What’s This, Mulder?

While pedaling streets that straddle and crisscross the Brooklyn-Queens border, I came across this:

It looks like a decent bike, but the frame is obviously not custom or even the product of a small-volume builder.  That is why it caught my eye:  Rarely, if ever, are mass-produced mixte or women’s frames found in such a large size.

I tried, but couldn’t, determine its provenance.  A couple of details, like the heart-shaped cutout in the seat lug, led me to think it’s Japanese because my old Nishiki had a similar detail.  Also, the largest mass-produced diamond frame on a 700c-wheel bike—71 cm—was made, ironically, in Japan by Panasonic.

On the other hand, the shape of the twin laterals made me think of French bikes.  Also, the only part that seems to be original—the Weinmann centerpull brakes—indicates a European bike of some sort.

I would love to know more about it—and how it ended up on    Halsey Street by the Brooklyn-Queens birder.

A Tipping Point And A Sea Change

I never saw this day coming...

Most of us, by the time we get to a certain age, make this declaration (perhaps with a sigh) over one thing or another.  Some of us never thought we'd be working in the jobs or careers in which we've found ourselves.  Others never thought we'd see our kids (fill in the blank).  Still others never thought they'd see the day they'd buy a non-American car--until, of course, they bought their Camries.  And then there are those who never,ever thought they'd eat raw fish and rice until they had sushi.

Well, I am having a "I never imagined this would happen" moment.  In my case, it's neither a good nor a bad thing.  All I can say is that it, looking back, it seems inevitable (Doesn't everything, in retrospect?) and I'm rather enjoying?

So what is this milestone in my life?  Well, I now have five bikes.  That ties my personal record, which I last achieved about a dozen years ago.  However, I don't have any of the five bikes I had then. 

You see, of the five bikes I now have, I acquired three specifically because of something that's happened in my life since I had those other five bikes. And I got the other two because of the ways I think about my riding and my bikes has changed since my life-changing event.

Some of you who have been following this blog (or my other) may have already guessed what's happened.  I reached a tipping point last week when Miss Mercian II arrived at my door:  I now own more "women's" than "men's" bikes. Specifically, I now have three mixte and two diamond frames.

Hey, we're talking about something even more important--at least for me--than the Senate going to the Republicans or the House to the Democrats.  I can already feel the ground shifting under me or, at least, the road conditions changing under my tires.  Yes, it really is Ariel's "sea change" in The Tempest.

All right, so I was being just a little hyperbolic.  (Is "a little hyperbolic" an oxymoron?)  But just today it occured to me "girls rule," if you will, in my bike stable.  Back when I had those other five bikes, if you had told me this day would come, I would have said that you've been inhaling helium out of inner tubes.

I had thought about selling or giving Marianela away. The former wouldn't bring me very much cash, really.  The latter option might be a nice thing to do.  I've already given one bike to an organization that helps immigrant workers; perhaps someone else could benefit from the largesse. 

Then again, I could leave her locked up outside and use her for errands that are really short or that take me to high-risk places.  She's serving that purpose now, and she has been my regular commuter and transportation bike.  So she'll get a lighter workload, which she might appreciate. And I could also use her as a loaner or guest bike.

But most important, if I want to keep that majority for which I've fought long and hard ;-), I've got to keep her!

Another Mercian?

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I never, ever do anything irrational.  Right?

So, what I just did doesn't qualify as irrational. Perhaps if I were more religious, or were still enamored of Kierkegaard, I would say it was a leap of faith.  To those who know me best, it might just be a typical act of visionariness (Is there such a word?) or pure and simple insanity.

What did I just do?  I've bid on another bike on eBay.

However, it isn't just any bike:

It's a 1997 Miss Mercian. The fellow who's selling it bought it after a hip injury prevented him from using a diamond (or "men's") frame.  He set it up, he says, as a tour/commute bike.

If I were rich, I would buy the bike just to give it a good home.  And, yes, that is one of my intentions.  However, I thought of some practical ways in which I could use the bike.

The frame size is a centimeter bigger (at the seat tube) than any of the Mercians I now have.  And its top tube is a centimeter and a half longer.  If the bike fits the way I think it will, I might swap the drop bars for North Road-style bars, or Porteur bars (like the ones on Helene) on a stem with a shorter reach.  And, of course, I'll change the saddle.  Then it might become my transport bike.  (In that case, I might even put drop bars  on Helene.)

I've given myself a limit as to how high I'll bid because the bike is in England, which means that shipping it will be expensive.  But I do like the way the bike looks.  And I don't think I would change anything else, at least in the beginning, besides the bars and saddle.  The components are all good-quality, and the bike has a rack and fenders.

The auction for the bike ends Sunday afternoon.  This will give me something to obssess over between now and then!