For those who watch Path Much less Pedaled you will have seen a motorbike referred to as the Sklar Tremendous One thing:

[Photo from the Sklar website]

In truth Path Much less Pedaled man preferred it a lot he apparently bought three bikes to get one:

To be clear, I’ve nothing in any respect towards the Sklar, and should you’re searching for a flexible metal bike that makes use of trendy parts it looks as if an amazing alternative. Nonetheless, one thing about it has all the time appeared very acquainted to me, however I wasn’t capable of place it till this morning once I handed an previous Specialised Crossroads and all of it got here again to me:

I knew I’d seen the Sklar someplace earlier than! And it even has the suspension seatpost, similar to the Path Much less Pedaled man’s bike!

It occurred to me that these previous Specialised Crossroads could be prime candidates for gravel conversions, however as standard Craigslist is a number of steps forward of me:

With all due respect to Sklar, I feel I’d like that Crossroads higher.

Ah, the stuff you see while using by Yonkers…

And moreover the classic hybrids and discarded Citi Bikes, you additionally get dramatic views of the Hudson and the Palisades beneath the torrid skies because the remnants of Tropical Storm Submit Tropical Cyclone Debby move over us:

Be aware that I’ve de-Spinergized the Faggin, a minimum of for the second, lest the unsettled climate circumstances blow me into subsequent week:

A journey on the ol’ Fagginator all the time places issues into perspective, as a result of it’s a reminder you could pull a decades-old body out of storage, put it along with spare components, and it’ll journey as superbly as anything you will have–although a minimum of in line with this previous brochure it’s all within the framebuilder’s artwork:

[From here.]

Is there one thing magical in regards to the Italian street bikes of yesteryear? Possibly so. On the identical time, individuals do get a little bit nutty over them. I used to be just lately contacted by a really good one that needed a photograph of the Cervino’s backside bracket shell; apparently there’s some debate among the many classic bike cognoscenti about who truly made them. The decals on my bike say it’s Viner, and that’s ok for me, however apparently the underside bracket shell seems extra like those Olmo used or one thing. You’ll additionally typically see Web threads through which individuals strive to determine what sort of tubing the classic Italian body they only picked up is constructed from: is it SL? Aelle? Tre-tubi? Linguini con vongole? Often individuals will draw their conclusions from the seatpost diameter or the presence or lack of a entrance derailleur braze-on or else extra circumstantial proof like, “Nicely, the body has a Shimano 600 headset, and if it’s authentic it’s unlikely somebody would have put that on an SL bike.” These are enjoyable issues to determine, however on the identical time if discerning the distinction between tubesets and even utterly totally different producers requires deep forensics and nonetheless yields inconclusive outcomes it’s important to surprise how a lot any of these items issues in any respect, and it’s most likely sufficient to say, “For a lot of the twentieth century the Italians constructed actually good street bikes.” Better of all, in 2024 should you’re not hung up on names or which Columbus sticker the body has you possibly can put collectively a pleasant Italian street bike for about what a SRAM RED ASSPLR gravel cassette prices and discover out for your self.

As for placing collectively a motorbike on a finances, it all the time helps to go along with stuff that’s out of fashion and sells low-cost, like Octalink cranks:

I’ve all the time preferred the looks of the 9-speed Ultegra crank, although it seems type of puffy prefer it wants a Benadryl:

Talking of which, shortly after taking this picture and considering simply that I used to be stung on the scalp by what I can solely assume was a bee.

When Gordon Ramsey crashed he instructed everybody to put on a helmet, and when Richard Branson crashed he instructed everybody to put on physique armor. So in that very same spirit I’m telling to put on your beekeeping veil always:

There actually should be a regulation.