I'm with you there. All the bikes I lust after are just different colours of 80s steel bikes I already have. I've got 3 or 4 that are basically the same.
There is something so liberating about beating the piss out of a bike and throwing it down and just not worrying about it at all. And just having cheap parts to swap when needed.. I still have my Wabi dream build, but my Windsor Time Line is a rusty TANK and I love it! Got to have both in my opinion
I'm not about fixie points. The fixie I ride is a curb find I picked up. It has some decent parts on it but the main thing is its mine and I love riding it. No real worries about someone stealing it or it getting a scratch. I can appreciate a flashing bike but give me a bike no one wants anymore and I'm a happy person. To me ride first ,bike second. Looking forward to the next video.
So I built my dream bike, then I built my beater and finished with an NJS build. No matter what you say Zach you will build an NJS bike at some point. You’re so invested in the fixed gear culture at this point that an NJS build is inevitable. 😊
I spent a lot of money on my Ti gravel bike, but I'm glad I did it. I love riding it. I wish I had done it years ago. It's my midlife crisis bike - some guys buy a fancy car, I bought a custom made to my dimensions Ti gravel bike. However - like Zach mentioned here, I do not want to leave it out of my sight. It makes me nervous to even have my garage door open for too long.
Hey Zach, been watching for a half decade or so but fell off a while back. Barely getting back into cycling and rewatching your videos. Anywho, I am glad you are still doing your thing man. Wishing the best!
Yes, you should build "your" dream bike. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks should be "the" dream bike. My dream bike is a Mongoose Canaan Elite with Sram XO components, WTB wheels & tires, and RaceFace cockpit. Building it currently. Yeah, it's a bike from over a decade ago, but it's what I wanted then, and am now just building it. Also showcasing it on my channel once I get finished...
Retire at sixty, I don’t think so. I’m sixty seven, ride a thirty year old fixed Raleigh Pioneer conversion that I bought new. Do groceries deliveries part time on it. Rode Portugal end to end on it two years ago. Ride it daily like I’d only just stolen it!
I salvaged a Specialized Globe Work 2 and rebuilt it as a mountain bike. I ditched the fenders and squeezed 2.1" knobbies on the original rims, with Slime self-sealing tubes. Got a grab box of used parts from a bike shop and upgraded the cranks and handlebars. Converted it to a 1x7 and started riding it as a single speed since the shifter was toast, and was surprised how much I loved not dealing with gears anymore! With all the scuffed-up old parts and the gunmetal grey frame, she doesn't look like much, which is great since this is a high bike theft area. But it's a sick bike -- tough as hell, minimal maintenance, and great to ride. Couldn't be happier and it feels great to have saved her from the scrap heap.
I bought a floor model beater bike that I love for over 10 mile rides--but its still a little too nice looking! As it gets dinged I feel a sense of pride putting stickers over the dings and scratches--there's something lovely about that. I'm excited to have it be a true beater once it gets totally banged up. Its always lovely to dream about my dream bike, but I'm happy to bike in general--I think even once I make my dream bike (thinking of a bulletproof fat tire crust florida man single speed low gear ratio with a front rack, likely) I will still ride my beater bike and bikeshare bikes around.
There is nothing more rewarding than designing your own components, even if you don't actually fabricate them yourself, holding your own part that only ever existed previously in your mind is amazing.
I am building a custom comfort bike at 68 years old I want a smooth ride where I am never really very sore and can recover quickly. No one is building to that specification and they charge many thousands of dollars for everything I don't need.
I totally get what you’re saying…and I totally know what you mean about the dream bike and then sometimes not wanting to ride it because it’s too nice or doesn’t quite do these other things. My solution has been 4 bikes that each do very different things, bike-packing/single speed rig, mountain bike, e-cargo, and road. Covers all my biking applications from expeditions to speed errands, to shopping to commuting, to moving a child. And thankfully I have the extreme privilege of a place to keep them safe and stored, and of affording them. But each is a joy in its own way. If I had to have just one do it all though, it would be my steel bike packer/commuter/errand runner as it gets the most use by a significant margin.
One of my favorite bikes i have is a early '90s Magna, my wife bought it at a garage sale for $10. After about $250, its so fun. A 6 bolt fixed gear cog, some decent narrow rims, and nice add ons. It has a converted bottom bracket to accept a 3 piece crank.
I totally get it on the pricing. I have been canoeing/kayaking for 15 yrs (adult life). Started out with a Craigslist $100 boat. 4 yrs ago ordered my dream canoe. Spent a few dollars, love the boat. No regrets. Only have one boat. Just got my first fixed gear. Didn’t go all in, but I am sure I will upgrade over the next 10 yrs.
My light purple steel FG has aged gracefully for 13 years despite constant use. Zach even did a bike check once (All City Big Block). Mid-level parts got swapped out for the long lasting high-end stuff as they wore out. That said, my B-bike is an un-lockable retro Ti racer good for the hill country.
Barbara is beautiful, I’ve always admired your discipline to have one bike. I think your two bike system is going to serve you in your lifestyle. Barbara is low key, functional, and quality components and does the day to day. Gary is like owning a corvette it’s cool, it’s fast, and kinda pricey but riding it to the grocery store is not ideal. You can use them both everyday or not but you will feel more comfortable when you don’t have to make a compromise in your day by babying Gary!
I bought my dream bike about 10 years ago, a Specialized Diverge, back when Specialized still made them with the curved top tubes. Diverge is a gravel and when though I didn't ride gravel at the time, I thought it's "almost-roadie" geometry would make it the perfect commuter, and it did. I've since gotten into gravel riding and removed the rack and put on true thick gravel tires and guess what... It still makes a great commuter.
One thing I love about my Wabi Classic. It’s beautiful and elegant in stock form. But the N+1 formula is perfect for those times when you know you’re going park a bike for an extended time. Thus why an old beater like my 80s Fuji. It’s precious to me yet still looks like it came fresh from the goodwill so no one wants to risk jail time stealing what looks like a $50 bike
I found my dream bike by accident. What I thought was my dream bike doesnt exist as it would require a large amount of custom fabrication and design. That being said, I've built up a few bikes that I greatly enjoy and don't see myself replacing. Then I bought a bike that I didnt expect to, but I think ended up being my dream bike: a green racing tandem with couplers. It enabled a recent trip of a lifetime to Japan for my friends and I; ever dollar spent on it has been absolutely worth it with just this one trip alone and it is far from the last one it will go on. The memories it enabled I will cherish forever. I am keeping this goofy bike forever.
Hedonic Treadmill is real. I have 12 bikes. Couple invincible, cheap Winter Beaters and some high end race bikes, S-Works & a frame limited to 11 units with track carbon wheels with carbon spokes, absolutely unique…
Hey random suggestion but i just started watching some of your videos and somewhere you mentioned that your run fixed cogs on both sides of your flip flop hub to get different gear ratios for different terrain. I love this concept and would like to do it with my bike. I just did some preliminary research about how to swap the freewheel for a fixed cog and while I'm confident I'll be able to figure it out eventually, my initial few minutes of research kind of confused me more than clarifying things which made me wish there was a video that explains the different components involved in installing a freewheel vs a cog and if there are any complications to creating this sort of '2 gear' fixed set up. Some other stuff I just felt like sharing: I'm new to fixed gear and just found a used wabi thunder (perfect frame size for me) that i'm absolutely in love with. I've biked regularly in the past as my main commuting method but have never been a 'cyclist' in the sense that I'm like an enthusiast about the components or even really consider riding fun. Maybe its a way to get someplace fun, or it might provide some sense of accomplishment, but not fun in a pure type-1 sense. In fact as recently as three weeks ago I told someone I just met that I hate biking and I meant it. Well apparently I just never had a bike I really loved. I honestly had no idea that biking could be this fun. Originally I was just looking for single speed bikes cause I f*#king hate derailleurs. In the process I stumbled into the dream bike that I never knew existed. Didn't know steel frames (which I've always been partial to) could be so light. I love the classic design. It got me to try fixed which I now love too. Getting this bike has been such a win for me. While I was waiting for the seller of my wabi thunder to get the bike reassembled (they had a broken spoke and the wheel was out for balancing when i contacted them) I was looking at the framesets on the wabi website and saw the ube purple chrome lug was available. I briefly considered buying it before coming to my senses. It would have been an absolutely insane financial decision and made no sense given that the used wabi was available for so cheap locally, AND YET when I see those chrome lugs on there I still have moments when I regret not impulse buying lol
Also if you don’t get a custom decal made that says “Ube special” then I have no clue why you wouldn’t have already done that. That’s a dope name plus some silver would look cool on there
I'd have to learn welding first 😅. I'd say. Zaskar GT like frame that repeats that rear triangle look with a frame integrated front rack perhaps the upper tube just going on. MTB style long and slack but rigid. 2.4 wide but slick tyres.
I take years to change the simplest of bike parts, it took me 3 years once to swap a seatpost clamp, not only i have to find the perfect part, it has to be cheap and i have to be 100% sure that it makes sense to buy it at that moment, im the polar opposite of the average consumerist person, yet none of my bikes is ever a finished dream bike
Okey, chrome lugs might not be returning, but what about the keirin purple? Love the color on that frame. Sadly did got the money to get one back then 😢
Remember n+1? You build your dream bike, you get used to it, you start a new dream. I built my dream fixed Bianchi Pista with Thompson/Nitto/Zen/Suginos 3 years ago. Guess what, now I'm dreaming about a gravel/bike packing hybrid. It never ends!
Haha this is so ironic because I’ve been thinking about my wabi classic. It’s almost my perfect bike but I also do door dash on my bike and doing food delivery on njs drops is rough. I think I need a work bike and a rip it bike.
Honestly if you want something real fancy as far as price like a SE big ripper or something flashy like that for example just a random one then you should definitely just go buy it. I have a dream bike, but I chose to start with budget bikes. I bought two of them instead of one good bike and I learned everything about installing a 3 piece crank and every other part and working on bikes I love it very much but all the money I’ve spent I keep cringing when I think about it lol 😂 everytime I think about it I’m like “maaaan I should’ve just bought that expensive 600$ bike, having 3 shitty bikes sucks. I mean I’ve got em dialed now but it took weeks to fix things as stupid as the pedals vibrating from the chain not being straight perfectly with the crank. Idk it’s rewarding to build a bike but I got no where near where I thought I would…. U have to have deep pockets. I just got a fit from 2010 with my first full chromoly frame and I’m building that into a modern beast. It’s so light amazing bike. They have a modern version of it as well. It’s called the TRL3 red and gold it’s sick sure but not near as cool as if it was brand spanking new
How to overcome this: Do something that’ll probably mess it up, on purpose, and then don’t be surprised. I was so afraid of messing up my new gravel that I took it to a trail I wasn’t ready for, crashed, scratched the fork, and returned home. I already screwed it up, no reason to be sad.
Don't limit yourself with only one bike fixed gears are not universally sufficient it's nice to have a small geared bike and a bigger geared bike a more relaxed bike and a more aggressive bike for different scenarios
Buy any STEEL FRAME and prioritize your life over your bike. Every flaw just means YOU are getting stronger! Designing your life around "Premium Rush" like any "designer life" takes from life.
Dream bike? As in just one? lol I have my first bike store bike that’s 25+ years old that is now a beater, a newer hybrid bike, now I’m into 29” BMX and have a couple, my wife has a ebike I pull the kids in their trailer around in. Still need to get a mountain bike and a custom cruiser to complete my collection.
There is always the paradox of wanting a nice bike to ride everywhere but then worrying about it being stolen when you ride it somewhere and have to lock it up. Bike thieves suck ass.
Great video, Like usual. Really feeling your self nowadays Zack, I mean some video shots lol. I guess....your more than semi-goodlooking and I'm not gay but I wouldn't say no to a make-out sess. 🫂
I'd have to learn welding first 😅. I'd say. Zaskar GT like frame that repeats that rear triangle look with a frame integrated front rack perhaps the upper tube just going on. MTB style long and slack but rigid. 2.4 wide but slick tyres.
