Friday, February 15, 2008

Form over function

I recently saw this picture from the North American Handmande Bicycle Show when Jeff posted it on his blog, and immediately had one thought (which was quickly echoed by Erik, whose site I visited after he posted a comment here):

Damn, that looks impossible to keep clean.

I mean, seriously. How many of us even floss regularly? Who has time to deal with this thing?

Can you imagine taking this sucker down a trail? You'd need dental picks and Valium just to get through the post-ride cleaning. And don't even think about not cleaning it, 'cause the crap that would accumulate in that freakish exoskeleton of a frame would more than make up for any weight savings achieved by using less tubing.

I'll tell ya one thing, though. I'd like to hear the sound that sucker makes when it's on a roof rack flying down the highway at 70 mph.

6 comments:

Jeff Moser said...

Yeah, I think some of that stuff was better hung on the wall than ridden. Although I imagine a company like Lizard Skins drools when they see a design like that. Imagine all the neoprene covers they could make for that bike!

Jon said...

Saran Wrap.

erik k said...

hey, i guess dead heads think alike

Grill Meister said...

That bike was probably designed for the rich. They don't clean things or use they use them until they're dirty then throw'em out.

Also, just thought you'd like to know that my hands are swollen engough (from 30+ miles of bike pushing) that it's hard to type. And could hardly hold onto my toothbrush last night.

Gril Meister

Tim said...

Hope the recovery is quick, Grill Meister. And I was glad to see that you rode in the Spongebob pants!

It's years like this that save me from the occasional temptation to try the Susitna. I'd have been a DNS for sure.

gwadzilla said...

a cheese grater to the inner thigh

ouch