factories looking for the best deals on forks and trying to keep abreast of the lastest nanotechnological progress in carbon, or something. So, when it comes to a little more or less trail, a little more or less integration of racks, and big saddlebags versus big handlebar bags---in the picture that's only slightly bigger than the one outside the powerful microscope, it's all the same. Jan's contribution is like salt's contribution, at least that's one way I think about it. He is thumbs-upping Herse and the old French guys, pointing to them, but in doing that he's actually making a huge contribution to modern bikes and styles and tastes, educating along the way. Of course, there's nothing TO take away from the old Frenchies (as I call them, but I'm sure Jan has never), but because of the size of the bike-riding population today, Jan is himself more influential, and I'm one he's influencing. Periodically, while he's up there doing his thing and I'm down here doing mine/RIV's, we get tossed into the ring as antagonists, which makes us both feel weird, since----it ain't like that at all. I've known Jan for close to 20 years. What we have in common brought us together and keeps us that way. His book is a masterpiece. I've read the whole thing and have dipped into it many times since. It's soothing to the eyes and feels like a cozy blanket on a chilly evening (the chilliness coming from non-planarial bikes!) G -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
