Ride Lugged

Maxicar hubs are no longer made. To me, they are the most beautiful hubs in the history of hubs, beating out Phils, Pauls, Campys and Whites by a healthy margin. They were making unbreakable, gorgeous, sealed bearing, polished, servicable hubs before anyone else, and no one has gotten close since. Some of thier high flange hubs were designed so you could replace a driveside spoke without removing the freewheel. That is technology working for a better product, not for a better profit. That is what I am harping about. Shimano wouldnt dare make a hub that smart, that strong, the beautiful. Technology is supposed to be a better way to do something. So if contemporary technology isnt as smart or as good looking or strong or user friendly, doesnt that make it bad technology? I recently set up those mafacs. It took me 15 minutes for both wheels, and they look great, stop great, and will virtually never need adjusting. They clear fenders like a champ. There isnt a brake on the mainstream market that works this well, looks this good, costs so little. Its a shame, but its true. I dont know where I am going with this, but thats what this blog is supposed to explore. On a side note, Mel and I were discussing craftsmanship, which is a huge topic in this house, both of us being artists and all. We were recently in a store that used to be a bank, and they had a safe door from the 1870s. It was Incredible. It was all polished brass and steel, with engravings on the littlest parts and etchings on larger parts. This was a door that was designed to keep people out. It served a purely utilitarian function. No customers would have seen this incredible worksman ship. Yet it was there. Someone cared. And the part did its job. It reminded me of handlebars, and how they arnt engraved anymore. What a shame. What an incredible pleasure it was to look at handlebars from the 80s and 70s. Now theyre black anodized in italy to cover the crappy polish job the tiawanese did in drawing out the tubing…on that note let me end with this picture of an alex singer seat tube cluster…a new bike mind you…proof that some things are still right in this world.