This weekend I brought my Schwinn Kustom over to Ardenwood park in Fremont CA for the annual Rail Fair. I'll get some pictures up soon. (I later found out that bikes are restricted from this park, but that's another story.) I loaded my bike trailer with steam engines so I could run some stuff on the live steam track while I was there. People from all walks of life really liked the bike. For the most part they found it nostalgic, artistic and it brought smiles to many faces. Well, except for one guy. Wile discussing the build with someone else at the park, I mentioned that the frame was a newer Schwinn that I had lying around. This guy butts in and first he gave me crap that it wasn't a "real" Scwinn because I used a frame that was made after Pacific Cycles had purchased the brand. Then when I was discussing some of the add ons, like the leather saddle and Brooks grips, I made the mistake of using the term "high end". He immediately sputtered at that and asked how much I spent on said components. Now I'm not sure what type of cycling this dude is into but it was quite apparent that because the bike didn't have thousands of dollars of components on it it wasn't worth his time. Here is the bike in question:
I seriously had never encountered such attitude before. I gotta admit it pissed me off. I mean this Schwinn was my first full kustom build and like any of my other projects I carefully select or fabricate components and parts based on what looks best, what is avalable and fits my budget, and also what is lying around gathering dust and can now have a new life. That's why it's my Rat and my art. And this dude totally crapped all over that.
Here's the irony. This guy is in our garden railroad club and he is also a live steamer. Now that I think of his roster of locomotives the dude has a lot of expensive stuff but it is all 100% bone stock. For me, I'm a builder and basher, not a buyer. Both in bikes and trains I like to modify, wrench, hot-rod and customize. And I put a ton of care into that process whereas this dude is content to just drop a boatload of cash and call it a day.
Regards,
I seriously had never encountered such attitude before. I gotta admit it pissed me off. I mean this Schwinn was my first full kustom build and like any of my other projects I carefully select or fabricate components and parts based on what looks best, what is avalable and fits my budget, and also what is lying around gathering dust and can now have a new life. That's why it's my Rat and my art. And this dude totally crapped all over that.
Here's the irony. This guy is in our garden railroad club and he is also a live steamer. Now that I think of his roster of locomotives the dude has a lot of expensive stuff but it is all 100% bone stock. For me, I'm a builder and basher, not a buyer. Both in bikes and trains I like to modify, wrench, hot-rod and customize. And I put a ton of care into that process whereas this dude is content to just drop a boatload of cash and call it a day.
Regards,
