tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post4740384027137742718..comments2024-03-27T11:44:15.723-04:00Comments on The Retrogrouch: Retrogrouch Reads: Paul Smith's Cycling ScrapbookBrookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-24104054899932804512016-07-09T11:39:42.887-04:002016-07-09T11:39:42.887-04:00I can't believe I'm going to engage this &...I can't believe I'm going to engage this "conspiracy" but I think the accident happened in the late 60s - he started racing in the earlier 60s. I think there are more likely explanations for the cable hanger observation - like maybe somebody did some things with the wrecked bike before photographing it (notice the front brake is gone, too). It's also possible that it isn't the same bike, but rather "stand in" to me illustrate the point. Hardly anything to get worked up about.<br /><br />As to the online frame builder, I think it is that way because prices and such need to be updated.Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-17468942158787272322016-07-09T10:57:54.655-04:002016-07-09T10:57:54.655-04:00While you're at it, ask him why the bike he wr...While you're at it, ask him why the bike he wrecked in the early 60s had late Campy brake levers with the fancy cut-outs from 10+ years in the future and what appears to be late Campy pedals without the toe-strap loop! The State would like to introduce the idea that the defendant is LYING! It's also interesting that it appears the steerer mounted front cable hanger was forced up over the headset locknut, past the stem and the handlebars were squeezed through the 1" hole in the hanger... Although I suppose anything can happen in a collision violent enough to flip the forks precisely 180 degrees and knock all the bearings out of the rear wheel he was using on the front of the bike.<br /><br />While I do love me a conspiracy, I think it's more likely a photo of another bike standing in for the long gone bike of his youth rather than a case of fibbing.<br /><br />On a barely related note, when did the Mercian on-line-framebuilder thing stop calculating cost? It takes some of the giddy excitement out of spending hours and hours designing bikes I can't afford when you have to keep a pad handy with a running total of all the braze-ons, Barbour Poles, etc.<br /><br />SpindizzyUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00194920301847931547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-59484048581512914352016-07-08T19:47:53.102-04:002016-07-08T19:47:53.102-04:00It's unlikely I'll ever bump into Paul Smi...It's unlikely I'll ever bump into Paul Smith - but if I do, I'll be sure to ask him about it. You could be right that it would only need a new fork, but it's hard to tell from that angle. Any crash that damages a fork like that could also put a little bit of a ripple in the top and down tubes just behind the head tube. Who knows?Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-80640767026344219102016-07-08T14:33:20.187-04:002016-07-08T14:33:20.187-04:00You think that wrecked Mercian just needed a fork?...You think that wrecked Mercian just needed a fork? It doesn't actually look THAT bad in the photo. Maybe it's still up in his Mom's attic 50 years on, forgotten under a pile of croquet mallets and railroad-ties...<br /><br />If you ever bump into Mr. Smith, tell him I'll give him a $50 for it. <br /><br />SpindizzyUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00194920301847931547noreply@blogger.com