I see a lot of bikes out there but I don’t really look at very many of them. I look past them, through them, over them, among them, around them. Once in a while I stop and actually take a closer look when a bike gets my attention. A classic steel road bike with its clean lines, gets my attention.
The other day an ‘83 Fuji Del Rey got a double take out of me. As I looked it over my focus paused on the headset reflector mount still rocking the oversized rectangular white reflector that the original owner rolled out of the shop with in 1983. I like to think that the college student riding this bike today got it from his mom, or dad, or uncle, or neighbor.
I’m into well placed reflectors. However the headset reflector bracket is not my style. It reminds me of bikes at BikeWorks, refurbished by volunteers that were too lazy or oblivious to ditch the rusty reflector bracket stacked in the headset and replace it with a simple spacer. Especially when the reflector was broken off long ago leaving just an unsightly remnant of yesteryear.
These brackets also remind me of backyard bike mechanics never too shy to dive into their headsets and chuck those vestigial reflector holders. However when they crank their headset back down, hamfisting the shit out of it they can’t seem to get things the way they should be because they lost their locknut lip clearance and they need a headset spacer in there.
Some front reflector brackets incorporate a barrel-adjusted cable hanger too. These are actually useful and necessary but if the reflector is broken off, the clunky contraption can be replaced with a simple elegant cable hanger.
Here’s to old steel bikes, one inch threaded headsets, locknut lip clearance and ham fisted mechanics.
Add Comment