What I Wish I Knew When I Started...

 We're into the heart of winter here in New England: snow on the ground and the temperature below freezing all day. It's more hockey season than bicycle season. But there is always a little time to think things over before we get to spring.

One thing that occurred to me was to write down all the things that I wish I knew when I started fooling with vintage bicycles a long, long time ago.

I'll write them in no particular order:

• The bicycle with the highest cachet is not necessarily the bike you really want to own or the right bike for you. A 1930s Schwinn ballooner, or a 1950s Raleigh rod brake roadster with full chain case, is a great bike. But you may find that you like later bikes or more common bikes better (and find they ride better too). Ride what suits you and what you enjoy, not what collectors hold in the highest caste. 
  

• Keep spare parts around, but don't hoard junk. You never know when you'll end up with a project bike needing a rim, or a caliper, or a brake handle, etc. Don't drown yourself in junk parts, but do have the parts around that tend to be missing or broken. Bar grips, shifters, brake parts, etc. all tend to be missing when you find a bike to work on.
  

• Pay attention to your bike(s) even during the off-season. Tires get cold and go flat, saddles dry out, dust accumulates, etc. Don't put the bike away in November and then ignore it until April... Check in for preventative maintenance once in awhile, even when not riding.
  

•  Comfort is king - don't buy a bike that looks nice or that is a high cachet item only to find it isn't comfortable for you. If it hurts to ride the bike after 20 minutes, something needs to change.
  

• Don't obsess over vintage consumables - tubes, tires, brake pads, cables, etc. It doesn't need to be 100% perfectly original in most cases. It's better to have good, reliable tires than original tires. It's better to have brake cables you know will work rather than stick to fraying cables. Originality is meaningless if you get launched over the bars.
  

•  Don't obsess over vintage electrical and lighting systems. Don't be afraid to use LED bulbs, battery conversions, or whatever else you need to see in the evening. What good is an original set of lights if you ride into a ditch, or hit a pothole, or get hit by a car? "Retro" looking LED lights can be a good compromise of appearance and safety.
  

•  Don't go for tires, brake pads, tubes, or other items based solely on appearance. A better quality tire is generally better than a tire that looks good but rides badly. Tires make a difference, especially if you can get something good like a Panaracer or Schwalbe.
  

•  If you're serious about repairing old bikes. Don't hesitate to learn wheel building, tensioning and truing. You'll need these skills eventually and they bark worse than they bite. It's OK to not be sure when learning, and you eventually will learn how to build your own wheels. But don't hold yourself back by being afraid to try it.
  

• Buy the best tools you can reasonably afford and don't buy cheap ones. They pay themselves off each time you use them.
  

•  Don't be in a rush or impatient to finish a project. Let the paint dry. Don't work when tired or frustrated. Come back to the project another time and do it right. Don't force parts or fittings because you want to get it "on the road".
  

•   Don't obsess. It's a hobby. If you aren't enjoying it and you're mad about something broken or not right, then step away for awhile and come back to it.

•  Listen to experts but ignore "experts". This is hard to explain in words, but is more a sense you get over time. There are some guys who know what they're talking about and will steer you in the right direction, and then there are blowhards who appear to "know everything" but really don't have any good advice at all. The information should be the focus, not the speaker.

•  Whenever you turn down or say no to a project that is a basket case or that really doesn't suit you, that is when you effectively give yourself a pay raise.

•  Unless the bike has a familial or sentimental importance, sell bikes you don't ride. They are meant to be ridden. On the flip side, never sell a bike that you ride a lot or that has a special personal significance to you. You may never get that one back.
  

•  Work on what you love. Who cares if you like plain Raleigh Sports bikes from the 1970s or department store 10-speeds or Sears middleweights? If that's what you like, then go with it. Not everyone needs a Rene Herse or an Elgin Bluebird.
  

• Keep your eye on the road, but don't lose sight of your surroundings. The surroundings are part of what make the ride enjoyable. Focus on and deal with what is now in front of you, not what is down the road three miles. The road is ridden one foot at a time.
  

• Do not ever forget the philosophical importance of what you are collecting, repairing, riding, or doing. Everything you do should have some good purpose, to you or to someone else.