Funny, I’ve thought about this in abstract ways over the years. Mostly it comes up as bikes that I’ve regretted giving up. There have been 2 or 3 over the years that I really regret. I have 1 now that I could argue has a soul. All were or are comfortable to ride, and just felt right. I’m currently building one up, that I hope has a soul. Only time will tell, once it’s been ridden for a bit.
The current one with a soul, and the 1 I miss most are steel framed bikes. They’re not really lightweight but they are awfully comfortable to ride. One that is an anomaly, IMO is another that I miss. It was a carbon fiber bike, one that I rode in my best racing season, so that may be more from nostalgia than anything.
I would almost argue that bikes with souls are generally steel, or titanium, although I could see an aluminum bike thrown in. I argue against carbon bikes having souls, mostly because of a “dead” feel so many have when ridden. That’s a hard feeling to describe, and one that almost has to be experienced to be understood. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had more carbon bikes than metallic ones. So I know that they ride nicely, are comfortable, and can fit you like a glove if built up to fit you.
Anyway, what prompted this was an article that I stumbled across on a cycling feed I get on FB. I just thought it was a fun article and enjoyed the thoughts it brought to mind.
I read that article a few days ago and really liked it.
Surfers say that surfing had ‘soul’.
For me mountain biking definitely has soul. I love the solitary nature of it, just me and the trail, the trees, flowers, butterflies, dust, heat & cold. Riding at night can make a trail I’ve ridden hundreds of times seem new.
Yeah, one of those I really regret was my steel lugged Bianchi, with Thron tubing, made in their Reparto Corse area. It was my first really racing bike, and I upgraded everything on it, but the frame over 4 or 5 years. Sadly I sold it because we didn’t have space for lesser used bike, at the time. Wish I had kept that one.
I had a sweet lugged steel hardtail mountain bike many years ago. I sold it to my brother and always regretted it. Eventually I got it back. When I owned it, the bike just felt perfect. In the ensuing years the geometry on bikes have changed so much that when I got it back and rode it around it honestly felt awful. I couldn’t imagine that I ever enjoyed riding it. That bike was an endo machine waiting to happen, compared to current MTBs. Still loved it though.
Custom built bike, built to your specs are amazing. The material isn’t too important if it fits properly. But I do love the way steel and Ti bikes ride and feel. I’m having a difficult time finding the words to describe the ride quality of a good metal frame.
Those classic steel Colnagos are very close to that Bianchi that I regret selling. Modern are a bit stiffer, and much lighter. The new alloys allow for even more customization, you can mix and match tube diameters and alloys to get that “just right” feel. Carbon does similar, but it’s harder to truly get on that’s built just to your specs. The molds are too expensive, or you have to do some creative wrapping and “cooking” of a carbon tube and lug. It’s extremely labor intensive, even more so than a custom steel, Ti, or even Al frames.
The bike I remember was my Schwinn Stingray. It had a banana seat. I rode that bike all over Orem when I was young. It will always be a part of my soul because my dad bought me and my younger brother those stingrays instead of the Harley we was going to buy for himself.
When he walked out the door, my mom to the day she died said he was on his way to bring home a motorcycle for him. On his way to the motorcycle shop where he was going to buy the Harley, he had to pass the bicycle shop. It was then he felt our having bicycles was more important than having a motorcycle; so he did a U turn on State Street, went back to the bike shop, and came home with the bikes.
