Stiff_Orange":1e5tnpaq said:
I wonder how many of these get bought as "trophy" bikes. Hung on the wall of a trendy minimalist 'loft' style apartment or in a man cave/den and never ridden or appreciated.
They can definitely be appreciated without being ridden, but I do agree that too many trophy bikes is a little sad.
Take these two wall-hangers (of mine);
The top one was just having a little rest after being ridden almost daily for over a decade. It's in the process of being returned to active duty.
The bottom one is a NOS reminder of one of my best friend's bikes in my school days. It came to me a little over two years ago, and after weighing up what I really want to ride and build, I've decided to let it go. If the new owner hangs it up in their shop/home and never rides it, that's their prerogative. Not my business. At least if I sell it, it has more chance of being ridden than if it stays here. I'll never build it, and I only had it hung on the wall here for about three months. Then it went back in its box.
It's easy to picture the greedy collector overpaying for all the cool stuff we want and tucking it out of the way like some sort of investment account - I come across (and have myself expressed) this sentiment on car forums many times. When it comes down to it though, some enthusiasts are always glad that somebody out there has preserved and kept something 'like new'. It's fine. Plenty of lightly and heavily used examples out there too, these things can co-exist.
That NOS Klein is a bit like a delivery-miles Carrera RS. Destined to be pored over, shown-off and never really used. Which is great for us, because we get to occasionally look at it. I'd never want to be the caretaker for something like that myself, too busy riding.