***I plugged the term “Jones” into eBay and these are the bikes that came up. Anyway, I’m still on vacation, you’re not reading this. See you after Labor Day.***
Sooner or later we each much come to terms with the fact that our needs are fundamentally at odds with our desires. Here’s what that realization looks like in bicycle form:
The “starting bid” suggests that perhaps the seller is trolling, as does the pairing of Speedplay pedals with a complete set of wheel reflectors:
At the same time, there is an undeniable sense of cohesion here, and I don’t doubt the seller’s claim that it rides nicely:
Still, ready to admit you’re done with your road bike days but not yet ready to admit you should be riding a Rivendell is an odd place to be.
Then there’s this:
More sedate to be sure, but still, a good example of what happens when people watch too many “Path Less Pedaled” videos and start chasing the Supple Dragon:
Party Pace may seem like a good idea, but it can leave you with a hangover afterwards.
Not that I have anything against Jones-ified Pine Mountain, mind you:
I enjoyed that bike very much. The Pine Mountain taught me to love plus-sized tires, and the Jones bars taught me that, well, I wanted an actual Jones. Still, it was a good one, and I owe it a debt of gratitude.
Sadly it looks like Marin no longer offers a rigid Pine Mountain. For that matter it looks like they’re also done with the plus-sized tires, which is not surprising, since they’re now way out of fashion and the 3.0 seem to have gone the way of the 23. (Two tire sizes I still greatly enjoy, go figure.) Yes, all the plus-size tire post-mortems have already been written, and perhaps my favorite indictment of them is that they “dumb down” the trail for “entry-level riders:”
Mountain biker logic can be very difficult to follow. Somehow half an inch of additional tire width over the currently fashionable 2.6 is tantamount to riding with training wheels, but a bicycle with front and rear suspension and a battery-powered pushbutton drivetrain is not. Funny how that works.
Speaking of kids’ bikes, I’d totally ride this…though not at that price:
Indeed, I had that very frame for awhile:
Alas, I guess I failed to fully appreciate what I had, and now the past is simply too expensive for me to relive:
Though it does come with an autographed schmatta:
You can’t put a price on that…though you can blow your nose in it.