It Was Super Then And It’s Super Now

The big news yesterday was of course the shooting in Manhattan, with initial reports indicating that the suspect fled on a Citi Bike, and amateur sleuths were quickly on the case:

My first thought was that the bicycle didn’t appear to be a Citi Bike, though it was hard to be certain from the grainy photo:

In particular, the bike pictured appeared to be missing the characteristic skirt guard found over the rear wheel of both regular and electrified Citi Bikes:

And indeed by that evening it turned out not to be a Citi Bike after all:

Let that be a lesson to everyone about rushing to judgement, though I am now going to go ahead and assume it was a carbon fiber gravel bike until I hear otherwise.

Also, even though it turned out not to be a Citi Bike, if I were a politician lobbying for the city to subsidize the system, I probably wouldn’t have tweeted about it while all that was going on:

As for the city subsidizing Citi Bike, I used to think they should do it, but not really anymore. If nothing else, treating bike share as public transportation opens the door to scenarios like: “A trains are not running between 207th Street and 34th Street–as an alternative, transfer for free to the nearest Citi Bike.” (I’m sure this would give the urbanists boners, but it’s not really fair to normal people.) However, I would absolutely support the city requiring Citi Bike’s owner, Lyft, to provide its bike share service citywide completely free of charge in exchange for allowing them to flood the city with cars. It only seems fair.

In the meantime, while I myself have nothing to hide, good luck tracking me on my analog antique:

Further to yesterday’s post regarding Campagnolo, the Cervino is equipped with the Super Record components of the era:

And incredibly they still offer a mechanical rim brake Super Record group today–though it bears little resemblance to its forebear:

Nevertheless, assuming you could fit cable stops on the aero shifter mount and the cables themselves…

…I don’t think there would be anything to stop you from putting the latest Super Record on this 42 year-old bicycle. (Apart from aesthetic considerations, that is.) I mean yes, you’d need a 12-speed hub too, but I think that still runs on a 130mm wheel, and I’ve used those in there with no problem:

This isn’t to say I’m planning on modernizing the Cervino. Indeed, the fact that it’s basically the Platonic ideal of the classic road bike (with the possible exception of the Nishiki decals) is the whole point:

But I could if I wanted, which is comforting. Really though, the best way to “modernize” the Cervino would be to do it up with modern friction shifters and wide-range gearing. But I have other bikes for that, and what’s the point of gluing on your tires and strapping your feet to a classic road bike without also reconciling yourself to that steep classic road bike gearing?

Fun fact: the low gear on the Cervino is approximately the middle gear on the Roaduno:

As a result, despite the 6×2 configuration, the Cervino almost feels more “singlespeedy” than the Roaduno does. and I probably bother to shift it about as often.

Finally, in addition to fleeing from assassinations, bicycles are also quite handy for waging war:

Though even in that context they’re not taken seriously:

Whether you’re driving a Hyundai or a tank, there’s no avoiding getting stuck behind a cyclist.

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